Funeral Arrangements & The Will

The Funeral 

Important Facts for the executor

• As executor you are responsible for the arranging and paying for the funeral.

• Other people, such as friends and family, may want to help but you’re ultimately responsible.

• You should consider getting quotes for an estimated price.

• Make sure you find out if there was a prepaid funeral plan and find out if the deceased had already purchased a plot.

Some executors think that a funeral that cost $20,000.00 is good value and some executors think that a cost of $5,000.00 was a rip-off. As you are the executor the decision is yours as long as you act “reasonably”. 

The Will 

As executor you are responsible for finding the last will made by the deceased. The deceased may have made any number of wills. They might have been made by:

• instructing a solicitor;

• they may have been made from a will kit; or

• it might be completely home-made.

Most people get the job done properly by a solicitor and it is most likely that the law firm is storing the will on behalf of the deceased. As executor you don’t have to get the estate work done by the Solicitor who holds the will. You may elect to instruct a law firm located closer to you or a law firm that you know does a lot of deceased estate work. Inexplicably, some people have been known to keep their will in their safe or even worse in a bank security box and it only gets discovered after a next of kin has obtained “letters of administration”. This is very unwise.