Joan Marino, Plaintiff-Respondent v. Larry L. Marino, Jr., Brett Marino, Jennifer Marino, John Marino and Dorothy…

Summary

The Supreme Court of New Jersey reversed the Appellate Division, holding that the interment and disinterment provisions of the Cemetery Act must be read separately and that the disinterment statute does not give the surviving spouse primacy over a decedent’s expressed wishes. The Court emphasized the plain meaning of the statutes and rejected the appellate panel’s in pari materia construction. The decision was contested by a dissenting opinion.