How Long Can Human Remains Be Stored Before Being Buried? - Kaminsky Law

There was a viral article online this weekend about a person dying on a cruise ship, and the human remains being stored in a “cooler” on the ship for almost a week because the ship’s morgue was not working. (New York Times,NYPost,CNN). The widow filed a lawsuit seeking damages, because by the time the body was retrieved, the remains were “horrifically decomposed”. Families often call us and ask how long can a funeral home store my loved one’s body before it is refrigerated, embalmed, buried, or cremated? Like with most legal questions, the answer is “it depends.” According to one of the articles: Marilyn Jones and her husband, Robert, set out from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on an eight-day Caribbean cruise aboard the Celebrity Equinox.The couple, of Bonifay, Fla., were just two days into the trip when Robert Jones, 79, died of a heart attack.….According to a federal lawsuit that [Marilyn Jones] filed against the cruise line this week, [Mrs. Jones agreed] to have [Robert’s remains] stored i...