Brown v. Matthews Mortuary, Inc.

BOYLE, Justice.

In this appeal from a summary judgment we are called upon to determine whether the trial court correctly ruled that there were no genuine issues of material fact to support plaintiffs’ claims for breach of contract, negligent mishandling of a dead body, and the tort of outrage.

Charles Blaine Brown died in a Logan, Utah hospital on June 2, 1984. The day after his death the plaintiffs-appellants Ella Belle Brown, the decedent’s wife, and Michael Brown, Ella’s and the decedent’s son, returned to their home in Montpelier, Idaho where they contacted defendant Matthews Mortuary for…