Funeral Home Litigation
What Should You Do if a Funeral Home Made a Serious Mistake?
If the funeral home made a serious mistake, ensure that you document everything. If it’s still possible to take pictures, do it and write down when you took the picture. If the funeral home is not doing what they said they would do, preserve those communications. Keep emails in which the funeral home promised to complete a task by a specific time, as they are beneficial evidence. Contact an attorney who has experience in litigating these types of matters, as there are complicated legal principles at play. It’s important to bring certain claims to ensure that you preserve your right to recover and be made whole after suffering damages due to the funeral home’s negligence.
What Damages Can Be Recovered with a Funeral Home Lawsuit?
What kind of damages can be recovered with a funeral home lawsuit? The only damages at stake are financial. So, the funeral home or their insurance company will either write a settlement check or, if there’s a favorable verdict, pay a judgment. The dollar amount can be based on the cost of mental health care or actual damages suffered. For instance, the settlement may include the monetary value of the emotional pain and suffering you have experienced and will continue to experience in the future. Moreover, if the funeral home is currently allowing the wrong person to make final disposition decisions, it’s possible to sue and have a court step in and force the funeral home to distribute that authority to the correct person.
What Proof is Needed in a Funeral Home Lawsuit?
What proof is needed in a funeral home lawsuit? The burden of proof is on you, the plaintiff. You have to show that more likely than not, what you’re alleging is true. You can think of it as the scales of justice. The side that has slightly more evidence will prevail, as it’s enough to persuade the jury that every element of your claim has been met. The type of proof needed is at minimum, your sworn testimony. Also helpful are photographs, documents, texts, and emails. Even better would be before and after pictures. Some people take photographs of their deceased loved one before they’re taken away to the funeral home. If the funeral home mistreats the remains or allows them to decompose, then having before and after pictures makes it much easier to demonstrate what they did wrong and convince the jury that they’re liable for your damages.
What Are Examples of Funeral Home Negligence?
There are several ways a funeral home may be negligent in how they handle the remains of a lost loved one or the way they fulfill their end of the contract. For instance, allowing a body to decompose because they didn’t store it properly, or cremating a body when they were supposed to embalm it. A funeral home could misplace the items provided for the memorial display. There have been cases where the funeral home inadvertently buried the deceased in the wrong spot or mixed up the bodies. Even a simple failure by the funeral home to fulfill their contractual obligations can lead to delays with the funeral service. Sometimes, funeral homes let the wrong person control the remains’ disposition instead of the spouse. These things cause additional emotional distress for the family.
What If a Funeral Home Violates Religious Practices
What happens if a funeral home violates religious practice will depend on your contract. with the funeral home. If the funeral home gives the wrong person authority, maybe the wrong person is using that authority to hold the funeral with religious practices the decedent didn’t want. That can be devastating for the family if you knew your father wanted a Jewish funeral, and it would taint your final goodbye, which is a time of closure, not trauma. If the contract is not fulfilled, there are damages. Courts recognize people have strong religious beliefs and it’s a big factor in calculating damages. It’s not a matter of blue flowers instead of white flowers on the casket. Attorney Samuel D. Jackson knows religion is of the utmost importance to the decedent and family.
Difference Between Funeral Home Negligence Breach of Contract
What is the difference between funeral home negligence and breach of contract? A breach of contract is a broken promise, whereas negligence is an objective standard. What would a reasonably prudent funeral director do, even if the contract doesn’t state that the funeral home will keep the body in good condition? Regardless of what’s in the contract, it’s still negligent for a funeral home to allow a body to decompose. It was negligent and actionable conduct, and you can sue for it. A negligent standard is an objective standard they have to meet whether or not there’s a contract. Whereas with a breach of contract, it might say the service needs to take place within three days. If they take 10 days to do the service, you can sue for breach of contract. It’s a broken promise. The breach of contract claim has a longer statute of limitations, whereas the negligence claim needs to be filed sooner. It’s important to file early so you don’t lose the ability to bring the negligence claim