When a person dies, a funeral must be organized so that they can be buried or cremated. For this, loved ones must contact funeral directors. Although more and more people plan to pay for their funeral in advance, this is not always the case. We know: it is extremely expensive, between €3,000 and €5,000 on average. Consequently, the relatives of a deceased person are not always able to financially cover these costs and sometimes the deceased has no relatives. In these cases, it is the municipalities that take over.
A deceased person has no relatives and no money, who pays for his funeral?
As indicated in the General Code of Local Authorities, “the external funeral service is a public service mission“and this includes in particular”the organization of funerals” but also “the supply of covers, coffins and their interior and exterior accessories as well as cremation urns“, among others. The service is free for people who do not have the means, according to this same code. The municipality “chooses the organization that will provide this funeral“.
Concretely, if the deceased does not have sufficient resources in his account and he does not have known relatives, then the municipality will have to cover the funeral costs. It is the municipality in which the deceased died which must cover the costs and not where they are domiciled. The town hall then decides itself the type of service it wants for the deceased, in particular what type of coffin, what padding, etc.
For the ceremony, certain municipalities have partnerships with associations to attend the funeral. In Paris, for example, “people are buried at graveyard of Thiais in cellars. The collective ‘the dead of the street’ organizes a rite and the town hall places a plaque“, explains Cendrine Chapel, general director of funeral services in Paris.
A deceased person has relatives, but they do not have many resources: can the municipality pay for the funeral?
Sometimes a deceased person has relatives, but they do not have the means to pay for the funeral. Knowing that the funeral must normally take place within 6 working days following the death, we must move quickly. So often, town halls pay. “There is always a way to request funeral reimbursement from beneficiaries.“, indicates Cendrine Chapel. However, this is not always applied.
In certain municipalities, solidarity benefits are put in place for deceased people who did not have many means. For example, in Paris, “Parisians with an annual tax liability of less than €992 can benefit from services at a lower cost. Coverage of 80% of the funeral costs is planned.“, specifies Cendrine Chapel. It really depends on each municipality. The criteria and aid really change from one city to another so you have to find out for each municipality.