Well this one I can actually answer... It's very likely not about being allowed to take the body - it's much more a question of where to take it. If there was going to be a police investigation, they would have taken the body for autopsy and/or to the county morgue. The problem is, if the police determined it to be a natural death and no further investigation will be conducted, then it's up to the family to decide which funeral home to have come get the body (and be responsible for costs for services provided). Although I'm off the streets now for nearly 10 years, I dealt with this probably a hundred times or more as a paramedic. Once we were done it fell to law enforcement to deal with but we often were involved as well.
Anyhow, while it's a difficult situation, you might want to speak with CMM about what he would like done in the event something happened - especially which funeral home (cremation counts) he would like to have handle things. If he ever progresses to hospice (let's hope not) they are very good about handling things like this. It's just not something most people think about - until it happens.
BTW, are you and CMM living together now? Or just spending more and more time together?
DonH Midwest Me 56 WAW-EXW 55 Met 11/95 / Married 5/00 Bomb 6/20/05 / She Filed on 6/2/06 / Divorced on 10/9/06 4 who'd qualify as GF since D & dated about 25 women since D
