DB #7 Sally Mullins

I chose to research Indiana and South Carolina. I chose these two states because I am from Indiana and South Carolina is right next door.

“In Indiana, if you are married and you die without a will, what your spouse gets depends on whether or not you have living parents or descendants — children, grandchildren, or great-grandchildren. If you don’t, then your spouse inherits all of your intestate property” (Valerie Keene). This means that if you have a legal will your will must be followed, if not your spouse will get everything. If you have other family, it will be distributed based on what family you have. This applies to common law spouses as they are legally recognized as a spouse and are next of kin, this is true for South Carolina as well.

“If you live in South Carolina and die without a valid will and have only a surviving spouse (but no children), your spouse gets everything. If you have children and you die intestate in South Carolina, your spouse inherits half of your estate while your children get the other half” (Cautero). This means that if you have a legal will, it must be followed. However, if you don’t your spouse will get everything if you have no children. If you have children, it must be split 50/50 between your spouse and your children.

As far as who decides how you are buried, “If the deceased didn’t make any preferences legally known, then the decision falls to the next-of-kin (nearest relative). If the next of kin is unavailable or unable to make decisions of this nature, the next of kin hierarchy is followed until someone who is able to make these decisions can be found” (Who has the right to make funeral decisions?). This is true for both states.

Sources:

“Who Has the Right to Make Funeral Decisions?” Everplans, https://www.everplans.com/articles/who-has-Valerie Keene, Attorney.

“Intestate Succession in Indiana.” Www.nolo.com, Nolo, 14 Dec. 2018, https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/intestate-succession-indiana.html. the-right-to-make-funeral-decisions.

Cautero, Rachel. “A Guide to South Carolina Inheritance Laws.” SmartAsset, SmartAsset, 21 Feb. 2020, https://smartasset.com/financial-advisor/south-carolina-inheritance-laws#:~:text=IfyouliveinSouth,childrengettheotherhalf.

MOD-7-DB Stephanie Ratcliff

For this assignment I chose to compare the death and burial laws of Illinois and Utah

There aren’t many states that require you to have a licensed funeral director involved in making arrangement for a home funeral. In Illinois, by law you must have a funeral director file for a death certificate, and only that funeral director can issue a permit for the body to be moved from the home to the final resting place chosen by the family. The death certificate must be filed within seven days of the death and must be done before the body can be cremated or transported outside the state. In Utah the death certificate must be filed out within 72 hours of death by the health care professional in charge at that time. The exception to that is if the death is not due to natural causes. In that case the medical examiner will handle the death certificate. In Illinois the cremation must be arranged through a funeral director and the cremated remains placed in a grave, crypt, or niche. If you chose to scatter the ashes, you must find a legally defined “scattering area”. Utah currently has no laws controlling where ashes may be scattered or stored. Illinois currently has no law that requires embalming and there is no specific amount of time in which you must dispose of the remains. In Utah the body must be embalmed or refrigerated if the burial or cremation will not happen within 24 hours of death. Illinois is one of the few states that offer “green cremation” at alkaline hydrolysis facilities. This process uses water, pressure, heat, and an alkali solution that speeds up the body’s decomposition. Utah legalized alkaline hydrolysis in 2018 but currently there are no funeral homes that offer the service. In Illinois as well as Utah, if the deceased had children and a spouse, the spouse receives half of the estate and the children will split the other half. Neither state recognizes common law marriage, therefor a common law spouse is not entitled to any inheritance nor are they able to make any medical decisions.

Rights and obligations as to human remains and burial. Stimmel Law. (n.d.). Retrieved December 3, 2021, from https://www.stimmel-law.com/en/articles/rights-and-obligations-human-remains-and-burial#:~:text=TheBasicLaw&text=Althoughtherighttoa,otherrelativesofthedeceased.

Valerie Keene, A. (2020, March 20). Illinois Home Funeral Laws. www.nolo.com. Retrieved December 3, 2021, from https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/illinois-home-funeral-laws.html.

Valerie Keene, A. (2021, March 30). Burial and cremation laws in Utah. www.nolo.com. Retrieved December 3, 2021, from https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/burial-cremation-laws-utah.html.

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