Using names of deceased in memoir

Robert Detroit said:

After unsuccessfully searching and without paying out the kazoo for an attorney, can the honorable use of a deceased real person's name (in the dedication page of a memoir) lead to a lawsuit by family members?

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In that situation... it might depend on what the books about, but my understanding is that it would be fine.

Could you ask the family members if they'd have a problem with it?

Robert Detroit said:

That's the problem. Most of these persons didn't have much of a family and the ones that did, really didn't give a poo about the deceased family member. I don't think it will be a problem because the dedication states, "In honorable memory of the ones that didn't make it through the difficult journey. <<their names>> Rest in peace my friends."

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I think that should be fine.

If the book was about your adventures in embezzling and running a meth lab, and you wrote, "To <<their names>> who taught me everything I knew", then you might have a problem.

Keep in mind that in the USA, the deceased cannot be libeled or slandered.

Their families might not like the dedication, but they can't do anything about it.

Good question, Robert. I had an 'In Memory of ' in my book, which is a narrative non-fiction account of 7 years of my life. It never occurred to me that his family might object. As a matter of fact, I wrote to one of the sons offering to send him a copy of it, because his father (deceased) was one of the three main characters, and his relationship to me was ethical, intelligent, and caring, and I thought the son might be interested in reading an account of his father in his professional role.

The son apparently wasn't interested, because I never received a reply. He probably thought, "Here's a crazy lady who's written a bad book. No, thanks." Little does he know that it's a brilliant and fascinating piece of literature which will undoubtedly be snapped up by a major production company.

I apologize if this is common knowledge. If you are writing a personal experience ( not negative) about an encounter with public persona's (astronaut, a world leader ) do you have to get permission from their estate or from them to use their name ?