No Will Ex-Spouse Won't Use Insurance Money to Pay for Sister's Funeral?

Okay here is my problem my sister died last month from cancer complications and she had no will. The only insurance she had was $20K and her funeral was about $13K (which I signed my name to). Okay now here is the sticky part she had no beneficiaries on her policy and 2 of her sons are minors. So her eldest son who was of age signed over $13K of the insurance policy to the funeral home to pay for the funeral鈥ell I later found out that because my sisters other 2 sons were minors payment could only come from his portion (roughly $6325). Okay cool I figured we鈥檒l just wait for the rest of the money to come and pay off the rest of the funeral then her sons can have what is left (roughly $7000). Now what has happened is my sisters eldest son canceled the claim that was supposed to go to the funeral home and is having the money sent directly to him. Him and his father feel that I should pay the other $7000 myself and her sons should have some type of inheritance. WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!

Also the eldest son tells me that his father has debts and bills鈥 was like what does that have to do with paying for your mothers funeral. Anyway so obviously I believe I am going to have to sue my sisters estate and possibly my nephew and ex-brother-in-law. Does anyone know what type of attorney I will need? Also my sister left no will so I was handling all her personal effects鈥 think I should hand that over to her son but I want to talk to an attorney first. What do you guys think?

I would suggest you get an attorney who specializes in estate administration who can tell you whether you're entitled to place a claim against your sister's estate. At least in my state, the funeral expense is primarily the obligation of the estate and any person who pays it is entitled to be reimbursed from the assets of the estate, if there are any.

Get a lawyer. Your mistake was signing that paper, which you didn't mention if it indicated if you personally would be responsible for paying the outstanding amount. Who is the executor of her will and estate. The money for any funeral comes from her estate.

If your sister was still legally married when she passed then the funeral home will go after the husband/estate for payment. You're not going to be held accountable.

I'm really sorry to have to tell you that you assumed the payment for her funeral when you signed your name.
You can check with a lawyer about the eldest sons responsibility, but that covers only the amount he would get.
You can't touch the money of the minors.
Always, always be careful of what you sign your name to, and her son should have been too.
You can try to have yourself named as executor and maybe get some extra money for that, but don't count on it.
Her ex-husbands debts and bills don't mean diddly to her estate, but that doesn't mean her minor sons have to give daddy their money. Or you.

Sorry about your sister

Well you could try suing the Estate. The issue is that the money comes from an insurance policy which in a lot of cases goes directly to the beneficiaries and does not flow through the estate, since she did not have beneficiaries, then the monies should go to the estate. It's up to the Executor of the Estate to deal with the situation. Typically, the Executor of the Estate makes sure ALL debts and obligations are settled, before any funds are allocated to Beneficiaries.

In Canada, this handles exactly the case you have. Once somebody dies, usually somebody in the family takes care of the Funeral expenses. The Estate then pays back the person first (as long as there are funds available.)

You should find a lawyer with experience in Estate Case Law.

Good Luck

PS sounds like the kids and EX are real winners