Category Archives: Funerals

Comcast – Can a deceased’s email account be accessed?

According to a Comcast representative, anyone who knows the last 4 digits of the deceased’s Social Security number, their account number or the amount of their most recent payment can cancel a deceased’s account.

However, accessing that account will be more difficult. If you want access but do not know the password that was used by the deceased, you must go in person to a Comcast payment center. The representative with whom I spoke thought it would have to be a Comcast office in the area where the deceased lived. I pointed out that this is a bit ridiculous; for example, my father lived on the other side of the country. Did this policy mean that I would have to fly from California to New Jersey in order to find out what his password had been? I was told that the answer was “yes”. I would suggest that you go to the nearest payment center and try to get them to provide the needed information.

If the account is not cancelled Comcast will continue to bill the account holder indefinitely.

To learn more about how to handle someone’s online accounts after they die, as well as to identify things you should do to protect the identity of that person, check out the book “Grave Robbers…How to prevent identity theft of the deceased.”

What will happen to the poor little rich dog’s ashes?

When Leona Helmsley died, she left $12 million in her will allocated to the care of her beloved Maltese lapdog, Trouble. In 2008, after some of Helmsley’s heirs protested, a judge reduced Trouble’s inheritance to a mere $2 million, saying that $12 million exceeded the amount necessary to care for the dog, even when providing her with the highest standard of care.

Helmsley also specified in her will that Trouble ‘s remains were to be buried alongside her own in the family mausoleum which is located in the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Westchester County, New York. That request has not been honored and Troubles ashes remain “privately retained.”

Regulations prohibit the interring of nonhuman remains at a human cemetery. However, the Helmsley mausoleum itself is considered private property (even though it is located on the cemetery grounds) and its key is retained by the Helmsley family.

Should the family will skirt the law and bury Trouble’s ashes alongside those of Leona Helmsley? What would you do?

You thought you could be buried with your pet…maybe not in New York.

Many people consider their pet a member of the family and, when it dies, they want to remember that pet by burying it in a special place.

Hartsdale Pet Cemetery and Crematory in Hartsdale, New York claims to be the oldest pet cemetery in the United States and, until recently, it allowed people to have their ashes buried next to those of their pet. After all, some people are closer to their dogs or cats than they are to other members of their family so it makes sense that they would want to be near them after death.

However, last February, the New York Division of Cemeteries announced that this was no longer possible and has since blocked Hartsdale from taking in human ashes. The government claimed that Hartsdale has been violating a law requiring that any cemetery providing burial space for humans must be operated as a not-for-profit corporation. By charging a fee and promoting their human interment service, Hartsdale was violating laws governing not-for-profit corporations.

According to a spokesperson for Hartsdale, it is a private, for profit business and, as such, is not under the jurisdiction of the Division of Cemeteries.

Until the law is clarified and a final decision made, people like Taylor York, a law professor, are out of luck. York’s uncle, Thomas Ryan, died in April and had arranged, and prepaid, to join his wife, Bunny and their two dogs, BJ I and BJ II, who are already buried there. Now Ryan’s ashes sit in a wooden box at his sister’s home because the state’s new rule won’t allow him to be buried at Hartsdale.

What do you think? Pet’s ashes are not allowed to be buried in a human cemetery; should people’s ashes be allowed to be buried with their pets in a pet cemetery?

Donate your body to science and someone may profit from your death!

Many people leave directions on how they would like their body to be disposed of. Before making a final decision, they may consider burial or cremation. Another option they may think about is the possibility of donating their body to medical science.

There are many medical schools that would love the gift of a body that can be used to help students study human anatomy. And there are non-profit organizations that act as clearing houses for groups of those schools. For example, in Florida, the Anatomical Board of the State of Florida office in Gainesville, Florida (800-628-2594) handles all of the “donations” of bodies to all the medical schools in that state. And there is a web site, maintained by the State of Florida Anatomical Board http://www.med.ufl.edu/anatbd/usprograms.html, which has a comprehensive list of medical schools across the country that are interested in receiving cadaevars.

But beware. Over the last several years, several for-profit companies have been formed that take a body and sell it, or parts of it, for a large profit….often more than $100,000 – $150,000!

If you are considering donating your body, think about this. Do you want someone to make money off of your death – money that will not go to your family but to a faceless corporation. If the answer is no, check out the organization carefully before you sign any paperwork.