The funeral bill as a debt of the estate inventory

The funeral bill belongs in the administration of the estate inventory when the instruction for the funeral was given for the deceased. Ask for an itemised invoice, so that the ceremony, the grave or cremation and third-party costs stay apart. Put in the file the name of the creditor, the amount, the invoice date and the invoice number. If a relative has advanced the bill, you note who paid and from which account. An amount advanced is a claim on the estate, unless the family expressly agrees something else. Keep the confirmation of the instruction next to the invoice, because that states the name of the person who gave the instruction.

Who is personally liable for the bill depends on who gave the instruction. You do not record that yourself as a legal judgment. You note the name on the confirmation of the instruction and whether that person acted as a relative or on behalf of the estate inventory. Ask the funeral director which name is on the agreement if that is not on the invoice. Do not pay from a private account without booking that payment in the estate inventory. In the file the facts remain: who gave the instruction, the amount, the date and the status paid or open. A difference between the instruction and the invoice you put down as a question for the notary, not as a conclusion.

Funeral costs are looked at differently in the winding-up from a debt the deceased already had. The classification is for the notary; you see to it that the two kinds do not land in one heap. Make a separate line for the funeral bill and separate lines for debts that already existed on the date of death. Put the source with each line: invoice, contract or bank statement. A total amount without a specification is hard to explain to heirs who later want to see the bill. Also keep the funeral bill apart from flowers that someone paid themselves and does not claim back.

Pay the bill only once it is clear from which account that may be done. Sometimes the bank blocks the deceased's account until there is a certificate of inheritance. A relative can then advance the money for the time being, and you book that payment as a claim with the date and the amount. Link the payment to the invoice and keep the proof of payment with it. Without that proof the debt later looks still open, even if the money has already gone. Do not send a part payment without an agreement with the funeral director, so that it stays clear what is still open.

A wish about the funeral can stand in the life file. Lay that wish next to the invoice, without correcting the ceremony afterwards if it has already taken place. A difference between the wish and the bill is a note, not a reproach in the letter to the other heirs. Discuss a dispute about the amount with the person who gave the instruction and, if that is needed, with the notary. In the administration the invoice remains an amount with a status, not a judgment on the ceremony. Ask for missing specifications before you put the bill down as final in the description of the estate inventory.

This is an administrative checklist, not legal advice. The notary, the bank or the body concerned decides what this file needs and in which order. Ervazo keeps the tasks, the letters and the recorded values. The program does not send the letters, does not pay any debts and does not file a return. For each step, note the date, the person and the document you have received. What is still missing stays an open task. A ticked line means only that the administration has been updated. You set the status to paid only once the proof of payment is with the invoice in the file.