Should the hair of the deceased man be put into three braids, as is done for a woman?
Question

                It is mentioned in a hadith about the washing of the daughter of the Prophet (saw) that the hair of the women is to be divided in three parts, the two sides and the center. What is the sunnah in regards to men? Is it the same? At a recent funeral, a brother parted the hair of the deceased person from the middle saying that was the sunnah.
Praise be to Allah.
    The Sunnah is the put the hair of a deceased woman into three 
    braids. It was narrated that Umm ‘Atiyyah (may Allah be pleased with her) 
    said: One of the daughters of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be 
    upon him) died. The Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) came 
    to us and said: “Wash her with lotus leaves an odd number of times, three, 
    or five, or more than that if you see fit, and put camphor in (the water) 
    the last time, or a little camphor. And when you have finished, let me 
    know.” When we had finished, we let him know, and he gave us his waist 
    wrapper (to shroud her in). And we put her hair into three braids and put 
    them behind her. 

    Narrated by al-Bukhaari, 1263; Muslim, 939 

    According to a report narrated by Muslim (939): And we put 
    her hair in three braids, two at the sides and one at the front. 

    Badr ad-Deen al-‘Ayni (may Allah have mercy on him) said: 
    What is meant by “we put her hair in three braids” is one braid at the front 
    of the head and two braids at the side of the head. Our explanation is 
    indicated by the report narrated by Muslim: “And we put her hair in three 
    braids, two at the sides and one at the front.”

    End quote from Sharh Sunan Abi Dawood, 6/74 

    Secondly: 

    With regard to braiding the hair of a deceased man, it is not 
    mustahabb because it is not proven. Many people died at the time of the 
    Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) and there is no report to 
    suggest that the hair of any one of them was put in braids. This is 
    indicated by the texts of the fuqaha’; they clearly state that this is 
    mustahabb in the case of women, but not men. 

    Al-Bukhaari (may Allah have mercy on him) included a chapter 
    in his Saheeh entitled: Chapter: (Braiding) the woman’s hair in three 
    braids. 

    Ash-Shaafa‘i (may Allah have mercy on him) said: The woman is 
    like a man in terms of her ghusl, but there are some additional requirements 
    in the case of the woman, and her hair is to be put in three braids, two of 
    which should be placed behind her.

    End quote from al-Umm, 8/131 

    Al-Bahooti (may Allah have mercy on him) said: 

    And it is makrooh to comb the hair of the deceased, whether 
    on his head or his beard, because that will pull it unnecessarily. It was 
    narrated from ‘Aa’ishah that she passed by some people who were combing the 
    hair of a dead man, and she told them not to do that and said: Why are you 
    combing the hair of your deceased? But it is Sunnah to put the hair of a 
    female into three braids and let them hang behind her.

    End quote from Daqaa’iq Ooli an-Nuha, 1/350 

    To sum up: 

    Braiding the hair is only mentioned with regard to washing 
    the woman, not the man. 

    With regard to parting a man’s hair from the middle when 
    doing the ghusl, as mentioned in the question, there is no basis for this in 
    the Sunnah as far as we know. The case of the deceased is different from the 
    case of one who is alive; because of that the majority of scholars are of 
    the view that it is makrooh to comb the hair of the deceased, as quoted 
    above from the Hanbalis. 

    Those who disagreed with the majority, namely the Shaafa‘is, 
    only said that that is permissible if the hair is stuck together for some 
    reason; this does not mean that it is Sunnah. And they stipulated that it 
    should be done with a wide-toothed comb, so that it does not pull out the 
    hair of the deceased. 

    End quote. Ahkaam fi’l-Fiqh al-Islami by Taha Muhammad 
    Faaris, 235-257 

    And Allah knows best.