It has been reported that the founder of PETA – Ingrid Newkirk – has changed her Will to provide for various body parts to be distributed in the event of her death. The press reports that Ms Newkirk has asked for her neck to be sent to King Charles if he fails to cut ties with pigeon-racing, has asked for a leg to be removed, broken and taken to Aintree to protest against the number of animals injured in racing. In addition, the Will is reported to provide that a section of her heart is bequeathed to Elon Musk since she argues that he must not have a heart as he endorses animal experimentation in the development of his Neuralink brain implant which is intended to read minds.
There is no legal right of ownership in a body. Ingrid Newkirk’s Will apparently appoints a lawyer as her Executor and this will put him or her in the position of being able to call for and dispose of her body in the event of her death.
The Executor can determine how the body of a deceased person is disposed of. The stipulations in their Will are an expression of wishes only, not a direction that has to be followed without deviation. The Executor’s right to decide how to dispose of a body will only be interfered with if it is deemed to be unreasonable.
In Buchanan v Milton [1999] 2 FLR 844 the Court determined that:
“There is no right of ownership in a dead body. However, there is a duty at common law to arrange for its proper disposal”. Usually that is by burial or cremation. The Court may, however, consider whether a body is being disposed of “with all proper respect and decency”.
Will the distribution of body parts to unsuspecting recipients be considered “proper disposal” or a disposal that is respectful and decent? – it may depend on who objects in the event of Ms Newkirk’s death
Those engaging in a dispute about a burial, cremation or funeral need to be carefully advised about the risk they face in costs. If there is a dispute about the validity of a Will that may lead to a dispute as to who the Executor of the Estate – and so the person with control of the body and responsibility for the funeral – will be. If there is no Will the person who might extract a Grant of Letters of Administration may be the right person to deal with the funeral but there may be more than one person with equal standing and a dispute could then arise.
The losing party in any dispute pays the legal costs of the other parties as well as their own so it is important to look objectively at who might have the right to make the funeral arrangements, what the Court may decide and whether there are ways in which to reach agreement about the arrangements that should be made.
Please contact Jennifer Laskey at [javascript protected email address] for more information on this subject.
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