Inheritance Law2026-10-01

I've disclaimed the inheritance – do I still have to pay for the funeral?

Disclaiming clears you of the debts – but not necessarily of the funeral costs. Who may still have to pay or arrange the burial under Bavarian law, and when the social welfare office steps in.

You disclaimed the inheritance properly and within the deadline. The estate was over-indebted, or you simply wanted nothing more to do with the deceased. Now an invoice from the funeral directors has landed on your desk – or a letter from the local authority. The authority arranged the burial. Do I have to pay, even though I inherited nothing?

In brief

Disclaiming releases you from the duty under § 1968 BGB. Under that provision, it is the heir who bears the funeral costs. As a non-heir, that duty no longer applies to you. But it does not automatically release you from a second, entirely separate duty. Under Bavarian burial law, the closest relatives must see to the burial – regardless of whether they are heirs. And if someone owed the deceased maintenance during their lifetime, § 1615(2) BGB applies on top of that. This bites when there is nothing to be had from the heir. If no one is able to pay, the social welfare office steps in. On application, it will cover the costs where it would be unreasonable to expect you to bear them.

How I can help

Establishing whether, as an heir who has disclaimed, you are nonetheless under a duty as a matter of burial law
Checking whether a maintenance obligation towards the deceased existed, and what that means for the question of costs
Preparing and substantiating the application to the welfare office for the costs to be covered under § 74 SGB XII
Reviewing funeral directors’ invoices and local authority cost demands to see whether they are justified
Communicating with the authority, the funeral directors and the welfare office, so that responsibilities are properly sorted out

Two duties you must keep apart

The decisive misconception in this situation: many people believe that disclaiming puts them “completely in the clear”. That is true only of the inheritance side. § 1968 BGB refers expressly to the heir. Anyone who has effectively disclaimed is treated, retrospectively, as never having become an heir and owes nothing under that provision. You can read more about the deadlines for disclaiming and its effect in my article on the time limit for disclaiming.

Entirely separate from this is the public-law duty to arrange burial. Under the Bavarian Burial Act and the Burial Regulation, the closest relatives must see to the burial. This applies whether they have inherited, disclaimed, or never had anything to do with the estate at all. This duty attaches purely to family closeness, in the following order: spouse or civil partner, children, parents, grandparents, grandchildren, siblings, nieces and nephews. If you stand near the front of that line – as a child of the deceased, for instance – this duty falls on you even so. That remains the case even if you disclaimed the inheritance long ago.

What the duty to arrange burial actually means

Here you have to distinguish two things: the duty to arrange the burial, and the question of who bears the cost. A relative who is under a burial duty and who instructs a firm of funeral directors thereby becomes the funeral directors’ contracting party in their own right. They owe the agreed fee – independently of the inheritance. If no relative discharges this duty, the local authority will order the burial by way of substitute performance. It can then recover the necessary costs incurred from those who were actually under the duty. A cost demand of this kind is therefore not addressed to “the heir”, but to the person who ranks as burial-bound under the order of priority. This duty survives the disclaimer.

In practical terms: if you do not stand near the front of the order of priority, the burial-law duty often does not fall on you at all. That applies, for example, to distant relatives. They would have become heirs on intestacy only because no closer relative is still living. In that case, nothing is in fact left open after the disclaimer. I check this in each individual case against the particular family constellation.

The maintenance obligation as a second safety net

Independently of the burial duty, there is a third, civil-law route. Anyone who owed the deceased maintenance during their lifetime – typically parents and children in relation to one another, or spouses – must bear the funeral costs under § 1615(2) BGB. But this applies only in so far as the costs cannot be obtained from the heir. This duty is expressly subsidiary. It bites only where the estate does not cover the costs. That may be because the estate is over-indebted. It may equally be because the heir has disclaimed. In that event, the inheritance no longer rests with anyone who could pay. Someone who has disclaimed themselves but was also under a maintenance obligation during the lifetime – a child in relation to indebted parents, say – can find themselves liable for the costs again by this indirect route. That is so even where § 1968 BGB no longer reaches them.

When no one can pay: the welfare office

If neither the heir nor the relatives under a burial duty nor those under a maintenance obligation can bear the costs, the welfare office covers the necessary funeral costs under § 74 SGB XII. But only on application. And only in so far as it would be unreasonable to expect those under the duty to bear them. In doing so, the welfare office does not examine the financial position of the (disclaiming) heir, but what is economically reasonable for the person actually under the burial or maintenance duty. It weighs up income, assets and the amount of the costs incurred. It is best to make the application before the burial takes place, or at the very least very soon afterwards. Anyone who pays first and only then turns to the welfare office takes a risk. The authority may then be able to defeat the claim for reimbursement on formal grounds. Set out clearly why it would be unreasonable to expect you to bear the costs.

An example from practice

A client had disclaimed her father’s over-indebted estate within the deadline. Shortly afterwards, she nevertheless received a demand for payment from the funeral directors. The care home had instructed them. A letter from the local authority followed later. My review showed that, as his daughter, she stood second in the burial-law order of priority. Regardless of the disclaimer, she was therefore under a duty to arrange the burial. She herself had only a modest income. For the remaining share of the costs, I made an application to the welfare office for them to be covered. The welfare office granted it.

Common mistakes

Paying the funeral directors’ invoice without comment, without checking whether any payment duty of your own exists at all.
Assuming that the disclaimer automatically settles the burial question too – it concerns only the law of inheritance, not public burial law.
Making the application to the welfare office too late, or not at all, because you believe your own payment duty to be unavoidable.
Not contacting the local authority or the funeral directors at all – thereby throwing away the chance to clarify early on whether, and at what rank in the order of priority, you are affected at all.

Frequently asked questions

As an heir who has disclaimed, do I have to organise the funeral myself?

Only if, under the Bavarian Burial Regulation, you fall within the circle of closest relatives. That circle is under the primary duty to see to the burial. This is determined by the degree of kinship, not by whether you are an heir.

Can the local authority bill me despite the disclaimer?

Yes, if you count as burial-bound and the authority carried out the burial by way of substitute performance. The demand is then based not on § 1968 BGB, but on burial law.

What if I am not a close relative at all, but was merely an intestate heir?

Then frequently neither the inheritance-law nor the burial-law duty falls on you, since the latter presupposes a particular order of priority among close relatives. I check this in each individual case against the family constellation.

How do I apply for the welfare office to cover the costs?

You make an informal application to the responsible welfare office and set out why it would be unreasonable to expect you to bear the costs. Ideally, submit evidence of your income and assets. Make the application, if at all possible, before or immediately after the burial.

Is a child under a maintenance obligation liable even if they were not an heir?

Yes, § 1615(2) BGB attaches to the earlier maintenance obligation, not to whether you are an heir. But the duty bites only subsidiarily, in so far as the costs cannot be obtained from the heir.

Your next step

If you have disclaimed and are nonetheless faced with a demand for costs, do not simply pay – and do not simply ignore the demand either. Both can prove expensive. I will check for you whether you are under any duty at all as a matter of burial or maintenance law. I will also check whether an application to the welfare office may be an option. At my firm in Kirchseeon, as well as in Rosenheim and Wasserburg, I advise you on this in inheritance law. I will also take over the communication with the local authority, the funeral directors and the welfare office on your behalf.

This article provides general information and is no substitute for legal advice in an individual case. Last updated: 2026-10-01.

Christian Czirnich, Rechtsanwalt (attorney at law), Kirchseeon near Munich

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