DEAD BOY'S GUARDIAN GETS LITTLE TIME FOR TEARS.Byline: Associated Press Associated Press: see news agency. Associated Press (AP) Cooperative news agency, the oldest and largest in the U.S. and long the largest in the world. As legal guardian, Wendy Mason took care of her brain-damaged ward for most of his short life; so when he died, she figured she would handle the funeral arrangements. But when Mason went to the Orange County Coroner's Office, she was stunned stun tr.v. stunned, stun·ning, stuns 1. To daze or render senseless, by or as if by a blow. 2. To overwhelm or daze with a loud noise. 3. to learn that she couldn't claim the body of 2-1/2-year-old Marcus Serna. She had no say in the funeral plans, either. But she did have to pay for them unless she wanted a pauper's burial. ``I thought I was his mother in everything but name,'' said Mason, a 42-year-old special-education teacher from Costa Mesa Costa Mesa (kŏs`tə mā`sə), city (1990 pop. 96,357), Orange co., S Calif., on the Pacific south of Santa Ana; inc. 1953. It is a transportation, residential, and light industrial center. . ``I signed medical things. I decided everything for him when he was alive. Why not after?'' Mason reared Marcus since he was 1. In September she became his legal guardian, assuming full legal authority, a tie so binding she would have faced an uphill court battle to break it. His natural mother and father had voluntarily given up their parental rights. But when Marcus, born with meningitis meningitis (mĕnĭnjī`tĭs) or cerebrospinal meningitis (sĕr'əbrōspī`nəl), acute inflammation of the meninges, the membranes that cover and protect the brain and spinal cord. and prone to unexplained fevers, died suddenly this month, Mason's rights passed with him. She and social workers hustled to get the death certificate signed by his birth mother in Montana and his father in a California prison. It all left little time for tears. ``This is not the first time it's come up,'' said Sylvia Wall, director of children's services for the Orange County Social Services social services Noun, pl welfare services provided by local authorities or a state agency for people with particular social needs social services npl → servicios mpl sociales Agency. ``It's a quirk quirk n. 1. A peculiarity of behavior; an idiosyncrasy: "Every man had his own quirks and twists" Harriet Beecher Stowe. 2. in the law.'' Like Mason, many people think guardianship makes them a child's parent with two exceptions: The child doesn't take the guardian's name, and guardianship can be challenged in court by a birth parent. ``She should have been able to sign everything,'' said Wendy Serna, Marcus' 21-year-old mother. Serna and her father drove 18 hours nonstop HP's brand name for its fault-tolerant servers, which range in size from four CPUs to 4,000 CPUs. The NonStop line was created by Tandem Computers, which was acquired by Compaq, which later became part of HP. from Montana so she could do the paperwork and allow Marcus' burial to proceed. The state Health and Safety Code specifies exactly who has authority over a body. A spouse tops the list, followed by surviving children, parents, the county and so on. It makes no mention of legal guardians. Guardians are advised of their rights and obligations, including what happens if a child dies. Understandably, Wall said, death is not the first consideration. With Serna's support and a discount from Forest Lawn Forest Lawn is the name of a number of different places:
Mason, a veteran foster mother, teaches special education to high school students with severe emotional and behavioral problems. |
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