Help Legal questions about death

[EmpressDean]

Hi guys. I don't have a good understanding about legal things after someone dies. I don't have much to own legally, just a car, which I am on my parents car insurance. I'm more concerned about the funeral arrangements. I'm planning to die out of state from my home state. I want Neptune Society to take care of my arrangements. But I don't want my family from out of state to be involved. I want the medics to find my body, take it to Neptune, and then have a quick cremation. But I'm afraid my family will be able to around this legally. How can I protect myself? Also, since I am u der my dads car is insurance plan and both of our names are on my car, do I have to prepare anything for that too? Thanks

 

[Unspoken7612]

You'll need to look up the laws of probate in your state. You should be able to avoid your family being involved by writing a will and naming someone else as your next-of-kin/executor (these are different things). Check what is necessary to make a will legally binding - where I am, you just need two witnesses, but in some places you might need a lawyer.

Your medics will not just immediately take you to be cremated. I don't know for sure about where you are, but where I am, suicide deaths are treated as suspicious by default and will be investigated by a coroner, which probably means a post-mortem.

If your dad's name is on your car then it might mean he has a claim to it even if you leave it to someone else. I have low confidence in this.

 

[nonn_ee]

Echoing what @Unspoken7612 said - it depends heavily on where you are, and I understand why you can't provide that information.

For example, in Colorado you just need to have a written declaration of what you want done with your body, with one person witnessing it and signing as such. See page 555 for the legalese.

Where I am suicide deaths are also treated as suspicious and have to be investigated by the coroner.

Your dad's name on the car does give him a legal right to it, though it again depends on where you are and exactly how his name is on it - see the Inheriting a Vehicle section for an example of how it works in Colorado.

 

[EmpressDean]

Echoing what @Unspoken7612 said - it depends heavily on where you are, and I understand why you can't provide that information.

For example, in Colorado you just need to have a written declaration of what you want done with your body, with one person witnessing it and signing as such. See page 555 for the legalese.

Where I am suicide deaths are also treated as suspicious and have to be investigated by the coroner.

Your dad's name on the car does give him a legal right to it, though it again depends on where you are and exactly how his name is on it - see the Inheriting a Vehicle section for an example of how it works in Colorado.

I don't care about the car. He can have it. So I can't just have my body and funeral arrangement by myself? I need a witness and executor? That's stupid. I just want a quick cremation no funeral
Do I need a lawyer to execute my cremation? And to ensure my parents don't ship my body out of state? I don't want there to be an emergency call to them or anything

 

[Whale_bones]

I don't care about the car. He can have it. So I can't just have my body and funeral arrangement by myself? I need a witness and executor? That's stupid. I just want a quick cremation no funeral
Do I need a lawyer to execute my cremation? And to ensure my parents don't ship my body out of state? I don't want there to be an emergency call to them or anything

You need to set up the will before you die. Then you'll have a legally binding contract already in place when you pass, and this will give you the highest chance that your wishes are followed. When you say you can't have your body and funeral arrangements "by myself" I'm not sure what you mean; you won't be there, you won't be able to tell people what you want at that point. You'll need to make sure atleast one living person knows of your wishes, and that that person has the legal right to follow them (hence the will).

I don't know anything about Neptune Society, but unless they have some special exception, you'll need to either pre-pay for cremation and any other services you want them to do, or make sure you've set money aside for that (be aware that pre-paying could set off some red flags, depending on your mental health history).

The details vary so much by state that, as the previous answers noted, we can't give you step-by-step answers to anything. You'll need to look up the laws for your state.