Constructive custody of the body

{
  "id": "MLC-T-LAW-001226",
  "term": "Constructive custody of the body",
  "field": "Law",
  "definition": "The situation in which one party has the legal right to take actual possession of a dead body even though another party, such as a hospital or funeral home, currently holds it. The person with the right of disposition, usually the surviving spouse or other next of kin, has this status until custody is transferred. It contrasts with actual custody, in which a party physically possesses the body.",
  "url": "https://mlchart.com/terminology/law/constructive-custody-of-the-body/"
}