The cremated remains of Mrs Gosling had been interred in a family grave together with the remains of her mother and sister. The burial rights over that grave were owned by her niece. When Mrs Gosling's husband of 51 years died, their daughter sought to bury his cremated remains with those of his wife, in accordance with the expressed wishes of both of her parents. The niece refused permission, citing unspecified private reasons for the refusal. Mr Gosling's remains were interred nearby in the same cemetery. Mrs Gosling's daughter applied promptly for a faculty permitting the exhumation of her mother's remains from the family plot in order that they be re-interred with her father's remains. The faculty was granted on the basis that a mistake had been made. Although the mistake was not the sort of administrative mistake envisaged by the court in Re Blagdon Cemetery [2002] Fam 299, the categories set down in that case were not exhaustive. In this case there had been a long-standing expectation and intention that Mr and Mrs Gosling's remains would be buried together and, when faced with the niece's refusal to permit the burial, the daughter had done all that she reasonably could in the circumstances. [RA]
No CrossRef data available.