Does the estate have to pay funeral fees

Snorkels

Pennylane said:

Snorkels - I am in a similar position regarding the thefts.  Items left to me in a will have all been removed from the deceased person’s home along with cash and other items. the Police say it is not a police matter but a civil one.  What is the point of writing a will when a family member can just walk in and help themselves?  The police say we cannot prove who took them but since he was the only one who locked the house and removed the key and we had to get a locksmith to break in I would have thought that was enough evidence. the Police say not.   

I have CCTV footage of the thefts, a lot of items were recovered.
Some items the police couldn't recover as they couldn't prove that those items were the same items.
Any items that are no longer in possession of the thief are lost, as they deem it a civil matter and the legal fees and Hassel make it not worth pursuing.
All I can hope for is that he's charged, probably a slap on the wrists and don't do it again.

james.wardle

Funerals can be paid from the bank account of the person who died before you have probate.  If you are the executor and you have notified the bank of the death by sending the death certificate, you can send the funeral directors invoice to the bank and they will settle it if there is enough cash in the dead person account.  
I just did this with RBS and it was very easy.

TBagpuss

thepurplepixie said:

Was the funeral alot more expensive than the funeral you would have arranged?  If not I'd pay as you would have spent money from the estate on a funeral whoever arranged it.
The theft of £20k is another matter and I would pursue that.

Except that the OP would have had the £20,000.

Unless it will cause you stress to do so, I would leave the FD to pursue the person who signed their contract. If and when the £20,000 is recovered, then at that point, reimburse the thief from those funds (or pay the FD if they have no succeeded in getting their bill paid by that time) 

The person who signed the contract is free to request reimbursement from the estate, and you can make clear to them that it will be repaid if and when the goods / value of the goods they took from the estate are returned.