Who pays for the funeral?

No I'm pretty sure you don't have to. I think the local council arranges it, what used to be called a paupers funeral.

You are allowed a grant to buy the basics, I think, if you are next of kin but don't have the funds.

why would an heir hunter contact you if the estate is of little value.

Relatives don’t have to pay the cost of a funeral unless they arrange it.

A basic Public Health funeral will be arranged by the Council. It will be at a time and date of their choosing. Relatives can attend. Usually it just involves a few words of commital and the burial. Nothing else.

If relatives want more then they will have to pay.

A death grant is available for a close relative spouse, child, parent) who is in receipt of benefits. This usually pays for death certificates and other essentials.

Ah, yes.
That makes sense now.

We have just been through all this. No you do not have to pay. Funeral costs come out of the deceased estate. If they have no money the council pays. We did though pay for a simple funeral
£10350. With the Coop.

Oh yes Bbevan. It does come out of the estate if there is any, I agree.

What I posted only applies if there’s no money.

BBbevan is that correct over £10k for a simple funeral.

Nanawind

BBbevan is that correct over £10k for a simple funeral.

Much much less for a Simple Direct cremation. Could be under a thousand.

I paid half that for DH’s funeral, including burial in our local churchyard, a full requiem mass, simple oak coffin (didn’t like the wicker ones) , hearse and one limo . We sourced flowers ourselves (I think that was about £80) made a donation to the Parish Church funds for organ and organist and I think a few hundred for the wake - no more than £300 I am sure , so I do not see how anybody could arrive at a figure of £10k.

Realistically, I guess BBbevan intended to write £1,350 for a simple funeral.

That was what I was wondering!

It cost me close to 10,000 pounds for a funeral. I thought it was quite simple. Costs were: Transport from the medical examiners office to the funeral home, casket, embalming, celebrant, chapel, grave site, burial fees, simple wake, family transport to the funeral and back, death legalities and certificate, transport of casket to home (cultural tradition to have the wake in the home). Nothing more than that. The grave site on its own was nearly 3,000 of that cost.

Should add - the estate paid for the funeral. I couldn't pay that much for a funeral personally.

Sorry , yes you are right. £1,350 . Just from the mortuary to the crematorium. No mourners or flowers etc.

Are you in the US CafeAuLait? What you describe doesn’t sound quite like a simple UK funeral.

If this is now with the "Solicitors" surely Funeral has happened??

Phew, glad we clarified the cost of a simple funeral!
The funeral has not yet taken place.
My Aunt had told her care home that she had no relatives, hence the local council instructed Heir Hunters.
There is 1 heir (if still alive at 102) or 5 heirs.
No solicitors are as yet involved.
I want to give her the necessary send off, but have limited resources and other than knowing she was a devout catholic I dont know her wishes at this stage, I just wondered what my and the other 4 likely heirs would be liable for, apparently she stopped paying her care home fees and has rather a lot of debt.

I believe councils tend to cremate rather than bury and if your Aunt was a devout Catholic she may not have wanted that. I suggest you speak to the council to find out what is happening and also speak again to the priest at her Church. There might be enough money in her estate for burial but I don’t think you can find out before putting in a claim. The Home where she lived may be able to tell you more as they would presumably have whatever papers and cash she left - e.g. bank statements, share certificates.

Must say I’m very glad a favourite childless aunt of mine had prepaid her funeral with a local firm, and stated her wishes for it.
It wasn’t a question of the money - her estate would have covered it - but it meant a lot less hassle, and saved us from wondering what she’d have wanted.

BBbevan

Sorry , yes you are right. £1,350 . Just from the mortuary to the crematorium. No mourners or flowers etc.

I paid £1600 for a similar funeral for my mother. It did come out of her estate though. We did attend the crematorium but had no service, just sat there for a few minutes with music playing. There were only four of us.

A company called Pure Cremation is advertising heavily in the UK. They offer basic funerals but seem to be around the £1600 mark.

I think the cost of a funeral can also depend on how affluent the area is. Maybe there should be some kind of regulations on funeral directors. No-one seems to argue the costs as it sounds callous and hard hearted. Therefore, funeral directors can get away with charging whatever they think they can get away with.

MawBe

I paid half that for DH’s funeral, including burial in our local churchyard, a full requiem mass, simple oak coffin (didn’t like the wicker ones) , hearse and one limo . We sourced flowers ourselves (I think that was about £80) made a donation to the Parish Church funds for organ and organist and I think a few hundred for the wake - no more than £300 I am sure , so I do not see how anybody could arrive at a figure of £10k.

I don’t know how that can be possible. My dad had just a cremation, no cars, no service, and it cost £1300.

What don’t you think is possible Buttonjugs ?
I can assure you my figures are accurate - no cremation, requiem mass, village churchyard burial, hearse and 1 car as I said. What don’t you find credible?

No one is obliged in law to pay for anybody else's funeral. PROVIDED that they haven't started making arrangements. The council are obliged under public health legislation to undertake a burial or a cremation as appropriate and are allowed to recover the costs from the estate if there is anything of value.
Such funerals are often the case where no relatives can be found at the time (like heir hunters) My late mother used to work for her local council doing craft classes at day centres and the man who managed the centres was also employed by the council to do the home clearances in such cases. He came back to the centre with a shoebox one day and said to her 'I have NO IDEA what to do about this (this was some 50 years ago) he opened the shoebox and there was a hibernating tortoise. Mum said well if you like while you make enquiries I will take it home and put it in the box with mine (actually it was mine but I was at college) The tortoise lived with us quite happily and died of old age about 20 years ago.
on another note, I haven't found rapacious funeral directors to be the case. The people who dealt with my Mum's funeral were very helpful and tried to steer us towards less expensive options but my Mum had left instructions. When my husband died, the folk I used (different firm, different area) and again were very helpful in suggesting less costly options for a cremation. Looking back, I was in such a state that I would have said yes to anything they suggested.