Executors

Property in a Corpse, Mummy, Executors

From the book The Clergyman’s Hand-book of Law, about Property in a Corpse, Mummy, Executors (1): The question of property in a corpse has been generally denied. However, in case of a mummy which has become an object of curiosity, the case may be different. Where a testator ordered his body burned and the executor presented a bill for £321 for doing so, the court disallowed it on the ground that when a man is dead his next of kin or executors have the right to dispose of his body; but that as it is not property, a man has no right to bequeath it for a particular purpose.820 Also, where a man was in jail and died during his imprisonment and the jailer refused to give up the body until the debt was paid, the court held that there was no property in the corpse, and therefore there could be no lien upon it and he must surrender it.821

Resources

Notes and References

1. Charles M. Scanlan, The Clergyman’s Hand-book of Law. The Law of Church and Grave (1909), Benziger Brothers, New York, Cincinnati, Chicago

See Also

• Religion
• Church