Sen. Deig has introduced SB 78 which concerns the disposition of a decedent who appears to have died from murder, manslaughter, or other criminal act. The normal rules of who gets to make decisions about the remains are suspended where the decedent had a restraining order against the person who would normally make the decision.
Sounds reasonable to me.
So Doug, ‘splain this to us non-lawyers..does it mean something like this?
Bill has been beating his wife Sue, she files a restraining order, later, she winds up dead , so now Bill isn’t allowed to have Sues body cremated or buried, right?
Is that about it? And if so, isn’t there something on the books that sort of covers this scenario already?
I’m not saying it’s a bad law, I’m just pointing out that eventually there won’t be enough paper to write all the laws on (or enough electronic storage)
That’s my take on it. Seems like the kind of thing that should already be covered somehow, but maybe not.
I don’t think I’d advise a client this way, but as a citizen, I think my inclination would be for the coroner or whoever has control of the body to tell Bill to go pound sand when he asks for the body and take my chances if Bill decided to sue over it. But I guess a law lets lawyers and coroners rest easier.