Paying for funeral costs from the estate, how does this work?

[Flailing274]

Hi,
In the midst of an imminent bereavement this is not what I really want to spend time and energy worrying about, but needs must. My father is very very ill, and we're going to need to start organising the funeral soon. It will be myself and my sibling who organise it. I understand that funeral costs can be paid for by the estate, but how does this actually happen in practice? I have LPA for finances, and access to his bank account currently, but this will end when he does pass away. When I inform the bank that he has died, do I let them know we will need money for the funeral? If so, how is this released? Do we need to wait until probate is completed? I don't think he has a will (he refused to make one when he had capacity, and he has had Alzheimer's for a number of years), so how long does that usually take to complete? I'm just wondering if I need to try and arrange a personal loan now, or if I could use my credit card. Obviously credit card is less than ideal if we won't get any money for the funeral for some time. Thanks for any advice, sorry if you've been in this position!

@CMOTDibbler Thanks!

Sorry for your situation, OP.
My DSis and I had Guardianship rather than POA so couldn’t withdraw a small ‘float’ to deal with the death / on going house maintenance expenses in advance. However, as PP have indicated it can take nine months to a year for financials to be settled and bills do need paying.
If we hadn’t have been under Guardianship. Rules I would have withdrawn a contingency float before death from the parent’s account and discussed with all siblings first. Then I’d keep meticulous details of how it is spent… extra copies of death certificate, gratuity to funeral director, window cleaning at property, service charge / grass cutting at property… Seven months down the road, DM’s house cannot be sold and needs external painting

Sorry for your imminent loss.

Banks will pay funeral costs with death certificate and funeral invoice usually.

Being practical get a few copies of the death certificate as you may need to send off copies to different banks/organisations and if you only have one it can be very time consuming.

I withdrew £12k from parents account just before death which we knew was coming in the next 24 hrs. I was beneficiary along with siblings in will and it was very very useful. Kept records but siblings weren’t that interested. As long as I did all the paperwork it was fine by them!

Bank won’t know he has died until you tell them and I did think they might query the withdrawal on his date of death but it was fine. Could pay for their funeral, overpayments of private and state pension and the accountants fee out of the £12k.

Would definitely do this again.

Banks do release funeral funds. I know an example from earlier this year.

If you contact the deceaseds bank where the money is held they can pay the funeral directly to the funeral directors (can do bank transfer) they’ll just need to see the death certificate and the funeral bill.
You can then deal with the rest of the estate when you feel ready.
But just be advised they may block the deceaseds accounts and therefore no direct debits etc will be paid.

@Mum5net I did probate for a relative when their parent died. I had no experience. It took 3 months, even in these times, with the covid backlog. I suppose it depends what needs doing. A simple house sale and distributing a bit of cash where there are no disputes can be quite quick.

You don't need to do this. Banks and funeral directors have been through this lots of times and can advise. Banks will generally release funds when funeral director sends a bill

There will also be other bills. Although you are able to cancel state pension it is very likely that they will overpay a little and come to you for payment back as Executor. You don’t need to pay until estate is granted probate but I found it much easier to just pay the overpay and it was done out of the lump sum I took out.

They’ll do this for funeral expenses but what about expenses for the wake?

It's a few years ago now but I do recall the bank paid the invoice for the wake as well as the undertaker. It was at a pub though, not sure if they would advance cash if you were doing the catering yourself.

I am sorry you are having to deal with your imminent loss.

Natwest paid directly for my mum's funeral from her account: the funeral director costs, the crematorium fees, the celebrant and flowers, plus - I believe - the wake (a tapas place, so not necessarily a typical venue). They kept her account open so I could pay in money, while they dealt with the bills above directly. They may not have been my favourite bank, but for this, they really stepped up.