Hospital staff and a funeral director are being blamed for the wrong body being taken from the Waikato Hospital mortuary last month.
The man's body was cremated before the mistake was realised.
The Waikato District Health Board says the families were contacted as soon as hospital staff realised the wrong body had been taken.
The DHB says it ensured both families received the correct ashes, although the man's family had not wanted him to be cremated.
It says hospital processes were not followed, with staff not checking an identification tag on the body.
The funeral director also did not check the identification tag, but signed a card saying he had.
