Funeral wishes in a will are just that; funeral wishes. They are not commands that have to be carried out by law by the executors of the will and there’s a good reason for that. You don’t know when the will is going to be read.
If the executors should read the will after they’ve arranged and carried out the funeral and have made the wrong choice then there might not be much they can do about it. What if they’ve cremated you when you wanted to be buried?
Strangely, in UK law there’s no legal obligation on the executors to carry out your wishes. To quote the law:- It was held in Williams v Williams (1882) 20 Ch Div 659 that since a person has no property in his body after death, any directions in a Will or other document regarding the disposal of his body will not be binding on his executors. In that case it was held that the executors had no liability to reimburse the friend of the deceased for the cost of removing the body from unconsecrated ground and cremating it in Italy, even though the deceased expressly requested in his Will that his friend cremate his body and directed his executors to pay the expenses incurred.
Some clients include a simple statement to say they either want to be buried or cremated. A very small percentage state that they want to be left to medcial research and/or transplant purposes. Also, very few give specific detail in the will because they’ve been advised to deal with those details before the will is read (a pre-paid funeral plan), so a few add information about where the funeral is to be held, the specific details about the either religious or non religious service; the types and suggestions of bible readings and music to be played (Goodbye My Lover by James Blunt and Angels by Robbie Williams being the current favourites); further information about flowers which are often replaced by charity donations these days and anything about the after funeral wake (party!).
Ocasionally there is information about where someone wants their ashes scattered and that has to be both legal and agreed beforehand in some cases. Some people have wishes for their ashes to be scattered, for example, over Old Trafford, home of Manchester United Football Club. The club won’t allow this in advance, but at the time you are able to ask a club’s administrators and they might allow it at the time.
Better still is to arrange a pre-paid funeral plan. Then it’s all arranged and paid for. No-one has to chance making the wrong decision because you’ll have spoken to your LSUK consultant who will have sorted the necessary planning with you.
Remember to let your close family know you’ve arranged for a pre-paid funeral plan as they might not find your documents (best kept with your Will!) at the right time and don’t forget to carry an organ donar card if your ‘parts’ are to be of any immediate use. It’s too late to read about such wishes in your Will.
Filed under: Legal Advice, Pre paid funerals
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