FSE 116 Final Study Guide
Which of these terms is the best to use around the funeral home to describe a dead body?
"Could you help me dress Mr. Howard?"
Marla Grant is upset and suing her sister-in-law, Paula Johnson, because Marla's brother, Victor, died, and Paula (who is Victor's wife), did not even call Marla to inform her of the death, nor did Paula inform Marla as to the time of the funeral service, and Marla (who was out of town) was too late to attend any of the services. What is the probable outcome of the case?
Although bordering on uncaring, it is Paula's right to inform, include, or exclude whoever she wishes.
Why do many people set up preneeds before they begin receiving governmental assistance?
Assets may need to be lessened in order to receive assistance.
"Curb cuts" -
Assist in movement of people with physical challenges.
What length of time does a preneed contract purchaser have to cancel an initial door-to-door transaction that was made that resulted in a sale?
Before midnight of the third business day after the transaction.
The funeral director agrees to place certain flowers in the casket, but doesn't do so. This violation results in a family member having a heart attack. The funeral director is primarily guilty of a/an-
Breach of contract.
Donliver Funeral Home performs 50 cases annually. It is across the street from Briggs-Stratton Funeral Home, which performs 500 services annually. When speaking about Americans with Disabilities accommodations-
Briggs-Stratton Funeral Home may be held to a higher degree of responsibility than Donliver Funeral Home.
Most courts consider funeral homes-
Businesses.
Dead human remains that have donated for anatomical research are frequently called:
Cadavers
"Every dead human being is entitled to a decedent burial." This statement has its origins in:
Common Law.
A funeral director derives his or her legal and contractual requirements from the contract, state statutes, and __________.
Common law.
What type of law helps to "fill in the gaps" of our legal system?
Common law.
What type of law is nicknamed the "unwritten law", but ironically more has been written about this type than any other type?
Common law.
What type of law provides most of the principles that govern our basic rights as members of society?
Common law.
Jackson Funeral service does not have a crematory, so they have transferred Ellon Miller's body to Brimston Crematory for cremation. The Jackson staff left the body with the crematory and returned to the funeral home. What custody does the Miller family retain? (The family is at their residence)
Constructive
Jackson Funeral service does not have a crematory, so they have transferred Ellon Miller's body to Brimston Crematory for cremation. The Jackson staff left the body with the crematory and returned to the funeral home. What custody does the funeral home have?
Constructive.
Kelly Pardue's body has been taken from the accident scene to Yehling Mortuary. The Pardue family has gone home for the evening. What custody does the Pardue family have over Kelly's body?
Constructive.
An agreement between the funeral director and another competent party where the funeral director agrees to furnish desired services and merchandise and the family agrees to pay you for the service and merchandise is called what document?
Contract.
The opposite of a cash transaction would be a/an:
Credit transaction.
It should be remembered that- technically- ________ isn't a method of disposition, but actually one step in the disposition process.
Cremation.
A disclaimer of warranties:
Directs the liability for faulty merchandise back to the manufacturer, instead of the funeral home.
Mortuary law consists of those laws that peculiarly relate to the _____ of the dead.
Disposal.
The Anatomical Gift Act deals with:
Donating all or parts of human remains for research or transplantation.
In which of the following scenarios is the funeral director innocent:
During a funeral service, a volunteer pallbearer closes a limousine door on a family member.
A flat brain wave can be demonstrated by a/an:
E.E.G.
Currently across the United States, the most common method of final disposition is:
Earth Burial.
What is the primary public agency that one should make report when scattering human cremated remains?
Environmental Protection Agency.
Concerning funeral homes and AIDS cases:
Funeral homes cannot refuse AIDS cases and may not impose any surcharge because of the case.
Which of these would be under greater scrutiny or mandates by the ADA:
Funeral homes that are currently being built.
Which of these would not cause a funeral home to be considered a ?nuisance??
Funeral prices being considered ?unreasonable? with the surrounding area.
