Who pays for a funeral, and what does it actually cost?

This is a decision made in the worst possible week, under time pressure, by people who have never bought one before, and in front of a family with opinions. The two things that protect you are knowing that the estate pays before anyone else does, and knowing that the price range is wide enough that shopping around is genuinely worth the hour it takes.

Step by step

1. Check for a prepaid plan or funeral wishes first.Look in the will, the document pack, and among insurance papers. Prepaid funeral plans are now regulated by the FCA. Wishes in a will are not legally binding on the executor but are usually followed.
2. Understand who is liable.The estate bears the cost as a first-priority expense, ahead of most other debts. But the person who signs the funeral director's contract is personally liable to the funeral director if the estate cannot cover it. Do not sign on someone else's behalf without knowing what the estate holds.
3. Ask the bank to pay the invoice directly.Most banks release funds from a deceased person's frozen account straight to the funeral director on production of the invoice and a death certificate, before probate. This is routine, and it is the answer to "how do we pay for it when the account is frozen".
4. Compare the standardised price list.Funeral directors in the UK are required by the Competition and Markets Authority order to display a standardised price list, in a set format, in the premises and on their website. That makes genuine comparison possible for the first time, and prices between local firms differ substantially.
5. Separate the funeral director's fee from disbursements.Disbursements are third-party costs paid on your behalf — cremation or burial fees, the doctor's fees where applicable, the minister or celebrant, the notice. They are largely fixed. The funeral director's own fee is where the variation is.
6. Know what the cheaper options actually are.Direct cremation, with no service and no attendance, is the least expensive. A simple or unattended funeral is next. Burial is generally the most expensive, and a burial plot is a separate purchase from the funeral. A separate memorial event afterwards costs whatever you choose to spend.
7. Check whether help is available.Funeral Expenses Payment is available to people on certain benefits and is claimed from DWP, with a time limit after the funeral. Where nobody can arrange or pay for a funeral at all, the local authority or the NHS trust has a duty to arrange a public health funeral.
8. Consider arranging some of it yourself.It is lawful in England and Wales to arrange a funeral without a funeral director, and the required documents are the registrar's certificate for burial or cremation and the crematorium or burial authority's own forms. It is uncommon and it takes work, and the Natural Death Centre gives free guidance.
9. Keep the receipts for the estate accounts.Funeral costs are deductible from the estate for inheritance tax purposes and must appear in the estate accounts. Reasonable costs are allowed; extravagant ones can be challenged.

Questions people ask