Q: My childrens father passed away in April. His new wife made all the burial decisions giving our children no say even
Even though my oldest children we very aware of his wish. It was later discovered that the new wife may not actually be his wife. We were unable to locate any marriage certificate on file and when we contacted the crematorium about how they verified the marriage making her next of kin. They explained that she had not produced a marriage license and that she said they were married. He then called her and told her she would need to produce it immediately. They stated If she didn't their lawyer would send her a certificate letter demanding it. This was a couple week after his funeral in April and we have heard nothing back. We have called a couple time and had to leave messages and have still not received a call back. I guess my question is what can my children do? They are very upset that he was buried. The oldest child is 20 and the rest are minors.
A: Fortunately, a burial is reversible, whereas a cremation is not. Your oldest child could petition the probate court for an order to handle the affairs. But if it's shown that this other woman is in fact the wife, then she would have priority to make those decisions and there would then not be anything a judge could do. If it turns out she is not legally married, then the court could issue an order granting your oldest child the ability to make final arrangements. I would suppose, monetarily, it would involve exhuming the body and cremation.
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