What to do right now if something went wrong with your loved one's remains

Call (305) 209-0384 Read the questions first ↓

Read the questions first

• Should I confront the funeral home?
• Can I open the urn to check?
• Do they have to give me their records?
• Is there a rush?

1. Leave the remains exactly as they are

Keep any urn or container you received sealed and untouched, with whatever is inside it. Do not open, mix, divide, or scatter the ashes. Photograph the urn, casket, grave, or marker without moving or changing anything.

If a body has not yet been cremated and there is a dispute, do not sign a cremation authorization until you have advice. Florida does not allow a cremation until a legally authorized person gives written authorization (§ 497.607(1), Fla. Stat.).

2. Save everything

• The contract and itemized statement. Florida requires the licensee to give each purchaser a written agreement listing the items, services, and prices (§ 497.152(11)(a)).
• Receipts, the death certificate, and any burial-transit permit.
• Every text, email, voicemail, and social-media message from the funeral home, crematory, removal service, or cemetery.
• Any photographs or video you already have.
• The names of everyone you spoke with, and when.

3. Write your timeline today

While it is fresh: the date of death, when the remains were picked up, every call and visit, what you were told, and when you first suspected a problem.

4. Ask for records in writing

Send a short, polite written request and keep a copy with proof of when you sent it. Ask for:

• the cremation authorization and the signed declaration of intent, if there was a cremation (§ 497.607(1));
• the identification and tracking records. A direct disposal establishment must make its identification procedures available to the legally authorized person on request (§ 497.171(4));
• the intake, custody, storage, refrigeration, and release records;
• a copy of the contract and the price list.

Ask; do not argue. If they refuse or delay, write that down too.

5. If you need to move your loved one

If you are the legally authorized person and want your loved one moved to another funeral home, Florida lists refusing to promptly surrender a body on the express order of the legally authorized person as grounds for discipline, subject to other laws on custody and transport (§ 497.152(8)(b)).

6. Take care of yourself

See a doctor or counselor if you are struggling to sleep, eat, or work. Your health comes first. Those records can also matter later.

7. Talk with a lawyer before filing a state complaint

The Division of Funeral, Cemetery, and Consumer Services, Florida Department of Financial Services, investigates written complaints. The licensee may receive a copy of a written complaint (§ 497.153(2)(b)). The state can discipline a licensee and order restitution, but it does not compensate your family. Talking with a lawyer first helps the complaint and any later case tell the same accurate story.

8. Do not sign anything they send you yet

Do not sign a release, accept a "refund" or "goodwill" payment, or agree to a replacement arrangement before a lawyer reads it. An apology is not a release, and a release can be.

9. Know the deadline

Two years. Florida law gives a negligence claim two years (§ 95.11(5)(a)). Some claims may carry a longer period, but no family should bet on that. We treat two years from the day it happened as the deadline in every case, and you should too. If you only just found out, call anyway: when the clock started is a question we answer case by case.

Not sure whether you have a claim? See Do I have a claim?

Questions families ask

Should I confront the funeral home?

Keep it calm and in writing. A short written request for records, saved with the date, protects you better than an angry call.

Can I open the urn to check?

Please do not. Keeping it sealed preserves the label, the contents, and any later testing. In some cases forensic testing can help answer whose remains are inside, but only if the urn has not been disturbed.

Do they have to give me their records?

Some records you should already have, such as your written agreement. A direct disposal establishment must make its identification procedures available to the legally authorized person on request. For other records, ask in writing. If they refuse, there are other lawful ways to obtain them, and a lawyer can explain which apply.

Is there a rush?

There is no need to act before you are ready to talk. But records, messages, and video can be lost or overwritten, and the deadline is two years. Saving evidence early keeps your options open.

Talk to Dennis

When you are ready, call or send a WhatsApp message, in English or Spanish. The office answers 24 hours.

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