An area of concern that often arises for clients is whether or not they will have funds to pay for their funeral. Alternatively what also happens on occasion is that a client will have earmarked a specific account for payment of funeral costs and will ensure that that account remains in credit to pay for a funeral. However, there is no real need to take these steps.
This is because the law has been set up to cater for this and to ensure funeral expenses are paid. There is a rule that states that whatever monies are in your bank account and not specifically gifted to any one person are to be used to pay for your funeral. So, at times you will have a balance of money and a clause in your will that states “Whatever is in the balance of my estate, I give to my children in equal shares”. We often call this the residue clause. The rule is that whatever is in your residue is used first to pay expenses. So this will include funeral expenses. So your funeral expenses will be effectively paid by those beneficiaries who are getting the balance of the estate or the balance of the pot. We call these residuary beneficiaries.
You can always amend this in your will and make different provision from what the law implies. For example if you want your funeral expenses to be paid from a specific account or by a specific person, you can always say that in your will.
On balance you don’t have to worry about not having monies in a specific account in your will. This will be catered for in the round. However if you want something specific about your expenses then mention this to your solicitor.
I hope this helps and if you have any will drafting queries please reach out to info@kerrywills.ie