A Stoughton family says they spent nine months trying to get Stephen “Taz” Margolis's cremated remains back from Sheehan Funeral Home, only to have them handed over the same day a television reporter started asking questions. Margolis, 58, died in November 2025 after years of struggling with substance use disorder, and his sister Kimberly Margolis says the family simply wanted to bury him alongside their parents.
The family contracted with Sheehan Funeral Home for Margolis's wake and funeral service, according to Boston 25 News, and Margolis was supposed to be interred in a cemetery with his parents once his ashes were returned. Instead, the family says they began calling the funeral home in early 2026 asking where his remains were, and kept calling for months without resolution. It wasn't until 25 Investigates visited Sheehan Funeral Home directly that the family finally received the cremated remains — the same day the outlet began asking questions.
Margolis's obituary, published by Sheehan Funeral Home, described him as the owner of his own excavation company, Trac Enterprise, a business he grew from a small operation his father had given him. He held several black belts in Uechi Ryu Karate and was survived by his fiancée, Stephanie Sweetman. His visitation was held on November 21, 2025, at the funeral home. Kimberly Margolis told the station her brother “lived life to the fullest,” and said the family's struggle with his substance use disorder had lasted many years.
Funeral Home Cites Communication Breakdown
A representative for the funeral home apologized for the delay and said Sheehan Funeral Home never intended to withhold the remains, attributing the situation instead to poor communication and conflicting schedules. Sheehan Funeral Home declined an on-camera interview with the station. The business, located at 115 Monk Street, is described by iMortuary as Stoughton's oldest family-owned business, with longtime director Edward W. Sheehan, Jr. having run the establishment since returning from U.S. Marine Corps duty in 1961.
Massachusetts law adds several layers of process between a death and the final return of ashes that can help explain, though not necessarily excuse, extended delays. State regulation requires a 48-hour waiting period after death during which the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner must inspect the case and issue a cremation permit, according to Keohane Funeral Home. Because Massachusetts funeral homes are barred from operating their own crematories, directors must also contract with independent third-party crematories to actually perform the cremation, per the Funeral Consumers Alliance of Western Massachusetts — a multi-party arrangement that creates more opportunities for the kind of scheduling breakdown the funeral home described.
What State Rules Require Once Remains Are Ready
Once cremation is complete, state regulation 239 CMR 3.11 requires funeral establishments to deliver the remains only to the next of kin or an authorized representative and to obtain a signed acknowledgment of receipt, according to Law.Cornell.Edu. If remains go unclaimed for 10 months, the same regulation requires the funeral home to send certified written notice and wait two additional months before it can lawfully dispose of them — a timeline the Margolis family's nine-month wait came close to running up against.
Families facing delays like this one are not limited to media inquiries. Massachusetts consumers can file formal complaints against funeral directors with the Board of Registration in Embalming and Funeral Directing through the Division of Occupational Licensure's online eLIPSE portal, according to Mass.gov. Separately, under Massachusetts common law and Chapter 93A consumer protection statutes, next of kin hold a legal right to possess and bury their deceased relatives, and negligent delays or mishandling of remains can expose funeral homes to civil claims for emotional distress and unfair business practices, according to Traction Law Group.
Cremation has become the majority choice for families across the state, with Massachusetts' cremation rate reaching roughly 56 to 57 percent in 2024 and 2025 and projected by the National Funeral Directors Association to climb to nearly 65 percent by 2030, according to figures cited by the Town of Lexington. As more families choose cremation over burial, timely return of remains has become a growing point of friction between grieving families and the funeral industry.
For the Margolis family, the ordeal ended the same way it began — with a phone call, though this time one that actually got results. Kimberly Margolis said the family finally has the closure it had been seeking, nine months after her brother's death, so that he can at last be laid to rest with their parents.
