Crash brings battle over pilot’s remains

Family goes to court to decide between cremation or burial

NissanGiat diedonAug. 28whenthe twin engine Aero Commander he was piloting slammed into a public storage facility in Pembroke Park.

His distraught wife, Vivi, knew his final wishes and made arrangements for him to be cremated.

His son, Lee, 22, knew his father’s longtime wishes andwantedhimto be buried in accordance with Orthodox Jewish custom.

Now, more than three months after Giat lost his life, his body remains in a freezer at a Pembroke Pines funeral home, waiting in limbo for his wife and his son to settle their differences or have them settled by a judge.

Theunusual legal battle pitting a deceased pilot’ssonagainsthis stepmommadeitsway to theFourth DistrictCourtofAppeal, which issued a recentdecision sure tomakenoone happy: Bothsideshave tocomebackto court nextMonday to plead their case in front of BrowardCircuit Judge Jeffrey R. Levenson.

ItwasLevensonwho, inSeptember, ruled that Giat’s wife should have the final say in any disagreement. But attorneys for Giat’s son appealed, arguing that the judge was wrong to make the decision without hearing the evidence fromboth sides.

For Giat’s son, the stakes are no less than the pilot’s eternal peace.

“Judaism is founded on the premise of a life that exists beyond this world,” said the lawyer, Michael Citron. “There is a soul to that body, andwewant that soul to rest.”

UnderOrthodox Jewish doctrine, a body must be buried as promptly as possible following death. Cremation is prohibited — the body is not to be mutilated, Citron explained. “Cremation, pulverizing thebody toanunrecognizable ash, is theworst possible thing eternally for the deceased.”

The delay in burial goes against Jewish law, too, Citron said, but it is preferable to cremation.“Toprevent a further ill, we don’t have a choice.”

Nissan Giat andVivi married seven years

ago and were together for 17, said Vivi Giat’s lawyer, Blake Dolman.

The insistence on an Orthodox Jewish burial would make perfect sense if Giat, 53, of Miramar, had been an Orthodox Jew, Dolman said. Hewasn’t.

“Although he was born Jewish, he was not religious and actually held a strong disdain for religion,” Dolman said. “Nissan Giat clearly told his loving wife and others on numerous occasions that he wished to be cremated rather than buried so that his remains could rest in the family home. It is unfortunate that Mr. Giat’s adult son has determined that his ownreligious beliefs should trump his father’s wishes.”

Florida law orders a funeral home to follow the wishes of a spouse, and protects the funeral home fromliability if other family members sue after the fact. That law was not intended to resolve a dispute that arises before the body is buried, the appeals court ruled.

Both sides say they know what Giat wanted, and both sides say they have the evidence to prove it. It was not clear whether either would be willing to accept the next decision by the courts as the final one.

“This case will come down to evidence,” Citron said. “We didn’t come this far to lose, and we don’t believewe’re going to lose.”

Dolman said the case makes two things clear: People should make a will making their intentions and desires known ahead of time, and Florida needs to enact a law spelling out who gets to decide what happens after an unexpected death.

“When a loved one dies without a will,” he said,

“there must be a designated individual or group of individuals empowered to direct disposition of the remains free from baseless legal challenges by disgruntled family members or others who may wish to cause turmoil for the survivors.”

The hearing in the case is scheduled for Monday afternoon.

COURTESY Nissan Giat and his wife, Vivi, in an undated photo.