NSW Funeral expense / Settlement of estate

[Joosh]

Can an estate/will be settled without the person funeral expenses being paid?
My Mother passed away 2 years ago in which my Sister was the sole Executrix of the estate. She paid for our Mothers funeral & said to the beneficiaries that she would take out the cost of funeral expense before settling the will. 2 years later, she is now saying that I owe her $5500.00 for my share of my Mothers funeral expense. Can this be possible?

 

[sammy01]

ok - so just checking... The funds from the estate were used to pay for the funeral? YES/ NO?
You then recieved some money as a beneficiary from the will?

I'm guessing I've understood you correctly? That being the case, sure you sister can SAY that you owe her money... Do you have an obligation to pay it? Nope and I doubt there is a court that sister can apply to under such circumstances.

 

[Joosh]

I believe so yes. My Mother house sold, my Sister worked out how much each beneficiary receives, & then we got our share from solicitor. I was never given documentation on how she worked out each persons share just how much each person received; however, I do believe the funeral was deducted as the amount my brother and I received were less than what she received.
thank you for your help! I feel a sense of relief now

 

[sammy01]

It may well be that she failed to factor into the equation the cost of the funeral and she got it wrong... That being the case, her problem HER mistake.

But it seems you think you got less than her? My advice doesn't change - She can think you owe her money, but she doesn't have any legal grounds to compel you to pay her. So don't fret

 

[Tim W]

As a general principle, the executor* can use the corpus** of the estate to pay for the funeral.
That assumes, of course, that there is enough money/ assets to cover the cost.
If not, then unless other people (which need not be relatives) choose to pay for things themselves,
the deceased has a more modest funeral.

An executor cannot compel other relatives to incur expenses or debts to which they have not consented.
Further, an executor cannot contract on behalf of others.
The classic example of which is making all the children the customers of the funeral dfirector,
without telling all of them first.

What the executor can do is deduct the cost of the funeral from the value of the estate before any distribution is made.
It's just another bill, along with the last phone bill, paying off the deceased's credit cards etc.

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* or in an intestacy, the Legal Personal Representative
** the money, and anything that can be turned into money by being sold