Topic– Part of Ethics Case studies
8) A woman died recently, after a short, unhappy life. She wanted her ashes to be scattered in the ocean near a place she lived during one of the brief happy times of her adult life. Her parents and immediate family had already passed away, so she discussed her wishes with her mother-in-law, who said she would comply with her daughter-in-law’s wishes. In her will, the woman gave control of her estate to the mother-in-law. The will stated that the woman’s ashes should be scattered in the ocean, as described above. Instead, her mother-in-law buried the ashes in a family plot near her home, because she wanted to keep the ashes close to her because of her own grief.
Assume that the mother-in-law is legally required to follow the wishes stated in the will, but that no one will check and it is very unlikely that the mother-in-law will have any problem with the law.
- What are the issues of integrity, ethics and law posed in the case study?
- What options does the mother-in-law have, and what should she do and why?(250 words)
Structure of the answer
Guidelines
Some of the issues raised by this case study include;
- whether the mother-in-law is acting ethically and with integrity;
- the relevance of her promise to her daughter-in-law, and
- whether the promise is still relevant after the daughter-in-law dies;
- the impact of the law on the mother-in-law, and
- what difference it makes that the mother-in-law’s illegal activity is not likely to be discovered.
Frame your answer by the help of the guidelines provided but don’t restrict yourself. Try to incorporate the important terms related to ethics in your answer. Be critical and ethically eloquent in your approach.
