Was your family harmed by funeral home negligence in Texas?
At Greenberg Streich Injury Lawyers, we provide funeral home negligence representation on a contingency basis, with no attorney fees unless we recover compensation for your family.
If a funeral home, crematory, or embalming facility mishandled your loved one’s remains, our Texas funeral home negligence lawyer can obtain the provider’s records, identify each responsible business, and pursue compensation for mental anguish and financial losses. At Greenberg Streich Injury Lawyers, our founders bring more than 25 years of combined experience in serious injury and wrongful death litigation to claims against funeral service providers. Schedule a free consultation to discuss the circumstances and the options available to your family.
Funeral Home Negligence Lawyer Texas
Funeral home negligence is the failure of a funeral establishment, crematory, or their employees to use reasonable care in handling a deceased person’s body. Texas courts have permitted close family members to recover damages for mental anguish caused by the negligent mishandling of a body, even when no one suffered a physical injury.
The Texas Funeral Service Commission received 262 jurisdictional complaints in fiscal year 2024 while licensing more than 1,600 funeral homes, crematories, and embalming facilities, according to its legislative appropriations request. Some of those complaints involved burying or cremating the wrong person. A regulatory complaint can lead to discipline against a license, but compensation comes through a civil claim, which a funeral home negligence attorney pursues on the family’s behalf.
Types of Funeral Home Negligence Cases We Handle in Texas
Funeral home and mortuary negligence takes several forms, and more than one business may share fault. We represent families in claims against funeral homes, crematories, embalming facilities, cemeteries, and transport services.
- Misidentified remains. These cases arise when a body is released to the wrong family, buried under another person’s name, or presented at a viewing where relatives do not recognize the deceased. We review intake logs, identification tags, and release forms to establish where identification failed.
- Unauthorized or mistaken cremation. Cremation cannot be reversed. When a provider cremates without a valid authorization, or cremates the wrong person, we examine the signed authorization, the chain-of-custody documents, and the crematory’s operating records.
- Incorrect or commingled cremated remains. Some families learn that an urn holds another person’s remains, or remains combined with those of others. Crematory logs and identification procedures are central to proving how the error happened.
- Improper storage and decomposition. Refrigeration failures, delayed preparation, and bodies left in vehicles or unsecured areas can cause deterioration that prevents an open-casket service. We establish how long the body was held and under what conditions.
- Embalming and preparation errors. This category includes embalming performed without consent, damage to the body during preparation, and preparation that disregards the family’s written or religious instructions.
- Lost remains. Losing a body, or part of one, is among the most serious failures a provider can commit. Remains often pass through a hospital, a transport service, and a crematory before reaching the funeral home, so several businesses may share responsibility.
- Burial and interment errors. Burial in the wrong plot, a damaged casket, or a failed vault may require disinterment and a second service. The cemetery and the funeral home can each bear part of the fault.
- Transport and shipping errors. Remains sent to the wrong city, delayed for days, or handled carelessly during transfer can support a claim against the carrier in addition to the funeral home.
Why Choose Greenberg Streich Injury Lawyers as My Funeral Home Negligence Lawyer in Texas?
Knowledge of How Insurers Defend Businesses
Funeral homes and crematories carry liability insurance, and their carriers evaluate claims as any commercial insurer does. Mike Streich spent nearly a decade representing corporations and insurers, including Lloyd’s of London syndicates, before turning to plaintiff work. Mr. Streich draws on that background when we request records and prepare for the defenses a carrier is likely to raise.
Matt Greenberg, a graduate of Baylor Law School’s Practice Court program, has served as lead trial counsel in record-setting Texas cases. Super Lawyers has recognized Mr. Greenberg as a Rising Star and Mr. Streich as a Texas Rising Star. Mr. Greenberg and Mr. Streich founded the firm to give serious cases the direct attention of senior trial lawyers.
