funeral expenses

[Brian Davidson]

Minnesota
My older father married again after our mother died.
His new wife inherited everything with the exception of
a piece of land that was given to the five elder children.
The new wife is claiming that we are all responsible for a
full share of my fathers funeral expenses. Is this correct
The estate was of considerable size

 

[advisor10]

(01-20-2001)


The new wife is wrong!

Your message implies that your father had a last will & testament--if he did, then it is the ESTATE EXECUTOR who is legally responsible for paying the funeral expenses. The funeral home should have submitted the bill to him/her and he/she is supposed to use estate funds to pay it. If you don't know who the estate executor is, go to the county courthouse and look at the will and the other documents in the probate file to find out who the estate executor is.

If the wife had an attorney who helped to advise her about estate matters, then she certainly should have known about this. It is unbelievable that she is trying to pass this expense off on someone else, but I guess this is something that people do if they are greedy and trying to keep every last penny for themselves. Why would she not even want to pay for these expenses if she truly loved this man? Don't let her pull the wool over your eyes.

SINCERELY,

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