Payment of funeral expenses
Practitioners are reminded that the funeral expenses are the priority debt payable from the assets of the deceased in each and every estate.
The committee recommends that if the practitioner with carriage of administration of the estate is in funds, then, upon receipt of a request for payment of the funeral account, it should be settled without delay. Moreover, the committee reminds practitioners that if the deceased left a bank account with sufficient funds to discharge the funeral account, then, upon production of the funeral director鈥檚 invoice, it is the practice of most banks to provide a bank draft payable to the funeral director in satisfaction of the funeral account, without requiring a grant of representation.
Accordingly, if not already in funds, a request for payment of the funeral account should be made to the bank promptly by practitioners upon receipt of the request for payment from the funeral director.
In the event that there are no liquid assets available to discharge the funeral account until non-liquid assets have been realised following extraction of the grant of representation, or if there is some other difficulty in obtaining the requisite funds from the estate, then this should be communicated to the funeral director, together with an estimate of when payment may be likely.
The funeral director should also be provided with the name and address of the legal personal representative(s) in case the funeral director needs to make personal contact with them in relation to the funeral account. Where such difficulties arise, it may be worth considering whether there are other options available to enable discharge of the funeral account pending administration of the estate.