Who Has the Right to Decide Funeral, Burial or Cremation When Family Disagrees in BC?

This answer covers the law of British Columbia.

In British Columbia, a priority list under the Cremation, Interment and Funeral Services Act decides who controls the body or cremated remains. It starts with the personal representative named in the will, then the spouse, then an adult child, an adult grandchild, a parent and more distant relatives. If the person with the right is unavailable or unwilling, the right passes to the next person in priority.

Where several people share the same rank, such as several adult children, they set the order by agreement, and without agreement it begins with the eldest and descends by age. A written preference in a will or preneed contract binds the person with control, as long as it is consistent with the Human Tissue Gift Act and not unreasonable, impracticable or a cause of hardship. If the family is deadlocked, someone claiming sole control may apply to the Supreme Court, which weighs the spouse's feelings, religious practices, the deceased's reasonable directions, and family hostility.

Funeral directors move a body only on proper authority, and providers are protected for acting on an authorization unless they knew or ought to have known it was false or the signer lacked authority. Who pays is a separate question that depends on the funeral home contract.