My father was cremated without my permission.

Recently my father passed away without me knowing. A detective somehow found my Mother and I to let us know about my father's passing. The detective told my Mother the coroner from that town would be in contact with myself in a day or two to find out what I wanted to do with my father's body. I never received a phone call. So I tried to call the detective back and received no response. Today....two weeks later I find out through my cousin (father's side) that my father had been cremated without anyone's permission. This information was twice as stressful as when my father actually passed away. I feel as though I was left out of the process and as my father's closest living relative I think I should have been the one to make these arrangements. My Mother seeing how distraught I was over this news....called the coroner herself. She was told that my father had been cremated because they needed room!! Is this legal?I