Q: I received an insurance check stemming from my Brother's death. My remaining siblings insist I have to help pay for
his funeral! The amount they are demanding is over 2600.00 . Under the statue of frauds in maryland am I obligated to pay or no?
A: Funeral expenses are an expense of your brother’s estate. They must be paid or reimbursed out of estate assets. Life insurance benefits are not part of a person’s estate when they are paid to a named beneficiary. Therefore, you have no legal obligation to pay your brother’s funeral expenses. I can understand if your siblings are unhappy that you received this financial windfall and they didn’t, and if there are insufficient estate assets to reimburse whomever paid for the funeral, but that is more of a moral/family issue, not a legal one.
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