Call for law update as burial disputes can cost mixed-race families thousands to resolve

Call for law update as burial disputes can cost mixed-race families thousands to resolve

Thursday, November 9th, 2023

The Burials and Cremation Act, created over half a century ago, needs to reflect modern funeral requirements of the ever broadening racial and religious mix in New Zealand families, an industry expert says.

Michael Powell, general manager of Davis Funerals, said gaps in the law have seen families of mixed ethnicities and religions spending tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees to resolve disputes around funeral arrangements immediately following the death of a loved one.

Between 2001 and 2013 there have been changes in ethnic intermarriage in New Zealand, especially among Māori. Interracial marriage has become common among Māori, Pasifika and Asian people and significantly higher for people born in Aoteaora. Read more

Related Posts:

Additional reading

News category: New Zealand, News Shorts.

Tags: Burial costs, Funeral, The Burials and Cremation Act

Analysis and Comment
- The inheritance of Anzac Day
  
  Each year the eve of Anzac Day is given over to the International Day of Multiculturalism and Diplomacy for Peace. This year the conjunction is particularly apposite at a time when the air is full of wars and rumours of Read more
- Experts at Rome meet – delve into historical abuses of power
  
  The nature of power and how the abuse of power has been dealt with in the past and present were the focus of an international conference in Rome attended by about a dozen scholars earlier this month. Experts in history, Read more
- Gathered around the altar
  
  “Without liturgical reform, there is no reform of the Church,” Pope Francis said emphatically last February during an address to the plenary assembly of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments. His remarks came around the Read more
- The real cause of the war in Gaza—and the only path to peace
  
  We have already seen six months of war in Gaza. Now, it seems that Israel is beginning its last phase of conquest, after ordering a million and a half people to take refuge in Rafah, a border town with Egypt. Read more

Search CathNews

Search for:
CathNews
is free

First Name:

Last Name:

Email:
Great Reads