At Welham Jones, we work with you to ensure your loved one receives an appropriate, dignified, yet affordable funeral. Financial assistance towards the cost of a funeral may be available, depending upon your circumstances.
Funeral expenses are considered the responsibility of the deceased and are usually dealt with in a person’s will. Where there is no will, legal advice should be sought.
As funeral expenses are permitted to be paid from a deceased person’s estate before the grant of probate – provided there are sufficient liquid funds – the deceased’s bank can be invoiced directly to settle the account.
However, the person signing the papers at the funeral director’s enters into a formal contract and takes responsibility for settling the account, so it is important to understand this.
Make sure that you tell your funeral director how the account is to be settled before signing. This is usually a member of the family, if they are an executor, or a solicitor acting as executor.
Receipt of Social Fund assistance toward funeral expenses is means tested according to the financial status of the person responsible for the cost of the funeral (not by the financial status of the deceased).
A contribution toward the cost of any funeral you are arranging and paying for might be available if you, or your spouse or partner, receive one or more of the following benefits*:
In most cases, it is unlikely that the amount paid by the social fund will cover the total cost of the funeral.
*You should check with the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) to confirm which benefits currently apply.
You can learn more here about Funeral Expenses Payment from the DWP.
Should monies be required so that you are able to meet the funeral cost, we will issue a pro-forma invoice* that you can take to the local DWP office along with the documents listed below.
When registering the death, the Registrar will, if asked, provide you with a white Certificate of Registration of Death, which is required to claim any Social Fund benefit. You must take this to your local DWP office together with the following documents (if they are to hand or you can easily obtain them):
Claims should be made within the three months following the death. It is advisable to lodge the claim as soon as possible, even if you do not have all the required documents available to you. Any payment from the fund is usually sent directly to us within ten days.
Remember, Social Fund payments are not part of the deceased’s estate and therefore not liable for estate duty. Any payments made can be recovered by the DWP when, and if, funds do become available from the deceased’s estate.
In keeping with our open, transparent approach, we publish our prices and charges.
*A pro-forma invoice is available for Benefit Agency Support.
Where the deceased had no money or assets, and there are no relatives or friends willing or able to accept financial responsibility for the cost of a funeral, a very basic cremation must be provided under statute.
This may be undertaken by either the local NHS Trust, if the death occurred in hospital, or the Local Authority, if the deceased died at home.
Alternatively, we have two lower cost options for you to consider, that we ask for payment in full at the time of order:
You can find additional funeral resources here.
I would like to express our thanks to Welham Jones and especially Sam [our Tunbridge Wells arranger] during our recent bereavement. The quality of customer service we received from Sam was of an excellent professional and caring manner and she helped us immensely through this difficult time. Thank you for all the help you gave us.
Chandler family
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