RIGHT TO DETERMINE THE PLACE OF BURIAL OF A CORPSE

Authors

Abstract

A dead body is not property, but a sort of quasi-property, so in a strict legal sense there are no property rights in a corpse. This is especially true after burial, as many courts make a distinction between rights existing prior to burial, and those after burial. Nevertheless, relatives have certain rights against others for mutilation, removal, etc. of a corpse, whether based on property or not. Cases where damages are recovered for mutilation before burial are common, and in England v. Central Pocahontas Coal Co. 86 W. Va. 575, the plaintiff was allowed an action of trespass against the defendant who removed his mother from one grave to another without permission, there being no surviving husband.

Recommended Citation

RIGHT TO DETERMINE THE PLACE OF BURIAL OF A CORPSE, 23 Mich. L. Rev. 274 (1925).
Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mlr/vol23/iss3/6