Funeral Expenses

The passing of a loved one can be devastating to a family.  In addition to the emotional toil, a death in the family can reduce household income, leading to added financial stress and consequently having to seriously consider your bankruptcy filing options.  To compound matters, unexpected expenses, such as funeral costs and expenses, can take a toll on your family.  Funeral bills, including for services, a casket, a burial plot, and a headstone, can amount to tens of thousands of dollars, or more.  Often, families resort to credit cards to pay for funeral expenses. When the dust settles, years later, a family may find itself overwhelmed by debt.

Bankruptcy On Funeral Expenses in San Diego

So can you file bankruptcy on funeral expenses in San Diego?  In most cases the answer is yes.  If you had put charges on your credit cards with the honest and good faith intention of repaying the charges, then there is nothing wrong with filing a bankruptcy to eliminate credit card debt.  Of course, if you file the month after you used your credit cards, it will give rise to a presumption that you did not intent to repay the credit cards and will lead to an inference of bankruptcy fraud.  But if you honestly intended to repay the charges made on your card and your payment history shows that in fact you made a significant number of payments on the credit cards after you charged them, then San Diego bankruptcy law allows you to file on the funeral costs, eliminate them, and get a fresh financial start.

Funeral Services

Funeral Services can almost always be included. That is, you can also file bankruptcy on funeral services and related costs and expenses.  It will be almost impossible to show any intention on your part at the time that you paid for the funeral services.  You were devastated emotional state at the time of paying for the funeral services and it was very unlikely that you were scheming to defraud anyone, such as credit card lenders.  You needed to pay for a funeral and you did it with whatever means you had available to you, in your case credit cards.  You figured you would find a way to pay for it at a later a time.

Casket Costs

If you have paid for the cost of a casket on a credit card, whether you can file bankruptcy on the card will turn on your intentions. As with funeral services, it will be very difficult for your lender to prove that you did not intend to pay for the credit card debt at the time of purchasing a casket.  Reasonable people would agree that you probably had no intention one way or the other, and were simply purchasing an absolutely necessary item any way that you could and would think about how to pay for it at a later date.

Burial Plot

If you have purchased a burial plot with a credit card, this can sometimes be a tricky issue.  Depending upon your credit card agreement, and whether your credit card lender knows that you purchased a burial plot with a credit card, your lender may assert a lien in the burial plot.  If you have purchased a burial plot with cash (or check), then there will not be an issue of a credit card lender possibly asserting a lien in the plot.  Dealing with burial plots can be a tricky issue in San Diego bankruptcy cases and you will always want to consult with a San Diego bankruptcy attorney regarding how your burial plot will be treated when your case is filed.