Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Wisconsin

Re: Death of my son

It is unclear to me how a fiancee could make the funeral arrangements if you were also in Wisconsin at the time of your son's death. Your son's will would control how and who would make his funeral arrangements.

If he had no will, then the parents would be the decedent's next of kin and entitled to his estate, assuming he had no children and his fiancee was not pregnant with his child. If your son had no will and no children, then you, as his parent, would be the person to whom the responsibility of funeral arrangements would usually fall.

Whether you are entitled to any of the sympathy cards, depends on whether the sender sent it to you or the fiancee. Friends of the fiancee may have sent sympathy cards to her alone, in which case you would not be entitled to them. Only if the cards were intended for you would you be entitled to them.

You have not given enough information to make a determination whether a cause of action exists, however, even if one did exist, you would need to prove damages. Unless you were subjected to extreme conduct by the fiancee and had physical symptoms associated with emotional distress caused by the fiancee's acts alone and not from the fact that your son died unexpectedly, it is unlikely that you have a lawsuit.

Since you did not provide any facts of outrageous conduct by your son's fiancee, I would try to think of her take charge behavior as a blessing because it relieved you of a lot of extra worry over his funeral details.

I extend my condolences in your time of great loss, but you should also consider that your son's fiancee has also suffered a great loss and is grieving herself. Under such trying times, people do not always behave appropriately, and she may well have offended you, albeit unintentionally. With the facts that you presented, forgiving your son's fiancee and recounting fond memories of your son will put you in a better stead than pursuing any litigation.

This sounds like a situation where a grief counselor would be of more benefit to you than an attorney. If you still have questions about legal issues, I charge $45 for the initial 1/2 hour consultation. 614-3388