So if you think this post is inappropriate or it offends you. Stop reading and come back next week.

My father’s death was sudden and unexpected. We had started as a family discussing final arrangement  but that discussion was very limited. I have learned some very important facts along with financial implication that I am going to share in hopes that it will help someone else.

Death is expensive.

Funeral arrangements, which included the casket and vault were $10,000. This is really a low figure, when you consider what could have been spent.

We were able to purchase burial plots for both my parents for $1500 a piece.  These are located at a church and we needed to purchase both to ensure that my mother can be buried next to my father which is a strong desire of hers.

Grave Marker totaled $930. I am going to state up front this really really really low. We decided to contact a local monument business just to check prices. This price is less than half of what we were originally told to budget.

On Tuesday of this week, my mother and I contact the Clerk of Court office in order to begin working on settling the estate. My parents did have a will already in place. I learned several things that eventually help significantly reduce the overall cost we incurred. First, in North Carolina regardless of what is stated in the will , a spouse is entitled to the first 30 thousand dollars ($30,00) of assets.  In the case of my father, this worked in our benefit because the only assets that were solely in his name totaled less than this amount. We ended up paying $17 fee for filing his will and getting paperwork that allows my mother to cash and spend any checks received in just his name for the next 5 years up to the threshold of $30,000.  We also learned that we do not need to have the house deed transferred to just my mother’s name. The typically cost for this is $700 but is unnecessary.  Because my father’s assets did not reach the $30,000 mark we do not have to place the will in probate. The estate is actually considered settled at this point. The filing fee for placing a will in probate in NC is $220. Finally, we learned that in the case of death, even a spouse is not obligated for debits that are solely in the deceased name, even if in the case of a credit card, which has an authorized user. This user is not responsible for the debt.

I have also learned that each state is different in terms of will and estates. I hope this information is used in the spirt it was given to assist and prepare other family for the most life altering events I have ever experienced.