It's time to properly honour the wishes of the dead by reforming burial laws
3 min read
A grave injustice? Conservative MP David Burrowes seeks to clarify the laws on burial rights.
Predictions have taken a knock in recent months but I am confident that we will all die. However we cannot be confident that our burial wishes will be fully adhered by surviving relatives. Surprisingly, wishes in relation to our burial are not enforceable upon those we leave behind. They offer a mere request and emotional plea rather than legally binding obligations. The current lack of protection offered in the eyes of the law leaves our wishes for burial exposed. Common law describes a dead body as "worthless" but there is a right to donate your body to medical science but not to be cremated or buried and nor can you bind your relatives to a certain type of funeral or grave.
Perhaps the most high profile of these debates was when Richard III’s remains were discovered in 2012. A lengthy court battle pitting the descendants of the notorious King against the the less notorious Lord Chancellor, Chris Grayling. The case hinged on whether the King had made plans to be buried in York 550 years ago. The High Court decided in favour of the "home" team where Richard's remains were found due to the lack of clearly expressed and enforceable burial wishes. Leicester 1 York 0.
Since David Blunkett flirted with burial reform in 2004 successive governments have prevaricated whilst family disputes and heartache have ensued about fulfilling the burial wishes of the deceased. I have been prompted to present my 10 Minute Rule Bill on burial reform by the experience of constituents who have been prevented from scattering the ashes of their mother on their father's grave and erecting a headstone by an estranged sibling.
The problem arises from exclusive rights granted to ‘grave owners’ who purchase and register their name on the lease of a grave plot. Such rights enable the owner to decide who else is buried and what monument is erected. Normally there will not be a problem particularly as the next of kin will usually have these rights of burial transferred. However families are complicated and there are many examples of family disputes over graves, particularly when families have separated or involve step families. Presently the only option in a dispute is costly litigation which is undesirable particularly given that the law is opaque and not fit for purpose.
It strikes me as a grave injustice that wishes for a final resting place can be overriden by one member of the family acquiring ownership of a relative's grave. My Bill will ensure that there is greater clarity about the intentions of the deceased and that they are provided with the legal protection and respect they deserve. By introducing a public register of burials people can more easily declare their desired burial and funeral arrangements and ensure their reasonable wishes are carried out. A clearly expressed, binding declaration of our final wishes will help remove the pressures of burial related decision-making at such a testing time.
Our final wishes are arguably our most important. We must therefore reach a conclusion where such wishes are offered the protection of the law. There may be no better way to honour the dead than to give life to their final wishes.
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