They say that death, like taxes, is one of the only certainties in life – unless it happens to involve the vexed question: how should we dispose of bodies?
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That's the issue the Victorian Law Reform Commission will examine over the next few months, amid growing concern that state legislation is out of step with community values.
While most people would assume they have the right to determine what happens to their body when they die, under the law, burial instructions are not legally binding.
Such decisions are instead placed in the hands of an executor, or your next of kin, spouse or adult children – and sometimes, with disastrous consequences.
A request to be buried near your late wife in the Yarra Valley, for instance, could end up with your children scattering your ashes in Broadmeadows. Likewise, a desire to be cremated and placed in a jar on the mantelpiece could just as easily result in your body going six feet under.
Law Reform Commission chairman Philip Cummins said part of the problem is that the legislation underpinning how our bodies are disposed of emerged in 19th-century England, when cremation was illegal and the law presumed everyone wanted a Christian burial.
But the community has moved on, he said, and Victorians may now want greater recognition of their wishes to take into account diverse cultural practices, complex family arrangements, or individual autonomy.
"Where the law came from – 19th-century England – is a very different space from Australia today," Mr Cummins said.
The inquiry was prompted, in part, when a woman wrote to the commission informing them of the death of her mother-in-law, who had specific burial instructions that were not adhered to, sparking a stoush within the family.
The commission will consider whether the law should be changed to enable a person to leave legally binding instructions about how and where their body should be disposed of; the different cultural and spiritual beliefs relating to the final disposal of bodies; and recent legal developments in Australia and overseas.
A discussion paper will be released in coming weeks, followed by three months of consultation.
"It's not just an academic question; a dispute about the disposal of a body can be most distressing," Mr Cummins said.
