Funeral Home Negligence Lawyer NYC
Funeral Home Negligence
After a death, the family or next of kin have a natural desire to properly bury their loved one. This is a way to honor the memory of their loved one, to process loss, and find comfort in the funeral service, including the proper preparation of the body or cremation of your loved one. It is also the last time that close family members can say goodbye to their loved ones.
Legal Remedies for Funeral Home Mistreatment
Most people turn to and put their trust in funeral homes to care for, respect, and provide the service that is needed in order to lay their loved ones to rest. Unfortunately, some funeral homes abuse this trust out of incompetence, greed, or even perversion. Funeral home abuse is an outrage, causing significant emotional injury. It does not have to be tolerated and is actionable. The common law known as The Right of Sepulcher (see below) gives outraged family members the legal right to redress this most terrible form of negligence and sue the funeral home for denying them their last right to say goodbye to that family member.
If you are in need of a funeral home negligence lawyer in NYC, the Law Offices of Michael S. Lamonsoff can provide support and legal advocacy for you to ensure you are awarded the damages you deserve to compensate for your emotional distress. The Law Offices of Michael S. Lamonsoff are experts in the litigation of these cases. Mr. Lamonsoff has appeared throughout the media discussing all varieties of Funeral Home Negligence of his clients. These include cases in which a funeral home has lost the body or urn of ashes of its client’s beloved ones, the provision of the wrong body or urn to his clients, and viewing a family member improperly prepared for viewing, i.e., with bodily fluids infested with maggots and other vermin. The variations of the mishandling of a deceased family’s loved one run the gamut of all different varieties of negligence.
What is the Right of Sepulcher?
The right of sepulcher is common law in New York State, allowing the next of kin the right to choose and control the burial, cremation, or other final resting place or disposition of a departed family member. The right of sepulcher stipulates that the next of kin have an absolute right to the immediate possession of the departed person’s body for preservation and burial.
If you feel your rights as next of kin have been or are being infringed upon, it is important to contact us to discuss your options. If your loved one was neglected or abused by a funeral home, you may be able to recover significant financial compensation.
If a person or an institution, such as a funeral home, interferes with or improperly deals with the deceased body, the law dictates that damages may be awarded against that institution or person. These damages are compensation to the next of kin for emotionally inflicted injury.
Accountability for Funeral Home Misconduct
The recent allegations against RG Ortiz Funeral Home in New York City reveal a distressing pattern of misconduct. Accused of practices such as presenting a deceased individual in a plastic bag and significant delays in returning cremated remains, this funeral home chain has reportedly exploited grieving families during their most vulnerable moments.
At The Law Offices of Michael S. Lamonsoff, we stand ready to support victims of funeral home negligence. Our expert legal team is committed to holding such businesses accountable, ensuring that families receive the respect, compensation, and justice they deserve. If you have experienced misconduct by a funeral service provider, contact us today to discuss your legal options and ensure that your rights are fully protected.
Michael examines funeral nightmare and how it could've been avoided.
Michael shares his thoughts on ABC7 concerning a husband's missing ashes
What Qualifies as Funeral Home Negligence?
- Improper or inadequate embalming
- Mishandling, dropping, or losing the body
- Placing multiple bodies in one casket
- Placing the wrong body in the coffin or delivering the body to the wrong grave site
- Mixing the ashes of more than one body
- Greed, corruption or deception
- Robbing the corpse
- Maiming or sexually abusing the corpse
How We Can Help
The Law Offices of Michael S. Lamonsoff and our team of funeral home negligence lawyers in NYC will take aggressive steps to prove liability. We will look for the following about the misconduct of the funeral home:
- The home was responsible to treat the deceased in an honest and respectful manner. It failed in its duty of care.
- The home breached its legal duty to avoid harming the deceased.
- The failure and breach of duty perpetrated by the funeral home directly resulted in harm.
- The funeral home was responsible for the abuse or negligence and is legally liable for the losses suffered to you, both emotionally and financially.
Potential Damages
If you have experienced the neglect or abuse of a loved one you entrusted to the care of a funeral home, you may be eligible to recover compensation for the following damages:
- Emotional distress
- Funeral expenses
- Loss of stolen materials from the deceased
- Other damages
There are a wide range of damages that can be awarded to those who have suffered losses or distress at the hands of an abusive or negligent funeral home.
Why Choose the Law Offices of Michael S. Lamonsoff?
If a funeral home did not treat your departed loved one in an honest, respectful, or competent manner, contact us at the Law Offices of Michael S. Lamonsoff. Our highly skilled personal injury lawyers in NYC will review the facts of your case, determine liability for your injury, and help collect your deserved financial compensation during this very difficult time.