Funeral Costs - Who Pays ????

[Gizmonster]

In a nutshell - single man passes away suddenly, never been married; no kids and both parents have passed away.
He didn't have 2 pennies to rub together, so we know there won't be anywhere near enough in the estate to pay for the funeral. He has brothers, sisters, nephews and nieces.
The funeral directors have basically said everything needs to be paid upfront before they'll proceed with anything.
My question is - who (if anyone) is legally required to pay?? I'm just wondering if, for example, someone has the means to pay, but isn't willing to - what happens then??
If no one pays, I'm sure they won't just let the body rot away.
So many questions .....

[jackthehat]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_health_funeral

[woofgang]

the answer is the local council. In the UK NO ONE is responsible for paying for the funeral of another person, although it can be taken from their estate before any bequests are paid.

[woofgang]

oh and every undertaker must provide a set funeral that costs no more than the maximum council payment.

[Buenchico]

No individual is ever required to pay for a funeral, irrespective of their means or their relationship to the deceased. For example if Richard Branson's wife dies he's perfectly entitled to say "Nothing to do with me, mate". (I'm not suggesting that he would!)

Where nobody comes forward to arrange a funeral the local authority is obliged to arrange a basic one. They can then seek to reclaim their costs from the estate of the deceased but if there was nothing of value left the local authority simply has to foot the bill.

However it's VERY IMPORTANT to note that a local authority CAN'T take over the arrangements initiated by someone else. So,in the circumstances you describe, it's VITAL that nobody actually starts to make arrangements with a funeral director.

It's the local DISTRICT council (rather than the county council) which needs to be contacted (or, of course, the Metropolitan or Unitary council, as appropriate).

The type of funeral is commonly known as a "pauper's funeral" but is officially called a "public health funeral" because the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984 states that the local authority "must cause to be buried or cremated the body of any person who had died or been found dead in their area, in any case where it appears to the authority that no suitable arrangements for the disposal of the body have been or are being made otherwise than by the authority".

[Gizmonster]

Thanks for the replies everyone.
A bit of a surprise there, as I would have assumed that the parent, child or spouse would have been legally responsible, but I wasn't sure about siblings, etc. The fact that no one is legally responsible comes as a bit of a surprise.
I suppose the next step will be to contact the council and inform them that there is no one in a position (or willing) to pay and to make sure that no one initiates anything with the funeral director ;)

[bednobs]

i wonder if the fact that the body is already with the funeral director constitutes starting arrangements?

[Coppit]

A friend, poor but not penniless, recently died in a private nursing home. The Council was forced to take over and as they were unable to find a will, gathered up all his belongings at the home and in his flat and sold them to defray costs.

[woofgang]

I am always a little surprised when people don't know this......also thinking practically, implementing any kind of family must pay setup would be fraught with problems.....who pays for body storage and for the staff to do the search? How long do you have to search for one relative before declaring them not found and moving on to the next? What do you do if all the relatives you can find are on benefits or otherwise unable to deal with the situation? It seems to me that its the easiest most practical and cost effective solution as well as the most civilised.