ChatterBank0 min ago
Funeral Arrangements
If someone arranges their own funeral has full discussions with the funeral directors can the next of kin then go against these wishes? There are witnesses to the verbal wishes but nothing in writing and no will.
Answers
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For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.Even if funeral wishes are written in a Will they are not legally binding and can be ignored by the family. It is strange to think that the executors of the Will take ownership of the body but that is how it is regarded in law.
Sometimes there is just not enough money in the estate to pay for the sort of funeral the deceased wanted, other times religion or convention can play a big part. The coroner could refuse to allow the planned cremation.
So yes, the executors can go against their wishes
there is also a little bit of "he who pays the piper calls the tune"
my MIL was adamant she wanted to be buried as she was scared of cremation. Everyone knew her wishes.
WHen she died, there was simply not enough money to do that (and her estate was insolvent) so we did what we could afford. It wasn't burial!
He needs to change his Will and make the 'love of his life' his executor. The executors are the ones who make all the decisions re the funeral.
It doesn't need to cost anything. He can copy his current his Will, changing the executors. He just needs to make sure he signs it in front of two witnesses and make sure it is dated correctly.
If he has his Will lodged with a solicitor or other Will service he should send the new Will to them.
That'll stop the argy bargy