Q: What happens if a will is ignored by a donation center?
My wife and myself are executioner of the estate of a friend who passed away. we had a will that was signed and notarized. A copy was also given to the hospice staff. Our friend stated that his mother and brother were to have no contact with him, or after his death. They have not been a part of his life for years. I took care of our friend for the last two years of his life. He requested to be donated to science so that he may help another cancer victim in some way. He had stage 4 colon cancer. We found a center that would accept him. After a year and no contact from the center, (they said it could take a year to get the remains back.) I was informed that the ashes had been sent out in previous month to his mother. So my question is did they have the right to send it to her when we were executioner? we made all the arrangements and i was also his health proxy. Is there anything that can be done?
A: As a practical matter, unless you want to spend a lot of money on an attorney, there is nothing to be done except perhaps make a complaint with the agency which regulates hospices. You should have been more insistent about getting the remains immediately. By the way, you were what many states call am "executors", not "executioner". In Florida it's called a "personal representative"
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