A mother who spent $99,250 fighting in court against her daughter’s request to be cremated reportedly did not attend the funeral in the end.
Holly McGee died in January at the age of 22 after battling a malignant brain tumour and receiving palliative care for several months.
Before her death, she had been staying with her 37-year-old sister, Denise Rennie, and had repeatedly recorded her wish not to be buried in diaries and notebooks.
Even so, Holly’s mother, Carol McGee, took legal action in an attempt to prevent the cremation. The dispute meant Holly’s body was left in a morgue for more than four months while the case was heard, with the proceedings said to have cost close to $100,000.
After the case concluded, Denise spoke publicly about the ordeal and the emotional toll it took on her.
“Holly made wishes – several wishes,” she said.
“She wrote them down, she signed them, she told us, she orally expressed them, and there was over 100 pieces of evidence.
“After four and a half months, it came to the point where I was begging to get Holly out and cremated.”
Denise said her sister had been uncomfortable with the idea of burial, describing it as frightening and saying Holly felt being placed in the ground was “creepy”.
The hearing lasted three days, and the judge ultimately decided that Holly’s stated wishes should be followed.
The judgment written by sheriff Kevin McCarron said: “This will cause pain to those who do not want it to happen. But greater pain would arise if something happened to Holly’s remains that she positively did not want.
“Holly was a young woman, bravely dealing with a terminal illness, scared of death and reluctant to discuss the aftermath but she made it clear enough that she did not want to be buried.”
Discussing her mother, Denise claimed Carol later failed to attend the funeral despite the huge legal bill.
“There’s not a maternal bone in her body, and that’s my own mother I’m saying that about.
“£75,000 ($99,250) to take your daughter, your other daughter, to court for your other daughter that’s passed away, just to bury her, is just insane.”
She concluded: “Why did she go through this court trial and then not turn up to the funeral anyway? It just doesn’t make sense and it’s horrible.”