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Caution: This document discusses matters of death.
What is an Authorization for Final Disposition?
An Authorization for Final Disposition is an estate planning document which provides authority to a person or persons to take care of your body after you die. For example, if you are unmarried and have no children, you could give a friend the power to get your body from a hospital to the funeral home or crematory of your choice.
Why you should have an Authorization for Final Disposition
As with all estate planning documents an Authorization for Final Disposition is as much for you as it is for the people you love. It provides authority to someone who might otherwise not be able to act without first seeking an order from a court. Beyond allowing you control over who can handle your remains, an Authorization for Final Disposition eliminates potential fights over what happens with your remains.
The Wisconsin Statutes provide a priority list as to who decides what happens with your remains. See Wis. Stat. Sec. 154.30(2)(a). Without an Authorization for Final Disposition, the following gain authority, in order, based on whether there is anyone living and willing to carry out the task in the previous group: spouse; parent; child; sibling; next of kin; and finally, anyone who will take responsibility. If the responsibility falls to children or siblings, and there are multiple survivors in that category, a majority of the survivors are required to make any given decision about the disposition of the remains. Any disagreement among one of the group decisionmakers could lead to the need for a court to step in. All the while, your remains may sit in a morgue, potentially causing an additional daily expense for using the space.
Hopefully, no one will fight over what to do with your remains, but that is the case every estate planning attorney considers while drafting these documents. If you want to help your friends and family avoid those potential arguments, you should have an Authorization for Final Disposition.
Written by associate attorney Andrew Adams.