After the passing of a loved one, we usually honor their memory at a funeral home or mortuary. We place a great deal of trust in these businesses.

Sadly, some memorial service businesses betray this trust. Whether it is from incompetence or deliberate, it doesn’t change the violation that took place. Filing a personal injury lawsuit, victims can hold funeral homes accountable for their negligence. If your deceased loved one was abused or neglected by a funeral home, you may be able entitled to significant financial compensation.

Kinds of Funeral Home Negligence

Most instances of negligence or abuse can be categorized as one of the following:

• Incompetence
• Corruption, Deception
• Sexual Deviancy

Funeral Home Abuse Examples

Most funeral service businesses do their jobs without issue. It is unacceptable when they neglect their responsibilities. Some common ways a funeral home may fail in its responsibilities are:

• Improper embalming
• Commingling of multiple corpses’ ashes
• Mishandling, dropping or losing the body
• Placing multiple bodies in one coffin or casket
• Placing the wrong body in the casket
• Delivering the deceased to the wrong grave site
• Robbing the corpse
• Maiming or sexually abusing the corpse

Demonstrating Funeral Home Negligence

If your loved one was neglected, abused, or exploited by a funeral home, and you would like to hold the funeral home accountable, what should you do? Proving their responsibility will usually follow these criteria:

• The funeral home owed you a duty of care. They did not treat the deceased in a respectful manner.
• They breached their duty. The funeral home failed to avoid harming your loved one.
• Their breach directly resulted in harm. The funeral home was responsible for the abuse or mishap.
• There were losses suffered as a result. The funeral home physically injured the deceased and/or you and your family.

Potential Damages

If your loved one was neglected or abused by a funeral home, you may be eligible to be compensated for:

• Emotional distress
• Loss of life’s enjoyment
• Funeral expenses
• Other damages

Damages in these cases can vary. As an example, if the funeral home buried your loved one in a cheaper casket, you may be owed the difference, plus damages for emotional distress. Or if the funeral home robbed your loved one, you may be owed the value of what they took, as well as damages for emotional distress.

Speak to a Funeral Lawyer

If a funeral home did not treat your loved one honestly, respectfully, or in a competent manner, contact the funeral lawyers at Sayegh Law Firm. Our highly skilled attorneys can review the details of your case and determine liability for your injury and help you collect financial compensation during this very difficult time.