If my brother died and had no money so I authorized his cremation, doI have to pay the bill?
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If my brother died and had no money so I authorized his cremation, doI have to pay the bill?
He was disabled but not on welfare so the state is not going to pay. What are my obligations?
Asked on January 26, 2012 under Estate Planning, Florida
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
You most likely have to pay. If there is a written contract, agreement, etc. between you and the funeral home, review what it says--odds are that it indicates somewhere that by signing, you agree to pay. Even if it doesn't say that explicitly, or even if it was an oral agreement, not written, by instructing the funeral home to go ahead with the cremation, you would have been obligating yourself to pay for it, unless and only to the extent they had offered to do it for free or had said they would not bill you but were instead being compensated from some other source.
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