Is the executor of an estate responsible for ensuring that cremation/burial expenses are paid?
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Is the executor of an estate responsible for ensuring that cremation/burial expenses are paid?
Asked on January 15, 2014 under Estate Planning, Massachusetts
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 10 years ago | Contributor
Yes; one of the executor's jobs is to pay the deceased's "final expenses," which includes burial and/or cremation. However, the executor is not personally responsible or liable for these expenses; he or she pays them out of the estate's money, not his or her own, and does not need to pay them out of his/her pocket even if the estate has insufficient money for the burial (unless, that is, that the executor *knew* or should have known there was not enough money at the time he/she hired the funeral home, bought the plot, etc.--in that case, it is possible that the executor could be personally liable, such as for fraud).
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