Who pays for a funeral if the person who dies is poor?

Gramaisc

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
littleme said:
There was a lady on tv last week who had buried her mother for virtually nothing, there was no ceremony, she dug the grave herself, just wrapped her in a sheet and plonked her in the hole... I said to husband that I thought you could only bury people on consecrated ground, but the tv programme said you just need the land owners permission!
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People have been buried in their own gardens, although I thought planning permission might be necessary, and it can cause difficulties when it comes to selling the place.

The Environment Agency said:
No laws prevent people being buried in their own garden, but an authorisation form must be filled in, since decomposing corpses can pose a health risk to the living.
A garden grave must be situated more than 10 metres from standing water, at least 50 metres away from a drinking water source, and be deep enough to dissuade foxes from digging up the dearly departed.
It's also necessary to record the whereabouts of the grave and include this in the deeds of the property.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3630221.stm
 
Trumpet

Trumpet

Well-Known Forumite
littleme said:
Lol, I suppose you're right, mine can text, email and buy random stuff online
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A friends mother once bought about 6 or 7 copies of the same DVD on line, kept clicking the buy icon "to make sure" and then didn't notice the total price when paying..
Quote Peter Kaye, " if it's not one thing, it's yer mother"
 
Withnail

Withnail

Well-Known Forumite
Gramaisc said:
And pre-payment schemes exist, also.
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Both my parents have recently done this, all pre-arranged and paid for in advance.

Quite what would happen in a HMV voucher type scenario is unclear - presumably rather than walking out with goods to the value of, you dump the stiff on the doorstep and do a runner?
 
Gramaisc

Gramaisc

Forum O. G.
Withnail said:
Both my parents have recently done this, all pre-arranged and paid for in advance.

Quite what would happen in a HMV voucher type scenario is unclear - presumably rather than walking out with goods to the value of, you dump the stiff on the doorstep and do a runner?
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Much easier to do - they won't have tags fitted and set off the detectors on the way in.
 
Withnail

Withnail

Well-Known Forumite
Gramaisc said:
Much easier to do - they won't have tags fitted...
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Jade-clothing

Jade-clothing

Well-Known Forumite
littleme said:
To be fair mine have brought it up before, but only in a jokey type of 'if one of us dies then the other is going to stuff the body in the chest freezer and continue claiming their pension, after all they've paid into it for years'.

Back to the problem in hand though, its unlikely that both of your parents would die at the same time, so I would think the remaining parent would have to sort out the finances for the funeral, and maybe would get help from the social fund if they are pensioners/ in reciept of benefits?

With the remaining parent responsibility would be shared between you and any siblings.
When my stepmums mother died a few years ago, I believe the 4 children shared the cost, but were sort of reimbursed when the will was read, assets and home sold etc...

Sorry if I'm sounding kind of blunt, but facts are facts and you really have me thinking now :(
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That's a good point Little Me, I hadn't thought about that, they are hardly likely to die at the same time so the first funeral would be paid for by the remaining parent - I think they get pension credits and a bit of housing benefit so that one would be taken care of. Mum's always said she just wants to be chucked i a cardboard box and doesnt want a ceremony - so would be ideal if Dad went first! Don't worry about being blunt - I'm the same, but I suppose it's easy when we are talking about facts and not actually going through the event in question.
 
Jade-clothing

Jade-clothing

Well-Known Forumite
littleme said:
Also, have they made any kind of will? That would probably help if they have any assets that could be put towards any funeral costs.

Wonder if funeral places do finance?

Aggggg - millions if questions popping into my head now :(
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No, they haven't made wills. They are of the opinion that they don't need to as they live in sheltered accommodation and have no savings. That shouldn't be too much of a problem when the first one goes but will still be a nightmare after the second one. I keep telling them they still need a will even though they don't have much.
 
Noah

Noah

Well-Known Forumite
United57

United57

Well-Known Forumite
Jade-clothing said:
No, they haven't made wills. They are of the opinion that they don't need to as they live in sheltered accommodation and have no savings. That shouldn't be too much of a problem when the first one goes but will still be a nightmare after the second one. I keep telling them they still need a will even though they don't have much.
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I believe Age UK offer a service http://www.ageuk.org.uk/products/financial-products-and-services/legal-services/ Its not free but probably cost effective.
 
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