Can an assisted living facility legally cremate a relative without contacting family? Family’s info was on file, but no one notified them.

If family was "in constant contact with facility and visiting", as you say, then how is it your sister was cremated 30 days ago without your knowledge????

My condolences on your loss.

I don’t think an AL can cremate anyone, and I’d be awfully suspicious of a facility with a crematorium on the premises.

The guardian would be contacted. That would be the legal duty of the facility.
The guardian likely SHOULD have contacted family (morally or from a moral standpoint) but I do not know that the guardian HAD TO contact the family legally. The facility was under no obligation to contact anyone other than the guardian.
It was the guardian who arranged cremation, not the facility; they do not make those decisions.

The family may be devastated, but the fact is that no one in the family qualified to be guardian, or chose to (and we can't know the circumstances involved in all of this).

If this was a sudden death, one without any warning or not predicted, then I can see how some things slipped through the cracks. I would think, if the family was regularly visiting they may have been aware of this impending death? I would think the facility would have had the name of one single family member requesting notifications? But apparently none of this was done.

I am sorry for this grief and this loss, but in the case of a legally appointed guardian they are in charge as though they were the duly appointed son. Theirs is the management and oversite of what is to be done. I am very sorry you feel so let down and that there was such a breach in communication, but of course now this is DONE, and there is nothing to be done about it but mourn your sad loss and move on with your lives. Grief counselors tell us that in grief we often try to "be mad" at someone. Whether that's a doctor, a hospital, a caregiver, a lawyer or whatever, our anger feels so much better to us than grief and loss, which is such a final thing.
I am so sorry you are all going through this.

The facility administrator would call the family, POA, or guardian for the person and notify them.
Our protocol at the AL I worked at was when someone passed away or went to the hospital, the administrator called whoever was legally in charge of them.

If your sister had family who regularly visited her and a sister (you) who's asking advice here, why were none of you her legal guardian? There's living family who visits regularly as you say and your sister still had a state-appointed guardian? Shameful.

The nursing home did not have her cremated. The body got removed from the nursing home then her guardian told the coroner's office how to proceed. This guardian should have called the family if they had some contact information because that would have been the right thing to do morally. They weren't legally obligated to inform any of you. Neither was the nursing home. The nursing home followed their protocol and will have documentation proving they did. No one wants a lawsuit.

Talk to her guardian and see if you can find out about where her ashes are. I can't see how they would have an issue with letting the family have a memorial service and dispose of them as they choose.

<(((((((((((((((HUGS))))))))))))))

AL probably left it to the guardian to notify you. AL's concern would be to have the body removed ASAP.

What may have also happened, if where the sister lived her city has it, the city could cremate her free of charge and her remains would be held by the funeral home that did the cremation.

Just my opinion. This would be standard for someone on Medicaid with a State guardian. I would say it was up to the guardian to contact someone. Medicaid pays a certain amount for the service which would cover cremation. I would want to know where the ashes were. Then u can have a memorial service. Which u can have without the ashes.

While Ohio laws could be different from the norm, guardianship ends at death in my state. Is there an executor?

Your questions should go to the crematorium management. They did the cremation and would be the most familiar with the laws in Ohio. My experience has been that crematoriums are careful to stay within state laws - they don't want this particular situation occurring. When my inlaws were cremated, even though they had made all the arrangements themselves before their deaths - all of my husband's full siblings had to sign off before cremation could occur.

In my family's court-assigned guardianship situation, when my stepFIL passed he was in a facility local to us. We brought my MIL to visit him just a day before he passed. We were contacted right away (but I don't remember if it was the facility or the guardian who contacted us because they spoke to my husband and I doubt he asked). I live in MN, and I don't really know if things transpire like when there's a PoA and then an executor. Usually as soon as the LO passes, the PoA ends their authority and the Executor takes over. My SFIL didn't have an Executor. We had no say in what happened to his remains. Since he was on Medicaid and had no assets, he was cremated. He had a family burial plot and I communicated this info to the guardian/executor but they weren't interested in transporting the cremains there. They asked us who wanted his cremains. After a while, we received a financial report stating where all his SS monies were spent. His guardianship was managed by Lutheran Social Services, which is a large non-profit organization and there was a lot of accountability at every step.

If your sister was in a facility out of state, it made a difficult situation even more distressing. May you receive comfort knowing that she is now at peace.

As I understand it if she had a Guardian that was assigned by the Court it is the Guardian that makes all decisions.
Yes, the family should have been notified.
You do not mention why your sister was in Skilled Nursing. If your sister was cognizant at some point after the Guardian was appointed she may have said she wanted to be cremated. If that is the case the Guardian was just following her wishes.
I am sorry you were not notified.
You might want to write a letter to the Judge that was assigned and also to the Guardian and ask why family was not notified and ask what the "normal" practice is.

I cannot imagine how devastating this must have been for your family. My gosh, it is common courtesy to notify family members of the death of their relatives.

I am so sorry that you have experienced this tragedy. I am so sorry for the loss of your sister. Finding out about her in this manner must have been a horrible shock.

Plus, why on earth would they cremate your sister without your permission to do so?

I don’t know if this is legal. I certainly don’t feel like it is appropriate when a resident has family members who check in with the staff at their facility on a regular basis.

Can you check with the administrator of the facility to see if this is their policy?

Please notify the ombudsman in your area of this situation and see what feedback you receive from them.