Naope v. Serenity Family Mortuary, Forest Lawn Memorial-Park Association, et al.
Plaintiff alleged the cemetery client was liable for misconduct for mortuary and funeral services for Plaintiff’s deceased son. Plaintiff alleged that the death certificate issued for her deceased son and the burial permit contained erroneous information, leading her to claim doubt that her son’s remains were buried by Defendants. Plaintiff also alleged that Defendants had a duty to identify the remains of her son prior to burial.
Forest Lawn moved for summary judgment on the grounds that there was no legal duty to prepare the death certificate, obtain the burial permit, and identify the remains where it provided only the burial space and no mortuary services. The Court granted summary judgment, finding that Forest Lawn met its burden on summary judgment that it had no legal duty to plaintiff pursuant to the parties’ contract or statute to conduct mortuary and funeral services or to verify the identity of Plaintiff’s decedent.