average cost of funeral?

cobbingstones

Hi all,

Sad post for me to type.

My dear old mum has just received a lump sum of about £3500 and wants to put it in a bank account to pay for her funeral. Could anyone advise on how much a burial costs? I hope its not going to take all the funds up, it would be lovely for her to splash out a bit with some dosh instead of living on her usual tight budget of her pension.

Thanks

MM

Justie

it depends a bit on what she wants but you can easily spend all that on a funeral - or considerably less... it's hard to say without knowing what she wants. If she wants a traditional coffin, burial plot rather than cremation and a bit of a knees up then it can get expensive. There are some undertakers who will do pre-payment so that you're then insulated from price hikes etc. It may be worth looking into so she can enjoy some of the cash as well.

eta this article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4622724.stm

there are MSE ways of doing it but they may well be less traditional - and obviously any national average will include the high burial costs in the south east and other areas where space is at a premium.

plumduff-2

My Dad died last year... we went for a basic casket, one large coffin length wreath of flowers, two cars, service at church and cremation... oh and included in the cost was embalming - you may not need this but my Dad had a postmortme so they advised us to do it..

That cost us £2500 and did not even include an urn or nice box to put the ashes in... This was with Coop...

But I beleive you should shop around beforehand as prices can differ considerably...

The main cost is the coffin, we decided on one of the lowest prices, cos it was only going to be cremated with him anyway.. Horrible to consider that in the calculations, but you still need to be practical..

june1970_2

i know for my Gran's funeral it cost £4000 with the plot and headstone etc.

margaretclare

Hi

I'm not sure there is such a thing as an 'average'. It's like a wedding - it all depends on what you want! There are so many options nowadays. It would be good to get Mum's views on what she wants e.g. cremation vs burial, flowers vs no flowers, church service vs no service, limousines, notices in paper etc etc. Or even a 'green burial' which is what we've opted for and have left detailed instructions with our nearest and dearest and the solicitor who has our wills - that seems to work out quite a bit cheaper than many of the more 'traditional' options, which is surprising.

Find out what your Mum has in mind first.

Best wishes

Margaret

MickKnipfler

We paid £2,600 last August for my Mum in Kent

Emmzi

Being really brutal about it - cost of cremation about £500; cardboard coffin £90; everything else is down to personal choice.

What would she want at a service? Maybe the co-op or similar pre-pay plan would be good for her peace of mind. Everyone is different, I know my folks see a lot of fancy bits at funerals as a waste of money - but then they aren't religious.

You may find these guide prices helpful (or grim)

http://www.northlincs.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/24AF393E-1E90-4BB1-BF9B-23B5C72291EF/17351/feesandcharges2.pdf

Oldernotwiser

Why should your mum have to pay for her own funeral? Reassure her that you (and any brothers or sisters) will look after it for her when the time comes. Then sit back and watch her enjoy spending her windfall.

cobbingstones

Oldernotwiser wrote:

Why should your mum have to pay for her own funeral? Reassure her that you (and any brothers or sisters) will look after it for her when the time comes. Then sit back and watch her enjoy spending her windfall.

If only.........wish we could Oldernotwiser.

Mum would like to be buried with flowers etc. We won't be having a wake after more of a family meal out to celebrate her life.

MM

Oldernotwiser

madsmum wrote:

If only.........wish we could Oldernotwiser.

Mum would like to be buried with flowers etc. We won't be having a wake after more of a family meal out to celebrate her life.

MM

So what would have happened if she hadn't received this windfall? Anyway the flowers at a funeral are sent by the people attending, they're nothing to do with the cost of the funeral. You'll have to pay for them when she goes as will everyone else. Don't forget, you're not planning on her going yet a while.

Natty68

I had to sort out my mums funeral in December of last year and with a really nice send off .. it was a humanist funeral, as in not religious, and we went for a package that the funeral directors did. The package itself cost £2,500 and that included a limo, embalming, and the crematorium bits. There was then the payment for the two drs to release the body so that she could be cremated. Plus all extras, flowers, paper announcement etc were paid.. The total came to about £3,200. This is coming out of mum's estate when it is all sorted out as basically she didnt have any money put by, but had dictated in her will that the funeral was to be paid for out of her house sale.