Josh Slocum and Lisa Carlson are the two most prominent advocates of consumer rights in dealing with the death industry. Here they combine efforts to inform consumers of their rights and propose long-needed reforms. Slocum is executive director of Funeral Consumers Alliance, a national nonprofit with over 90 local affiliates nationwide. Carlson is executive director of Funeral Ethics Organization, which works with the industry to try to improve ethical standards. In addition to nationwide issues, the book covers state-by-state information needed by anybody who wishes to take charge of funeral arrangements for a loved one, with or without the help of a funeral director. More information about the book and related issues can be found at www.finalrights.org .

This comprehensive guide to burial laws in Great Britain provides practical advice for funeral directors, cemetery managers, and legal professionals. Topics covered include the rights of next of kin, the disposal of remains, and the rules surrounding cremation. The book also includes a variety of sample forms and checklists. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Cemetery Law: The Common Law of Burying Grounds in the United States is the first treatise on U.S. cemetery law since 1950. This volume analyzes and explains key sources of U.S. cemetery law, including treatises, reports, and decisions by appellate courts. The "traditional" American burial-embalming, encasement in a casket, and use of a vault or grave liner in a single, perpetual grave-is still the prevailing practice in the United States. However, Baby Boomers concerned about the cost and environmental consequences of this model are sparking the first significant changes in American disposition practices since the Civil War. Practices that minimize consumption and cost-including "green" burial and cremation-have exploded in popularity in the past decade. Nearly half of all deaths in the United States now result in cremation, and that method of disposition is anticipated to overtake burial in the next few years. Americans eager to innovate in the disposition of human remains find that the law-still heavily rooted in seventeenth century English, Protestant assumptions, practices, and beliefs-is ill-equipped to adapt. Cemetery law in the United States has changed little in the past 200 years, but changes in our disposition practices are so widespread and significant that it will soon have no choice. It is unimaginable that we will start with a clean slate. Instead, the law will, as it always does in a common law system, slowly evolve from its current form. This book is therefore designed to help begin that process by illuminating the structure and history of the common law of burying grounds in the United States, including the foundational assumptions, beliefs, and doctrines.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1873. The publishing house Anatiposi publishes historical books as reprints. Due to their age, these books may have missing pages or inferior quality. Our aim is to preserve these books and make them available to the public so that they do not get lost.