A decedent is assaulted at Rest Insured Funeral Home. The funeral director never had any reason to suspect that this would happen in their small, quiet community; therefore the funeral home never had an alarm system installed. The funeral director is ________.
Guilty.
A funeral director is ______ for allowing a minister to slip on artificial grass and become injured. (funeral director did not caution the minister to be careful)
Guilty.
What individual wanted more simple laws, but felt that the law should favor those of higher social class? He was also credited with establishing the first malpractice laws.
Hammurabi
The McMillan family comes in for arrangements and demands to see their daughter, who your funeral home has, but is in the process of being embalmed. The family is adamant that they will not wait- they want to see their daughter NOW. What is the most legal, probable outcome?
Have the embalmer stop embalming, try to "clean up" as best as possible in a short amount of time, drape other decedents in the room, drape the body they wish to see, and bring them in.
The concept of Stare Decisis helps one to refrain from-
Having to decide a like case all over again.
A funeral director that rents a limousine and driver from a livery service to transport families should be aware of what?
If the funeral director holds out the car and driver to be his own, if the driver causes an accident, the funeral director can be held liable.
How are accruals on preneed insurance policies taxed?
Insurance funded accruals are not taxed.
Most states' laws require embalming if the body is going to be involved in-
Interstate transportation.
A volunteer driver is an operator of a motor vehicle that ____ under the direct control of the funeral director.
Is not.
Embalming an infectious case-
Is required by ADA if the family orders it.
The majority of the goods and services selected are 'spelled out' in the funeral contract. This is mainly because the FTC requires funeral homes to:
Itemize their prices.
In Wilson v Ferguson (Tex, 1988) the funeral director:
Left the gravesite before he should have.
Which of these would not be considered as a First Priority:
Lower all cabinets and other public access areas.
Punitive damages and ______________ awards are the most common damages that are sought against negligent funeral directors.
Mental anguish.
The family's right to take custody of the body involves the custody of the body "intact", which means in the same condition it was in at the time of death. Unauthorized embalming would definitely change the condition and appearance of the body, thereby constituting what?
Mutilation.
Unauthorized embalming is considered ___________.
Mutilation.
When determining whether or not a funeral home is a nuisance in its own geographical area, the courts would probably look primarily to the funeral home's: (remember the definition of "nuisance"?..)
Neighbors of the funeral home
When the early church exercised dominion over a decedent and burial was under the control of the church, this was considered to be the ___________ theory of legal status of a dead body.
No-Property Theory,
Do the bones of a skeleton constitute a "dead body"?
No.
Does the receiving institution have to accept the anatomical gift if the gift is made in a legal format?
No.
Is 'burial insurance' the same product as 'funeral insurance'?
No.
Is a dead body considered "property" in the ordinary sense of the word?
No.
North Mortuary, Inc., has an embalming charge of $450.00 and they also charge $100.00 extra if they embalm a person that has meningitis, Jacobs-Kreutzfeldt, Hepatitis, or HIV. Is this a legal practice?
No.
Only the amount paid on the contract with accruals will be paid at the time of death if the contract is:
Non-guaranteed.
How necessary is it for a plaintiff to show physical injury to recover for mental anguish?
Not necessary.
Which of the following is not one of the criteria that courts examine to determine the 'reasonableness of a funeral bill'?
Number of survivors.
The Americans with Disabilities Act is designed to:
Offer the disabled full use and enjoyment of public accomodations.
Who is primarily liable for paying a funeral bill?
Person that signs the contract.
What empowers a state's legislature to enact laws for the protection of the general public's health, safety, and welfare?
Police power.
A funeral director must safeguard his or her passengers when conveying them to or from funeral rites and ceremonies. The funeral director is considered a ___________ carrier.
Private.
ADA's main purpose is to:
Provide disabled individuals full use and enjoyment of public accommodations.
When you agree and contract to embalm a body, you agree to use the skill and the care of a reasonably ________________ person, skilled in the art of embalming.
Prudent and careful.
What type of monetary awards are considered to best "punish" the wrongdoer?
Punitive damages.
