Tuell McKee Funeral Home

Revdex.com:As long as the business follows through with their services and refund, this complaint can be settledAs far as Facebook is concerned, that is my opinion.As far as "not sitting in with the arrangements", the first thing Heather said to [redacted] and myself was " You don't want to have a service through us do you"?Well, of course we doThat is why we came thereWhy else would we be there?I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] , and find that this resolution is satisfactory to meSincerely, [redacted]

The complainant, the ex-wife of the deceased, who has no legal right-to-control disposition, as defined in RCW 68.50.160, seems to intertwine complaints about legal issues unrelated to the funeral home in the Revdex.com complaintI will do my best to explain our involvement and refer you to the other
parties involved
Tuell-*** Funeral Home is contracted under the Pierce County Medical Examiner’s office (RFP 1411) to provide disposition services for decedents who are unclaimed and/or indigent at the time of their death (per RCW 36.24.155)Our firm was notified of such an instance and responded accordingly, making a diligent effort, alongside Medical Examiner staff, to locate LEGAL next of kinThis decedent had not been seen or heard from in weeks, and was estimated by PCME staff to have been dead for three weeks at the time of discoveryIn alignment with our contract with PCME, and upon discovering that the deceased had a bank account and vehicle (assets which total more than $2500, disqualifying the deceased for an indigent disposition per RCW 36.39.030), vital statistic information, banking information and vehicle information were taken to the estate attorney that our firm uses to oversee cases that convert to estatesFrom there, the law firm of Tuell & Young in Tacoma, WA files the case through the Pierce County Superior Court(Tuell& Young has no interest or ownership in Tuell-*** Funeral Home, and our attorney, Todd JTuell, has never owned or had an interest in the funeral home.)
Originally, when this case was brought to the attorney, the funeral home prepared a statement for a cremation with funeral services, which is done out of respect for the decedent and to give anyone who knew him the opportunity to attend and pay their last respectsCourt approval was sought for the expending of these sums, and approved by the courtAfter that order was entered, Ms*** indicated that she had power of attorney for the son, and wished to have a basic cremation performed without any funeral services. We accommodated her request by having her sign the consent to cremate, and Mr***, as the personal representative also consented to the cremation
The updated Statement of Goods & Services, which was put together based upon the consent signed by Ms*** as power of attorney for the son, includes only our discounted Traditional Direct Cremation ($975) package, and charges for the additional staff and bio-hazard contingencies and equipment needed to safely send our staff to a scene with advanced decomposition, as this wasThe bill total is $(see attached), not “$4800.” While the Pierce County Superior Court had authorized the higher amount, and is approved by a judge overseeing the case before it is paid by the estate, ( so the bill is not without checks-and-balances, nor is the estate being charged for goods or services not rendered) we were able to honor the son’s request through Ms*** as his power of attorney, and only charge the $1,amountSince the complainant is not personally responsible for any charges related to this case, she was not presented with a copy of the bill, as it is not requiredIt is not common-practice for funeral homes to discuss cases with persons who are legally uninvolved Furthermore, to address another concern that she had, estate cases are not offered the even-further discounted Basic Simple Cremation ($595) package, due to the amount of time and paperwork such cases involve
The funeral home properly pursued court approval to handle decedent’s remainsThe court approved those expensesYet when given additional information from Ms*** showing her capacity to act as power of attorney for decedent’s son, and obtaining her consent for a simple cremation without services, the funeral home was able to adjust the bill and charge the amount so indicated aboveContrary to her claims, we responded appropriately and fairly with her under the circumstancesAs stated, because she is not responsible for the charges, she was not entitled to a breakdown (although our attorney has provided to Ms***, through her attorney, with a breakdown of the charges.)
With respect to the decedent’s property, the authority over that decision was with the personal representative, *** ***, to make a cost/benefit analysis of the time and expense of handling the miscellaneous, unvaluable personal property, versus the expense to the estate in dealing with that property, with the advice from counselThat is a legal matter for Ms*** to address to the court regarding the estateMr*** made that analysis as he saw best to minimize costs to the estateAs Ms***, as power of attorney for her son, is represented by counsel in the estate, she should address those concerns to our attorney and the courtFinally, with respect to “taking over the estate”, our counsel informed us early on that the only family member, decedent’s son, is in prison, and is not entitled to act as personal representativeAccording to our counsel, Mr***, a creditor of the estate, does have that authority, and acted on that authority, to handle funeral arrangements and minimize further expense to the estateMs*** should address any concerns to the court through her attorney, as Mr*** is acting appropriately in conjunction with legal counsel, and will continue to do so, in accordance with the probate lawsHe is fully accountable to the courtsMs*** is not a person named under the statute to act as personal representative of the estate, whereas Mr*** isThere was no subterfuge or ill-intent, but rather concern for taking care of decedent’s remains and respecting his memory in all that the funeral home has done
We are funeral directors and not attorneys, so we would refer you to the attorney’s office or Pierce County Superior Court for any other issues regarding Ms*** complaints, which seem to be intertwined in the Revdex.com complaint document

Revdex.com:As long as the business follows through with their services and refund, this complaint can be settled. As far as Facebook is concerned, that is my opinion.As far as "not sitting in with the arrangements", the first thing Heather said to [redacted] and myself was " You don't want to have a service through us do you"?Well, of course we do. That is why we came there. Why else would we be there?I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. Sincerely, [redacted]

As far as Tuell-McKee Funeral Home is concerned, this issue has been addressed AND resolved with deceased's daughter, [redacted] who is listed as the informant on the deceased's death certificate. [redacted] was not in attendance in the arrangement appointment and evidently did not have the LEGAL...

facts prior to this complaint. The insured purchased a pre-paid funeral plan in the amount of $2,600. on 10/14/1998. The interest earned between 10/14/1998 and date of death belongs to the funeral home providing the services, as that is how funeral establishments are able to "guarantee" their costs till the day of death. The policy was written as a burial and was since changed to a cremation. The refund that will be issued to the next-of-kin, [redacted] will be the difference of $2,600 minus cremation services, urns, etc. provided. Estimated refund will be $817.52.This individual or other family members also posted unprofessional comments on Face Book and threats about contacting local news agencies. Tuell-McKee Funeral Home is following the LEGAL boundaries regarding this matter and will continue to do so.This was explained in detail to [redacted]. She stated that she understands and stated she had nothing to do with this Revdex.com complaint, that another family member had filed it.