Cemetery Fraud

Cemetery fraud in Miami is being committed by funeral homes, morgues, and more. These places are failing to discharge their duties, handling the dead with carelessness and contempt. Regrettably, when opportunities to make money arise, individuals may take advantage of them, though their methods are unethical and often exploit the weak. In other cases of cemetery and funeral scams, people prey on the elderly by selling them lavish funeral plans and costly caskets, then failing to follow up on their promises when the time comes.

Funeral homes and cemeteries, unfortunately, may not always exercise the utmost caution. For mourning family members, careless errors and heinous shortcuts may lead to horrible outcomes. Modern funeral homes, crematoriums, and cemeteries have been purchased by multinational companies, putting wealth ahead of careful handling and caring of the deceased. As a consequence, there is a risk of funeral and burial abuse.

Funeral homes and cemeteries are required by Florida law to treat, move, and bury human remains in a proper, courteous manner and with dignity. Body identity must be reviewed regularly, as well as any time a body is moved for some cause, and from one room to another inside the same building, according to funeral industry guidelines. There are occasions when proper procedure and care practices are not followed. Should this occurs, you may be entitled to monetary penalties, but most significantly, you may have peace of mind knowing that an immoral funeral home has been kept accountable for its actions.

In recent years, we've seen an increase in the following unethical practices by burial, graveyard, and cremation providers:

• Inadequate embalming
• Theft of valuables from the body prior to burial without consent
• Using bait-and-switch techniques regarding coffins
• Putting several bodies in a coffin
• Pieces of the body being removed and sold.
• Storing bodies incorrectly
• The incorrect people's bodies undergoing cremation.
• Bodies that aren't properly buried or remain unburied
• Failure to keep the cemetery, mausoleum, or grave ground in good repair

Fraud and deceit, as well as fake pre-need arrangements, are examples of funeral home corruption and manipulation.

You might be thinking about how to keep the funeral home responsible if, for example, your loved one underwent neglect, exploitation, or abuse. The legal term for fault or duty in an accident is "negligence." In most cases, proving guilt entails meeting several criteria:

• You were owed by the funeral home a duty of treatment. They were in charge of treating the dead with dignity and reverence, and they did not do so.
• They disobeyed their oath. The funeral home violated their moral duty to protect your loved one from harm.
• Since the funeral home was to blame for the abuse or mishap, they are morally accountable. As a result, there were financial losses. The acts of the funeral home caused harm to the deceased (physically) and/or you and your relatives such as emotional or financial harm.

If the actions of a funeral home have resulted in abuse or neglect to your loved one, you might be entitled to compensation for:

• Emotional anguish
• Loss of the pleasures of living
• Expenses for the funeral
• Other losses

In these cases, the damages can be very varied. For instance, if you paid for a more costly casket but your loved one was buried in one less expensive, you might be entitled to the disparity in price as well as restitution for emotional distress. When your loved one was robbed by a funeral home, you might be entitled to compensation for the loss of the items stolen as well as damages for emotional distress.

The general information provided above about cemetery fraud in Fort Lauderdale is meant for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for speaking directly with an attorney about the facts and circumstances of your case. Please call 954-500-0003 in Broward or 305-674-0003 in Miami to schedule a consultation with the Law Offices of Mark Eiglarsh.