What to do when someone dies - new guide feedback

midwife_twinkie wrote: »

Hi I need some advice please. A relative of mine who I have not seen in many many years is very ill. I assume he has no life insurance as sadly he has abused drugs and alcohol most of his life and has be incapable of going to work for over 25 years.
His immediate family do not work and the ones that do are on very low income. If he passed away would they get help from the government to pay for his funeral? and would they be entitled to some kind of benefit. Thanks for any advice given

There seems to be a lot of misinformation about this topic. There is no legal obligation on the relatives to pay for a funeral even if they have the funds to do so. The cost of the funeral has to be borne by the estate of the deceased. If there is no money in the estate then the local authority is obliged to pay though they may whinge about it. They will, if need be, pay for a basic funeral with cremation.

g6jns wrote: »

They will, if need be, pay for a basic funeral with creation.

Ironic typo there.:)

midwife_twinkie wrote: »

I am a little worried at the moment as I know his family are going to expect us to pay for it and I know this sounds really horrible and cruel...But why should we!

I need to be armed with as much information as I can for when the event arises and his family call on us for help.

I know they will use the paupers grave comment and try and make us feel guilty

Why should you feel guilty and not them? If they'd lived their lives differently, they could have had the money to pay for a funeral. Maybe this will be a wake-up call for them to think about what will happen when they die.

There won't be a pauper's grave because the council only arranges cremations and, while it's a simple service, it's always done in a dignified way.

Work out now how you're going to support each other to resist the relatives' attempts to get you to pay.

Does anyone have any idea how I go about closing the Amazon.com (business, I think) account of a deceased relative?
I am the official administrator for a close relative (single with no children) who wrote and sold ebooks on Amazon.com. I'm only really just finding out about this because I've just received a tax statement (I'm assuming that's what it is) from Amazon.com in Seattle (I have a redirect on his mail address).
I've been all over the help sections of their website and can't find anything out. I'm happy to email them but not sure if it'll get to the right person!
All this is made more complicated because BT refuses me access to his email account (I've phoned them and have been told it's not possible- I don't actually believe that) - it would have been so much easier if I'd had access and seen what online things he was involved in!
Throughout all this, I realise that the online world doesn't really ever consider that people die!
Any help would be much appreciated!

Mrs_Money wrote: »

Does anyone have any idea how I go about closing the Amazon.com (business, I think) account of a deceased relative?
I am the official administrator for a close relative (single with no children) who wrote and sold ebooks on Amazon.com. I'm only really just finding out about this because I've just received a tax statement (I'm assuming that's what it is) from Amazon.com in Seattle (I have a redirect on his mail address).
I've been all over the help sections of their website and can't find anything out. I'm happy to email them but not sure if it'll get to the right person!
All this is made more complicated because BT refuses me access to his email account (I've phoned them and have been told it's not possible- I don't actually believe that) - it would have been so much easier if I'd had access and seen what online things he was involved in!
Throughout all this, I realise that the online world doesn't really ever consider that people die!
Any help would be much appreciated!

Sorry for your loss. BT have a special number to deal with this

0800 169 1663

It is open Monday to Friday 800 to 1800