Location: New Bedford, Massachusets.
My grandmother’s brother died in 2018. My grandmother is on the other side of the country, but his children all live in Massachusets. After his passing, his daughter, who was his caregiver, needed financial help with cremation costs. My grandmother sent her $500 towards the cost of the cremation, which was $1700. After a couple weeks, my grandmother hadn’t heard much and asked if they had received his ashes yet. One of his daughters said that her sister, who my grandmother had sent the money to, had not paid the funeral home and had not received the ashes. My grandmother was upset and called her. She claimed that she was making payments towards the cost. My grandmother decided to call the funeral home and find out for herself if this was true or not. The funeral home confirmed that no payments had been made. This upset my grandmother and she argued with his daughter about it. They stopped speaking, but my grandmother has kept in touch with one of his daughters, and she has confirmed that his ashes were never picked up and are still at the funeral home. My grandmother wants his ashes, but the funeral home says they cannot release his ashes to anyone but the daughter who was his caregiver, because everything is in her name. They apparently took her to court, but were still never paid. Not even his other children are allowed to pick him up, apparently. Is this really the law? Is there nothing my grandmother can do? Please help me figure out what steps we need to take to get his ashes home.