UNCLAIMEDVETS

							UNCLAIMEDVETS

By BROOKE MEIER

Capital News Service

LANSING – Across Michigan, unclaimed urns of cremated ashes are piling up in funeral

homes.

         “This is a significant problem, and the costs of holding these remains increases

with time,” said Phil Duma, executive director of the Michigan Funeral Directors

Association.

         Proposed legislation by Rep. Judy Emmons, R-Sheridan, could alleviate some of

the problems with storing the ashes. It has one other sponsor, Rep. Arlan Meekhof, R-

Olive Township.

         Their bill would authorize funeral directors to arrange internment for military

veterans whose remains go unclaimed by family after six months.

         While the proposal doesn’t broadly address the problem of all unclaimed ashes,

Duma said the association supports the general idea.

         “Hopefully we can work out a way to take care of all unclaimed ashes, not just

veterans ashes,” Duma said.

         Michael Hurst, owner of Hurst Funeral Home in Greenville, said he has never had

a problem with remains going unclaimed.

         “My policy is everybody needs a place. We’ve been very fortunate to not have a

problem with unclaimed remains,” he said.

         Hurst said smaller communities usually don’t face that situation.
       Larry Skinner, a director at the Chapel in the Pines funeral home in Lansing, said

his company holds 10 to 12 unclaimed urns.

       “We do have some urns from years back,” Skinner said, but it isn’t a large

problem. He said some families don’t claim urns because of the final expenses, putting a

financial burden on funeral homes.

       “Because we don’t get paid, we have to adjust our charges to make up for the lost

revenue, which pays for the facility’s upkeep. The urns don’t take up a lot of space, but

the bottom line is we don’t want it to get out of hand,” he said.

       Skinner said the crematory it uses used to purchase a plot at a local cemetery and

have a mass burial once a year, keeping track of whose ashes ended up there. However,

the crematory hasn’t done that for the last 10 years.

       Robin Naeyaert, the legislative aide for Emmons, said the bill came out of a

request by funeral homes to help solve the growing problem of unclaimed ashes.

       “There are any number of reasons why these ashes go unclaimed, and there’s no

way of knowing for sure. Oftentimes these veterans don’t have family that can claim

them or inter them in a proper cemetery,” Naeyaert said.

       Emmons said, “We have always held our military veterans in the highest regard

and honor them in life and in death for their service to their country. Memorial Day

services, white crosses and cemetery decorations remind us to pay our respects to these

men and women, but some may have been overlooked if they are without families.”

       The Department of Michigan of the American Legion fully supports the proposal.

Douglas Williams, its legislative affairs chair, said. “It’s a problem for these ashes to

remain in funeral homes. We want to make sure they get the burial they deserve.”
       Duma said funeral homes already check to see if an unclaimed body is a veteran

when writing up death certificates, “It’s superfluous to have that requirement in the bill

when we are already required to make such inquiries.”

       Under the bill, if funeral directors learn someone is a veteran, they would have to

inform the family that he or she is eligible for internment in a veterans cemetery. If there

is no known family to inform, the funeral directors would be allowed to work with the

Veterans Administration and local veterans organizations, like the American Legion, to

plan a proper burial.

       Under Michigan law, the relative who authorizes the cremation has a legal right to

the ashes. That’s why funeral homes must keep unclaimed ashes indefinitely.

       The bill would protect funeral directors from criminal and civil liability for

releasing the remains to a veterans cemetery.

       Duma said his organization would like to see similar provisions extended to all

unclaimed ashes, “We would like to be able to find some appropriate disposition after a

similar period of time for these unclaimed ashes whether it’s entombment or burial.”

       There is no estimate of how much the burial of unclaimed ashes would cost, but

both Duma and Naeyaert said any expense would be minimal. Duma added that it’s the

cost of keeping the ashes at the funeral homes for extended periods that is worrisome.

       The bill is in the House Committee on Military and Veterans Affairs and

Homeland Security.