

Why should the relatives of the deceased have the final say on it? Is the corpse their property?
Yes, it makes the most sense for the corpse to be their property, unless the deceased has specified what to do with it instead.
You know, like it’s done with everything else a dead person leaves behind.
If it were, they could choose to take it home and let it rot in the basement. Or cut it into pieces and feed it to dogs. Or use it for target practice, stuff it like a piñata.
No, laws regulate what you can and can’t do with your property.
A gun is your property, but you can’t shoot it wherever, cause it is dangerous.
If you let a corpse rot in your basement or throw it in the woods, that poses a danger to others or the groundwater, so you can’t do that.
A meat sack is a thing.
And in our system, for every single thing which exists, there is someone who ultimately decides what to do with it. An owner.
This is the question: Who owns this thing?