Boca Raton Personal Injury Lawyers Blog | Ellis, Ged & Bodden P.A.

Florida’s plentiful sunshine and sandy shores make it one of the nation’s most popular tourist destinations. Unfortunately, the state also ranks high in the number of legal disputes that arise concerning wills and estates. The last place anyone would ever want to be is in the middle of a family dispute – even if it is in the Sunshine State. If a person dies without a valid will and no alternative arrangements have been made to indicate their final wishes, survivors may be left to face a complicated, time-consuming and expensive legal process.

When someone dies intestate (without a will) a probate court must step in to make the final decisions based on legal defaults that give authority and property to surviving relatives.

In the absence of a will or other valid legal document making specific arrangements, a surviving spouse or next of kin has “a legitimate claim of entitlement” to possession of the body of a deceased person for the purpose of burial, sepulture or other legal disposition, according to the Florida Statutory Probate Code. In the absence of a will specifying the decedent’s wishes, the court has been known to side with a judicially separated spouse over the objections of a decedent’s sons or daughters.

The surviving spouse, or the next of kin if there is no spouse, also has the right to select the burial plot and the casket unless the decedent made some provisions by will or otherwise.

If, however, the next of kin refuse to claim the body and is not legally responsible for the burial, the county must become involved. Florida Statutes authorize the Division of Universities of the Department of Education to receive dead bodies that are unclaimed or are to be buried at public expense. These bodies may then be used for medical science.

In matters of probate, there are, of course, exceptions to every rule, except perhaps one: When someone has died intestate it is always best to proceed with caution. Your efforts to help your clients in their time of need may put you in jeopardy. As the Florida Statutory Probate Code cautions, that interference with the disposition of a body may give rise to legal action. A legal expert in wills, estates and trusts can help you to help your clients find peace of mind.