Financial Responsibility for Funeral Costs

By

cett

The fact that you are asking means that there is a problem somewhere. while the answers given are the best ones in the circumstances, it would be wise to make sure that you yourself wont have a problem like this ever! I have put aside money in a special bank account which i have told my daughter about, its actually written in my will with the a/c no. So that there will be no problems in the future and so that my ex-husband wont be able to touch them. they are written in my will as funeral expense account. Worth keeping in mind.

By

PupperMom

I agree that the spouse would be; when you're married, his debt is her debt and the other way around unless some sort of legal agreement ( like a pre-nup) was in place at the time of the marriage that specifically stated otherwise and was agreed to by both parties.

The only other monkey wrench in the machinery may be if they were legally separated when the other died, or the surviving spouse left to live in a different location a long time ago and there was never a legal separation or divorce. In that case, the family's best bet is to contact an attorney.

By

Lilac

The spouse is. It is a debt just like any other. But by the same token, the funeral can be as simple as can be afforded. No one should make the arrangements except the one paying the bills.

By

Deeli

The spouse unless someone else volunteers.

By

redhatterb

I would think the spouse would be responsible. I don't know who else it would be.

My mother recently lost her husband of 35 years. The day before he passed his daughter got him to sign a power of attorney for his funeral arrangements.

My mother passed away Aug 9th, 2009. She was married and her husband (my step-father) did not show up to make the funeral arrangements. My question is, if you are married and something like this happens can the legal spouse be held responsible and be made to pay for the funeral arrangements?