Does the estate have to pay funeral fees

Robin9

getmore4less said:

Is the family member a beneficiary?

OP is the sole beneficiary

maman

It's definitely the case that the funeral expenses can be paid from the estate.

As the other person hasn't paid the funeral director,  then there's no question of taking it off the £20 000 'owed'. 

I think what happens next rather depends on your financial situation both now and when the estate is settled. I can see that you might want to pay the FD yourself now if you can afford it. Then, when you inherit, if there's enough in the estate you get that money back which is all a bit academic as you're the sole beneficiary. so you'd be paying yourself. Alternatively, you might want to ask the FD to wait for payment until the estate is settled. I think they're quite used to that.  All of this depends on how much you're talking about and/or whether you have to wait for the £20 000 to  (hopefully) be recovered. 

naedanger

Yemaman said:

As the other person hasn't paid the funeral director,  then there's no question of taking it off the £20 000 'owed'.

Agreed, if the person sues having not actually paid the funeral director themselves.

maman

naedanger said:

Yemaman said:

As the other person hasn't paid the funeral director,  then there's no question of taking it off the £20 000 'owed'.

No the point was if the person who paid the funeral director sues the executor for payment of the funeral expenses then the executor can respond: yes I owe you £x for the funeral but you owe the estate £20,000. Net result you still owe the estate £20,000- £x.

I see your point. Hopefully OP will soon return and explain a little more. I read it that they feel they should settle the FD's account. I sort of assumed they don't want the FD to have to chase the other party, but maybe I'm wrong. 🤔

naedanger

maman said:

naedanger said:

Yemaman said:

As the other person hasn't paid the funeral director,  then there's no question of taking it off the £20 000 'owed'.

No the point was if the person who paid the funeral director sues the executor for payment of the funeral expenses then the executor can respond: yes I owe you £x for the funeral but you owe the estate £20,000. Net result you still owe the estate £20,000- £x.

I see your point. Hopefully OP will soon return and explain a little more. I read it that they feel they should settle the FD's account. I sort of assumed they don't want the FD to have to chase the other party, but maybe I'm wrong. 🤔

I made a complete mess of the point I was trying to make, and I agree the op is probably caught between the legal position and consideration of the FD's position.

Mickey666

I would let the FD chase the other party for payment as they signed the contract.  I wouldn't feel too morally obliged to pay the FD out of the remaining estate if the other party really has stolen £20k from the estate, so even if the other party does pay up they would be using estate funds anyway.
I would focus effort on recovering the stolen money from the estate, which technically is the legal duty of executor even though executor and sole beneficiary is the same person.  Imagine if there were two beneficiaries - the non-executor beneficiary would no doubt be applying pressure on the executor about the missing £20k.  Fortunately, that's not the case here, but it's a reminder of how one person can have two distinct roles and responsibilities.

Snorkels

maman said:

naedanger said:

Yemaman said:

As the other person hasn't paid the funeral director,  then there's no question of taking it off the £20 000 'owed'.

No the point was if the person who paid the funeral director sues the executor for payment of the funeral expenses then the executor can respond: yes I owe you £x for the funeral but you owe the estate £20,000. Net result you still owe the estate £20,000- £x.

I see your point. Hopefully OP will soon return and explain a little more. I read it that they feel they should settle the FD's account. I sort of assumed they don't want the FD to have to chase the other party, but maybe I'm wrong. 🤔

I would feel bad about the funeral directors having to chase at the third-party for payment as they're only doing their job.
My main reason for paying though would be out of respect for my deceased relative as it's their funeral.
If those two factors weren't there I would most certainly not pay in retaliation against the family member who arranged the funeral and stole from the estate.
I should also clarify that it wasn't £20,000 cash taken but £20,000 worth of assets in the form of vehicles etc.
there is definitely enough money in the estate to pay the funeral costs the question is whether I should. 
It may also be worth noting the reason why this other family member took it upon himself to arrange the funeral.
This was a bid to take control of the estate from the beginning in order to become administrator and milk the estate before it's distributed between the family. Unfortunately for him there was a will, after discovering this he immediately looted in the property, not realising that I'd setup a CCTV system.
The police are slow to act but I am assured legal action will be taken against the family member in the new year. I would say it's unlikely I am compensated for the stolen property without taking him to court myself which I don't think would be worth it.
Apologies for my grammar, I'm on a phone.

getmore4less

Stolen Vehicles and goods can be recovered.

maman

I'm sorry for your loss. Thanks for explaining what has happened. Personally, I'd pay the Funeral Director out of respect for the deceased as I'm sure they were aware they'd left enough to cover it. That would make me feel I'd done the right thing by my deceased relative regardless of how badly the other party has behaved. Presumably there was no love lost there as they weren't included in the will. Of course, this is about taking the moral high ground. You don't have a legal contract with the FD. 

I do hope the police are successful in recovering the goods. I'd have thought there was a reasonable chance of success as they will find it difficult to sell vehicles when they are not the legal owners.

Good luck. 😊

Snorkels

getmore4less said:

Stolen Vehicles and goods can be recovered.

I think all that can be recovered has already been recovered during the first arrest.
The police tried to pass it off as a civil matter a few times, but I've kept insisting that it's not.
They are pusshing forward with it but seem disinterested, likely because it's quite a complex case.
I will just have to wait and see what happens with regards to that issue.