Funeral Expenses

[Traveller47]

I am an executor for an estate that will pay IHT. I have two problems:

1 - The deceased had a funeral plan arranged and fully paid before he died. Can the cost of the funeral still be claimed against the estate for IHT purposes? It would seem to me that this would be claiming the expense twice because the total estate value is (say) £5,000 less than it would otherwise have been had there been no funeral plan. What should I do?

2 - This relates to the expenses of a wake. "Reasonable" wake expenses are claimable against the estate but what is reasonable? The deceased was very well known and the wake is likely to be attended by lots of people. This can end up costing several thousand pounds.

Any comments would be welcomed.

[atticus]

If the estate is not paying for the funeral then the funeral will not be a cost to the estate.

Discuss the cost of the wake with the deceased's family and heirs.

[dslippy]

I doubt there will be many questions about the wake unless the expense claimed is extraordinary.

[Traveller47]

Just to say thankyou for the replies. They were appreciated.