Court has the authority to order exhumation of the decedent’s body to obtain sample for genetic testing

The decedent’s daughter and personal representative of his estate appealed an order of the Probate Court requiring her to submit to genetic testing and if she refuses to do so, ordering the exhumation of the decedent’s remains to obtain a sample for testing to resolve a claim by an individual to be the decedent’s child.
 
The court held first that the appeal was interlocutory but could be heard under the “death knell” exception because if the estate has the right to prevent exhumation, that right will be lost forever unless the appeal is determined now and, second, that under the statutes defining the jurisdiction of the Probate Court, it has the authority to order exhumation of the decedent’s body for genetic testing and good cause to so order.
 
In re Estate of Kingsbury, 946 A.2d 389 (Me. 2008).