I do not want check

[MSRussell]

My Sister, in Illinois, set aside a portion of her estate for her funeral benefits. Her Husband was the beneficiary, but he passed away. Last week, she passed away, and as her only family living, the Funeral Director wants me to sign (with Notary Public) a power of attorney over to them so the funeral expenses can be paid for. I live in Indiana, so I'm not able to go directly to the Funeral Home.

I have no problem with the money going to them, but at 71, I have mobility issues, and do not want to leave the house, due to the Virus going around. I have no webcam, so can't do online Notary Public.

Can it easily be passed to her late Husband's children?
Thank You

 

[adjusterjack]

You cannot, legally, sign over anything unless the court has appointed you representative of the estate.

If somebody else is the official representative of the estate and you got a check made out to you as part of the distribution of the estate, you can just endorse the check over to the funeral home and mail it to them.

Where is the check now? Is it made out to you?

 

[MSRussell]

Thank You for the reply.

I believe the Funeral Home has it. He had mailed me an affidavit of next of kin document for, to be signed in front of a Notary Public, and sent back to them.

(After reading the document over again, I realized I had mistakenly posted it was a power of attorney form.)

I believe the Funeral Home has the check.

 

[LdiJ]

My Sister, in Illinois, set aside a portion of her estate for her funeral benefits. Her Husband was the beneficiary, but he passed away. Last week, she passed away, and as her only family living, the Funeral Director wants me to sign (with Notary Public) a power of attorney over to them so the funeral expenses can be paid for. I live in Indiana, so I'm not able to go directly to the Funeral Home.

I have no problem with the money going to them, but at 71, I have mobility issues, and do not want to leave the house, due to the Virus going around. I have no webcam, so can't do online Notary Public.

Can it easily be passed to her late Husband's children?
Thank You

If you are not the trustee of her estate, there is no way that you can sign a POA to give them any kind of access to her money. They should not even be asking you to do so. You might be able to do so if she had a life insurance policy and you were the beneficiary of that policy, but that does not appear to be the case based on what you said.

An affidavit of next of kin wouldn't have anything to do with money. It would just be authorizing the funeral and burial. Talk to them about filling it out without it being notarized.

 

[MSRussell]

Thank You...
Her next door neighbor have been a blessing to her when she was alive...she made him the executor of her estate. I wasn't contacted about the Funeral or Burial....I was told after the arrangements were made. Because of my health, I wasn't able to go to see her buried, but kept in contact with her neighbor.

The policy she had was for her funeral expenses. There will be $200 left over, which goes back into the estate. I told the director that was fine. I'm hoping they can get around the 'next of kin' fact.

I realize the Funeral Home wants their money they spend on the burial, etc., so one would think they wouldn't be so picky.

 

[LdiJ]

Thank You...
Her next door neighbor have been a blessing to her when she was alive...she made him the executor of her estate. I wasn't contacted about the Funeral or Burial....I was told after the arrangements were made. Because of my health, I wasn't able to go to see her buried, but kept in contact with her neighbor.

The policy she had was for her funeral expenses. There will be $200 left over, which goes back into the estate. I told the director that was fine. I'm hoping they can get around the 'next of kin' fact.

I realize the Funeral Home wants their money they spend on the burial, etc., so one would think they wouldn't be so picky.

Ok, so it WAS a life insurance policy with you as the beneficiary? If not, can you be clearer about what kind of policy it was and who was the beneficiary of the policy?

 

[xylene]

This is the funeral home's problem.

PS. You could buy a webcam for like 10 bucks. You should probably do that if you insist on being housebound for the foreseeable future.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

There are mobile notaries that can come to your home.

 

[Zigner]

Ok, so it WAS a life insurance policy with you as the beneficiary? If not, can you be clearer about what kind of policy it was and who was the beneficiary of the policy?

It was a burial expense policy. (Using random numbers here) - let's assume that the policy was for $5,000, but the burial expenses only came to $4,800. The extra $200 would go to the estate of the deceased (in this case). The OP can simply refuse to do anything and the money would (eventually) escheat to the state.

 

[LdiJ]

It was a burial expense policy. (Using random numbers here) - let's assume that the policy was for $5,000, but the burial expenses only came to $4,800. The extra $200 would go to the estate of the deceased (in this case). The OP can simply refuse to do anything and the money would (eventually) escheat to the state.

So do those have named beneficiaries, or how do they work?

 

[Zigner]

So do those have named beneficiaries, or how do they work?

It sounds like there was someone named to receive any funds that remained (the husband), but that person passed first. I'm only vaguely familiar with the details, but I believe there are different types of funeral policies that operate in different ways.

 

[ALawyer]

Sorry about your loss. Any loss can be hard and you had 2 losses (sister and brother in law) during this pandemic. Given that only $200 is involved, you might consider telling who ever has the funds to send them to the next door neighbor who looked after them as a token way to say "Thanks", and just forget about the technical legalities.

 

[MSRussell]

*UPDATE* I receive notice in the mail today, the claim was filed and paid to the Funeral Home.
I also received a check made out to her Estate. Now I have to figure out what to do with it. There were no courts involved at all.