Can I leave my body to my friend when I die?

Question

So when I die I want my friend to keep my body parts in jars and maybe make a mask out of my face or something like that. Can I do that? I’m only 17 so I don't know if my parents would have a say or if a will would even work for me being in parental control.

Answer 1

It depends on where you live. In Washington, RCW 68.50.110 requires that

Except in cases of dissection provided for in RCW 68.50.100, and where human remains are rightfully carried through or removed from the state for the purpose of burial elsewhere, human remains lying within this state, and the remains of any dissected body, after dissection, must be decently buried, undergo cremation, alkaline hydrolysis, or natural organic reduction within a reasonable time after death.

Per RCW 68.50.130,

Every person who performs a disposition of any human remains, except as otherwise provided by law, in any place, except in a cemetery or a building dedicated exclusively for religious purposes, is guilty of a misdemeanor. Disposition of human remains following cremation, alkaline hydrolysis, or natural organic reduction may also occur on private property, with the consent of the property owner; and on public or government lands or waters with the approval of the government agency that has either jurisdiction or control, or both, of the lands or waters.

So cutting the body up and sticking the bits in a jar is illegal, but cremating or dissolving it and keeping the remains in a jar is legal.

As for parental permission, RCW 68.50.160 says that

A person has the right to control the disposition of his or her own remains without the predeath or postdeath consent of another person. A valid written document expressing the decedent's wishes regarding the place or method of disposition of his or her remains, signed by the decedent in the presence of a witness, is sufficient legal authorization for the procedures to be accomplished.

It does not require that the person be an adult.

Answer 2

england-and-wales

A person has no ability to control, in a legally binding way, what happens to their body after they die.

The power to determine the manner of disposal of your body lies with the personal representative (PR) of your estate. If you die without a will (intestate) then the PR is referred to as an administrator and will be a relative, determined according to a pre-determined order of priority (the first four categories being spouses, then children, then parents, then siblings). If you die with a will then the PR is referred to as an executor. You can decide in your will who your executor will be.

This means that the best you can achieve is as follows:

1. Write a will, and express your wishes for your body in that will.
2. Appoint an executor, or executors, who you believe will be the most likely to respect your wishes.
3. Optionally, you can also make your executor a beneficiary by allocating some money or assets to them in the will and making this conditional on your wishes being respected. In this way you incentivise the executor to carry out your wishes.

Note that 3 is potentially problematic. This is because an executor has a legal duty to act in the best interest of the beneficiaries. Making them a conditional beneficiary gives them a conflict of interest. If they carry out your wishes, they get paid. If they don't carry out your wishes, someone else (who they owe duties to) gets paid. I'm not sure if there is any case law which has dealt with this type of scenario.

If you are under 18 then you cannot normally have a will and you are stuck with whoever the law says your administrator is. If you don't trust that person to carry out your wishes then you can apply for a court order to appoint an administrator of your choice. However it is unlikely that you will succeed. That's because you are still alive and the courts are reluctant to issue "prospective" court orders. A prospective order is one which deals with a situation that doesn't yet exist but might in the future. You will need to satisfy the court that the issue is sufficiently likely to happen and that there's a good reason it needs to be dealt with now instead of later. In my opinion it's extremely unlikely that the court would accept your proposal as being a good reason for a prospective order.

Another issue is that your friend might need to be regulated by and/or obtain a licence from the Human Tissue Authority in accordance with the Human Tissue Act 2004.

Answer 3

Most U.S. jurisdictions require you to be eighteen years old to write a valid will, and this would probably also apply to a directive regarding disposition of your body. Many other countries have similar limitations.

This said, age is not the primary concern in this case.

I want my friend to keep my body parts in jars and maybe make a mask out of my face or something like that.

A disposition of your body at your death is something separate and distinct from a Last Will and Testament (analytically, even if it is included in the same document). No every U.S. jurisdiction even expressly provides for their existence by statute, or even honors them.

Furthermore, every U.S. state has regulations concerning the proper disposition of body parts.

Typically, the permitted dispositions of dead body parts include organ donation, donation of the body for medical research, burial, and cremation. Sometimes there are a few other options, but using body parts to make a mask, or just displaying body parts for symbolic or artistic purposes is rarely one of the permitted options.

So, even if you are in a jurisdiction that permits an adult to make a written declaration regarding the disposition of their body at death, the disposition that you suggest would probably not be allowed, except to the extent that your friend is participating in legitimate medical research and has the credentials and permission to do so, which do not seem to be the case.

Answer 4

germany Nope!

Dead bodies are not a property that can be handled as you want: in all of Germany, there is "Friedhofszwang" - forced burial in a graveyard (or other legal location, e.g. ashes dumped at sea in certain locations). You can dictate who is responsible for your burial, or that you wish your body to be used for research and organ donation before burial, but you can not make it someone else's property.

Further, disallowed handling or disfigurement of dead human bodies is a crime: Störung der Totenruhe §168 StGB. You can't even be pressed into a diamond in Germany, as that violates this paragraph. The only way around is a burial abroad where such a thing is allowed.