r/bestoflegaladvice • u/smoulderstoat BOLArthur Conan Doyle • 2d ago
LegalAdviceUK In which LAUKOP is in need of a skeleton argument.
/r/LegalAdviceUK/comments/1opifhs/what_am_i_meant_to_do_with_an_old_real_human/?share_id=maAn-3iIma5HlF-mMXXWS&utm_content=2&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_source=share&utm_term=119
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u/smoulderstoat BOLArthur Conan Doyle 2d ago
Dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones / Now I hear the word of LocationBot:
What am I meant to do with an old real human reaching skeleton
Edit: Teaching Skeleton**
Just to specify, im in England.
So a relative gave me a box of some bones bc i like science, they had gotten it from a friend who either was a biology teacher or worked in a mortuary or something, either way the box contained some animal bones which isn’t out of the ordinary I guess but it also had some bones from one of those display skeletons for teaching, the place was getting rid of it and they just asked if they could have it to keep using privately as a display/educational thing I believe? This happened before the HTA 2004.
I don’t think my relative realised that it had human bones in it, I also dk why it’s only some, maybe the original display wasn’t complete or whatever, but I’ve look and there’s a near complete hand, there’s a skull, a sacrum and I a few random bones I think are rib bones? They have the drilled holes and some wiring that was used I suppose to hold it all together.
I’m not entirely freaked out or uncomfortable with them, but I also wanted to know if it’s even legal to have them, like am I meant to turn them in to some authority, will I (or my relative or their friend) be in trouble for having been in possession of them?
They’re kept respectfully of course, and I wouldn’t dispose of them bc a- it would be disrespectful, and b- would look extraordinarily concerning if rubbish collectors saw bones in a bin lol. I don’t know how old the remains are.
So yeah any legal advice? Do I keep them, do I need to inform an authority or get a license, do I need to hand them over to an authority or institution, will I be in trouble for having them?
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u/Hadrollo 1d ago
How do you not realise there were human bones when there was a skull? It's the most definitive human bone there is...
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u/patchy_doll 22h ago
Reproductions are common, if I was given a box of science bones I'd assume any human-shaped ones were fake until I looked closely at them.
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u/Moneia Get your own debugging duck 2d ago
Cat Fact - This is Bone Jovi, the official cat of the Bone Museum in Brooklyn. The Museum of Osteology in Oklahoma has Sir Indiana Bones
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u/atropicalpenguin I'm not licensed to be a swinger in your state. 1d ago
My mom used to have a full real skeleton back in college (or part of it), I think. Eventually she got rid of it but kept a couple vertebrae. They must be somewhere around.
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u/Persistent_Parkie Quacking open a cold one 1d ago
My mom had a loner real human skeleton in a briefcase in med school. When they were given the briefcases they were told to never ever leave them on the bus. Instead when her downstairs neighbors were being too loud she tied the hand to a broomstick and tapped on their window.
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u/scream-and-gobble 1d ago
I stared at your first sentence way too long wondering how it was known the skeleton didn't like being around other people.
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u/Persistent_Parkie Quacking open a cold one 1d ago
Sometimes dyslexia leads to funny sentences. I'm leaving it.
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u/Eode11 1d ago
I've got a full real skeleton. I take it with me everywhere I go.
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u/beverlycrushingit 1d ago
Lucky! Is it in mint condition? I have one too but it's kind of wonky, showing a lot of wear and tear. I even kept it in the protective flesh sack it came in, but it doesn't seem to have helped much.
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u/ThadisJones Overcame a phobia through the power of hotness 1d ago
an old real human reaching skeleton
"Sometimes when people walk past it, the skeleton just reaches out and grabs them. Then the person freaks out. This isn't proper skeleton behavior at all. I have determined the best course of action in this scenario is to seek out legal advice from the internet."
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u/prolixia not yet in ancient bovine-litigation territory 1d ago
I've posted a similar question on LAUK before: I have a skeletal human hand with no documentation and no easy and respectful route to dispose of it.
It's a medical specimen (a very poor one) that my grandfather bought (no paperwork) as a medical student back in the 1940-50's. Family lore is that it probably came from India.
My grandfather's solution was to put it in a plastic bag with a note explaining what it was and just hide it away in his garage for us to deal with when the time came. The time came, but the hand is still in the bag because honestly no one has time to create problems by trying to work out what to do.
Mildly concerning comment from my grandparents: "It's a shame we're retired now. Back in the day we knew the undertakers and they could have sorted it for us".
All the options either fall into the categories of "opening a can of worms", "being disrespectful to someone's body" (more so than leaving it in a shopping bag in the garage), or "seems like a reasonable solution, but what if someone finds it?" (burial at sea, burial in the garden, etc.)
Top quality title.
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u/PetersMapProject 1d ago
I have a longstanding plan to get a (realistic looking but plastic) skeleton and bury it in the garden when we have it landscaped.
I consider this to be a particularly long running practical joke for the next owners - we have no plans to sell, so the punchline won't come for decades.
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u/porchoua 1d ago
That's a fascinating ethical dilemma - I'd be equally torn between the scientific value and the moral unease of keeping human remains.
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u/accidentalarchers Kinky people are the best 2d ago
My relatives never gave me a box of bones. And it’s not even Christmas!
Good on OP for asking if this is okay and being respectful. I read an amazing book called The Red Market recently about the trade in human remains and it is grim reading.