Results Our Attorneys Have Recovered for Texas Families
Our attorneys have recovered more than $348 million for clients, including these results for families who lost a loved one:
- $37.5 million Dallas County verdict for the family of a truck driver
- $35 million settlement for the family of a young woman in Fort Worth, then the largest in Tarrant County
- $11 million wrongful death settlement
- $7.5 million wrongful death settlement
We accept funeral home negligence cases on a contingency fee basis, so your family pays no attorney fees unless we recover compensation.
What Is Important to Understand About a Funeral Home Negligence Case?
Claims against funeral providers differ from most injury cases in two respects. The harm is primarily emotional, and nearly all of the evidence is held by the defendant.
Damages, Liability, and Compensation for Funeral Home Negligence Cases
A provider that accepts custody of a body assumes a duty to handle it with reasonable care. When its employees fall below that standard and the family is harmed as a result, the family can recover by proving negligence against the provider, as in other Texas injury claims. Where several businesses contributed to the error, Texas proportionate responsibility rules assign each a percentage of fault. Recoverable damages generally include the following:
- Mental anguish. This compensates the grief and distress the provider’s conduct caused, and it is usually the largest element of the claim.
- Funeral and burial costs. Families can seek amounts paid for services performed improperly, along with the cost of disinterment, reburial, or a second service.
- Related expenses. Travel and similar costs incurred because of the error may also be recoverable.
- Exemplary damages. These require proof of fraud, malice, or gross negligence by clear and convincing evidence. Concealing a mistake or altering records is the type of conduct that raises this question.
What Are Important Aspects of a Funeral Home Negligence Case?
The provider’s records are the central evidence. Intake forms, identification tags, refrigeration logs, and chain-of-custody documents show who handled the body and when. Because funeral homes do not keep those records indefinitely, we send written preservation requests at the start of every case.
Regulatory history also matters. The Commission’s license search shows whether an establishment is licensed and allows the public to review disciplinary actions. A family may also file a complaint with the Commission, a process separate from any civil claim.
When one of several defendants settles early, Texas settlement-credit rules affect what the family can recover from the others. Any early offer should therefore be evaluated in light of the full case.
What Is the Funeral Home Negligence Case Timeline?
Texas generally requires a negligence lawsuit to be filed within two years after the claim accrues. Some errors come to light only later, such as a mistake revealed after burial. In that situation, the discovery rule may delay the start of the period, depending on the facts.
- Case review. We meet with the family, review its documents, and determine whether the facts support a claim.
- Investigation. Preservation letters go out first, followed by requests for the provider’s records, a review of its licensing history, and witness interviews.
- Presentation of the claim. We present the claim and supporting evidence to the provider’s insurer.
- Litigation, if necessary. If the insurer does not resolve the claim fairly, we file suit, and both sides exchange documents and take depositions.
- Resolution. Most cases resolve through negotiation or mediation. Those that do not proceed to trial.
What Should You Bring to Your Funeral Home Negligence Consultation?
The paperwork from the funeral arrangements often answers early questions about who handled the remains. Please bring as many of these materials as you have:
- The funeral contract, itemized statement, and receipts show what the family purchased.
- Signed authorizations, such as a cremation authorization or embalming consent, identify who approved each step.
- A prepaid funeral contract or written family instructions establish what the provider agreed to do.
- Emails, letters, and text messages with the provider often document when the family first raised concerns.
A Texas funeral home negligence attorney from our firm will review these materials with you and explain whether the facts support a claim. If the evidence does not support one, we will say so at that meeting.
Reach Out to Greenberg Streich Injury Lawyers to Schedule a Consultation
Greenberg Streich Injury Lawyers represents families across Texas in claims against funeral homes, crematories, and related providers. You pay no attorney fees unless we recover compensation. After you contact our office, our Texas funeral home negligence lawyer will review what happened and explain the process. We then follow up to arrange a meeting at a time that suits your family. Contact us to schedule a free consultation.
