When a Funeral Home Makes a Devastating Mistake, We Make It Right.
Choose the attorney who will fight for you when you need it most.
Losing someone you love is hard enough. You should be able to trust a funeral home to treat your loved one with respect, care, and professionalism. When that trust is broken — when a funeral home mishandles remains, buries the wrong person, loses ashes, or fails to perform promised services — your family deserves answers and accountability.
Malley Law Firm represents families across Texas in cases involving funeral home negligence, cremation errors, and cemetery mistakes. We hold funeral homes accountable when they violate the trust placed in them during life’s most painful moments.
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Cemetery & Funeral Home Negligence Videos
Do you feel you have a claim against a funeral home or cemetery. Contact us today. The call and consultation are free.
Malley Law The Funeral Home & Cemetery Attorney
What Is Funeral Home Negligence?
A funeral home has a legal duty of care to your loved one’s body from the moment they take
custody until the final disposition — whether that means properly delivering the ashes to
the family or ensuring the body is respectfully placed in its final resting place.
Along with this legal duty, funeral homes also have an ethical responsibility to handle every
person in their care with honesty, integrity, and professionalism. They are expected to
perform their work competently, avoid deceit or misrepresentation, and always act in a
trustworthy manner. When they fail to do so, it’s not only a breach of trust — it’s negligence.
Types of Funeral Home Mistakes and Cases We Handle.
Each case is different, but most funeral home negligence falls into one or more of the
following categories:
1. Mishandling of Human Remains
2. Wrong Body or Identification Errors
3. Wrong Burial or Plot Errors
4. Cremation Mistakes and Lost Ashes
5. Unauthorized Embalming or Cremation
6. Failure to Provide Promised Services
7. Improper Handling or Storage
8. Failure to Embalm or Late Embalming
9. Wrongfully Exhuming or Digging Up a Body Without Permission
No Fee Unless We Win.
You don’t pay us unless we recover compensation for your family.
Our commitment is simple: we stand by you from start to finish, and you owe us nothing
unless we win your case.
Millions Recovered For Grieving Families.
Malley Law Firm has secured settlements in the millions of dollars for families harmed by
funeral home negligence. We have also gone to trial and won verdicts exceeding millions
against negligent funeral homes, crematories, and cemeteries. We understand what these
cases mean — they’re about accountability, justice, and restoring a family’s peace of mind.
We Handle Cases Anywhere in Texas.
From the Panhandle to the Gulf Coast — Malley Law Firm handles funeral home negligence
cases anywhere in Texas.
We currently represent families in dozens of counties across the state, including Bexar,
Harris, Dallas, Travis, Jefferson, Smith, and Tarrant Counties. Wherever your family is
located, we’re ready to take your case and stand with you.
What You Can Do?
If a funeral home or cemetery made a serious mistake, you have rights. These cases are not
just about money — they’re about restoring dignity and protecting other families from the
same harm.
Call (409) 212-8888 or Contact Us Online today to speak with a funeral home negligence
attorney. Consultations are free, confidential, and handled with compassion.
You trusted them to do the right thing. When they didn’t, we’ll make it right.
Tell Us Your Story
Free consultation. Se Habla Español.
FAQs
Free consultation. Se Habla Español.
No. We pursue money damages for breach of contract, misrepresentations, and errors on the part of the funeral home, crematory, or cemetery. We are paid a legal fee contingent upon recovery of compensation for you. Coordinating or handling a burial or service is an administrative service that likely would be compensated by an hourly fee for the time involved.
So often we receive calls because of confusion over who did or should be making the decisions with the funeral home . The Health and Safety Code has a section 711.002 called “Disposition of Remains; Duty to Inter” that gives priority of who has the right to control the disposition of the decedent’s remains. The priority is follows
(1) the person designated in a written instrument signed by the decedent;
(2) the decedent’s surviving spouse;
(3) any one of the decedent’s surviving adult children;
(4) either one of the decedent’s surviving parents;
(5) any one of the decedent’s surviving adult siblings;
(6) any one or more of the duly qualified executors or administrators of the decedent’s estate; or
(7) any adult person in the next degree of kinship in the order named by law to inherit the estate of the decedent.
The Texas Funeral Service Commission website allows you verify the funeral director or funeral home is licensed with a public search using location, name, or license number. https://vo.licensing.
The Texas Funeral Service Commission uploads a chart showing who have been proven to commit a violation of the Commission laws. https://www.tfsc.texas.
Who decides if a corpse/deceased can be removed from a grave is governed by the Texas Health and Safety Code. A body can be removed from a grave with 1) the written consent of the cemetery organization operating the cemetery and 2) the written consent of the current plot owner and 3) in order of priority,
(a) the decedent’s surviving spouse;
(b) the decedent’s surviving adult children;
(c) the decedent’s surviving parents;
(d) the decedent’s adult siblings; or
(e) the adult person in the next degree of kinship in the order named by law to inherit the estate of the decedent.
If consent cannot be obtained, the remains may be removed by court order of a county court of the county where the cemetery is located.
Removal of remains must be supervised by a cemetery keeper, a licensed funeral director, medical examiner, a coroner, or professional archeologist.
You may have a civil lawsuit and a valid complaint. The Texas Funeral Service Commission regulates funeral directors, embalmers, funeral homes, and crematories. You have a right to file a complaint if you believe a person or business violated laws or rules. The complaint form can be found on the Texas funeral commission website. You will be required to provide the following information
Who is filing the complaint
Who or which business is the complaint against?
An explanation of how you believe the funeral director or business violated a law or rule. You do not need to state the specific law laws or rules broken. You can explain in a “story” style.
Supporting documents should be provided if you have them. This may include a contract for services, emails, texts or other information obtained.
Whether you discussed your complaint with the person or the business and any response.
Whether you have filed a complaint with any other Texas agency, like the Banking Commission
Your attorney and any case number for a court proceeding.
Names of witnesses.
You must mail the completed form to the Texas Funeral Commission at 333 Guadalupe Street, Suite 2-110.
Complaints must be filed within two (2) years of the events giving rise to the complaint.
If you file a complaint, your case will be assigned a number and an investigator. The complaint will be reviewed to determine if the Funeral Commission has authority over the matter and next if any violation of law or rule occurred. The process will continue if any violation is found. The Funeral Commission website has a helpful chart.
WHY MALLEY LAW
