Judge sides with mother's burial plans

A southern Indiana judge has sided with the mother of an 11-year-old burn victim in a dispute between the boy's parents over whether to bury or cremate his body.

A Greene County judge ruled Thursday that Joshua Merritt's mother could have him buried next to his 10-year-old best friend, who also died from burns they suffered in an April fire in the town of Scotland.

The boy's father wanted his son's body cremated and divided between the parents, saying he wanted to spread the ashes in places they spent time together around his home in northern New York.

The judge wrote that no state law specifies how to settle such disputes and that Joshua's mother had been awarded full legal custody of him in 2004.