Nuisance (when speaking of funeral homes) usually involves the inappropriate use of:
Real property.
Modern civil law is largely based on-
Roman law.
Myrtle Rainor, age 82, makes a preneed for $6200. She wants to ensure that her family will not have to pay anything at the time of her death. What is the best way to ensure this?
She should purchase a guaranteed product.
The right to attend a funeral service or funeral ceremonies is a ______ right.
Social.
Why have many states' preneed laws been attacked by third-party sellers?
Some states deprive preneed sellers of available income.
It is a well-recognized rule that ___________ has the first right and duty of disposal of a decedent.
Spouse.
Statutes originate from:
States' legislature.
The Talmudic Law is largely based on:
The Old testament.
What person and lawgiver was considered to be the judge of Christendom?
The Pope.
Maritime law or the Laws of the High Seas emphasizes the authority of a captain over his/her vessel once at sea. In earlier times (100 or more years ago) Should a passenger or crewmember on board the vessel happen to die while on board, and the body is deemed to be a nuisance by the captain-
The captain may have the body cast overboard at his discretion.
What was the 'moral of the story' of Ross v. Forest lawn, 1984?
The cemetery should have honored their agreement with the mother.
The scattering of cremated remains need to be at least ______ nautical mile(s) from the shoreline.
Three.
What are the possible fines for a first offense with the ADA?
Up to 50,000.
"If a man commits murder, then his punishment shall be that his life be taken in like manner." This would be an example of laws handed down by _______________.
Ur-Nammu.
The beginnings or law are largely credited to-
Ur-Nammu.
Generally, what is the difficulty in locating a funeral home in a residential area?
Very difficult.
In which of these cases is there a law that says the body MUST be embalmed:
When the body is to be shipped by public carrier across state lines.
The ADA requires funeral homes to make changes:
Which are readily achievable.
Who has the primary right and duty of disposal of Larry Minter, age 75?
Wife, Mary, age 74.
Lamm v Shingleton (NC, 1949) is a case that could have been avoided if the funeral director:
Would have properly secured a burial vault.
Does "good faith" present a good defense if being investigated or inspected by the ADA and your facilities fall below their standards.
Yes, if the funeral home can demonstrate that they tried- as best as resources would allow- to comply with the standards, then the ADA will consider this in their ruling.
Can the wishes of a decedent in their last will testament be held against the wishes of survivors?
Yes.
Is a family allowed to change funeral homes- even after they have contracted with one funeral home for the services of a decedent?
Yes.
Is it possible that dead human remains be cast overboard of an ocean-going vessel if the captain deems it necessary for the protection of health?
Yes.
To be considered a 'dead body', does the object have to be recognizeable as a dead human body?
Yes.
Mutilation, ____________________ involved in embalming a body.
although slight and necessary, is
Trespassers ________________ owed a high degree of care by the landowner or homeowner.
are not.
The donor is the:
person making the gift of a body or body part.
A funeral home would prefer that:
the manufacturers of the merchandise stand behind and guarantee their own products.
Darla Howell dies at home. her family is with her at the time of her death. The family has ______ custody of her remains.
Actual
The family of Howard Edwards releases his body to Patton Mortuary. What custody does Patton Mortuary have after making the removal or transfer of remains?
Actual
If the person having the right and duty of disposal has constructive custody, then that person can have ____ custody whenever they wish.
Actual.
What type of custody does Reading Crematory have over the remains of Ginger Deaver,who is at their facility and about to be cremated?
Actual.
What type of relationship must be proven before a funeral director can be held responsible for a negligent automobile driver?
Agency.
What was the monetary award when a funeral director did not bury a cowboy hat with the deceased as requested by the wife of the deceased?
100,000.
A door-to-door sale is defined as a sale of consumer goods or services exceeding ________ in which the seller personally solicits the sale and the sale is made at a place other than at the seller's place of interest.
25.00
What was the precedent set by Dumouchelle v Duke University, 1984?
A decedent's last wishes in a will can be held against the wishes of the next-of-kin.
