Brother dying with no money

brizey47

I have a brother who is terminally ill, he has made no provision for his funeral and what money he has had has gone, we are not close and never have been. He never married or had children so I am technically his next of kin, am I going to be responsible for his funeral costs when the time arrives.

I am not mean but I'm retired and living with my wife on a small pension with very limited savings, the cost of arranging a funeral for someone who although is family I don't really care about is worrying and causing me to lose sleep. Would he be eligible for a council funeral, any input will be welcome as this is causing me a lot of stress.

PasturesNew

No. Just don't accept any paperwork or sign anything.
He'd get a Council Funeral and you can attend that.
Has he got any stuff/photos/paperwork you want? You need to try to get that now, so you're not in a position where somebody gets you to sign anything.

Mojisola

brizey47 wrote: »

I have a brother who is terminally ill, he has made no provision for his funeral and what money he has had has gone, we are not close and never have been. He never married or had children so I am technically his next of kin, am I going to be responsible for his funeral costs when the time arrives.

No. If he dies in hospital, the NHS will pay for a basic cremation.

If he dies elsewhere, the council will do it.

Be prepared for some pressure to be put on you to pay for it - you have no legal obligation to pay.

Torry_Quine

You would only be responsible for the funeral if you contact the funeral director and arrange it.

Marktheshark

Dont get involved and nobody can charge you anything.
The state will cremate him.

Mojisola

You should be able to find info like this -
http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/FuneralArrangements -
on his council's website.

I've been to a council-arranged funeral and it was a simple but dignified affair.

getmore4less

I think this is a fairly good guide to the subject as an introduction.

not vouching for how accurate it is in some areas or endorsing the the website it comes from.

http://www.goodfuneralguide.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Your-legal-rights-and-responsibilities-att-doc-41.pdf

interesting the view on common law, I do think I have read similar elsewhere.

Yorkshireman99

brizey47 wrote: »

I have a brother who is terminally ill, he has made no provision for his funeral and what money he has had has gone, we are not close and never have been. He never married or had children so I am technically his next of kin, am I going to be responsible for his funeral costs when the time arrives.

I am not mean but I'm retired and living with my wife on a small pension with very limited savings, the cost of arranging a funeral for someone who although is family I don't really care about is worrying and causing me to lose sleep. Would he be eligible for a council funeral, any input will be welcome as this is causing me a lot of stress.

You have no legal liability for the funeral cost or any debts. The local authority or the hospital where he dies are responsible for the cost of the funeral. If you arrange the funeral then you will be liable to the undertaker. Do not allow the authorities to try and bully you into paying or signing anything.

Shelldean

The person who signs the form at the funeral directors is the person responsible for paying the bill. This was explained to me several times before they allowed me to sign for my nans funeral (money was coming from insurance so I wasn't worried)

Just don't be the person who signs.
The council will definitely imply that you should pay, they tried that with Nan's rent. But the debt belongs to the estate. And the estate had no cash to pay the rent, so it didn't get paid!!!

jumpingjackd

Marktheshark wrote: »

Dont get involved and nobody can charge you anything.
The state will cremate him.

How sad is that !

brewerdave

jumpingjackd wrote: »

How sad is that !

..it's very sad-HOWEVER, as quite a few posters on here can attest, it is necessary to keep well out of insolvent estates unless you like receiving endless calls from creditors of the deceased!!