We've had a talk recently at the carers forum from a Quakers charity that is there to help you make a funeral affordable. They help you weed out the funeral directors quoting you thousands for things you don't need but agree to because you're distraught and vulnerable. She said an invoice from the funeral director is all you need to present to the deceased's bank and they should release the money without seeing probate. They did also warn about checking pre-paid funeral plans very carefully before committing to one. If, say, it's one that covers everything you want for a lump sum of £3,000 or so, they can be good. If it's one where you pay a monthly sum for years you could end up paying out a lot more than you should. Plus, they are often not very flexible in their arrangements. These days, some people want humanist funerals or not involve a funeral director (and there is no law in the land saying you have to), and that might prove problematic. Incidentally, she said Age UK had some of the most expensive funeral plans around, so do shop around a bit if you want one. But as said, unless you save money and time with one, you don't need one as banks will release money to pay for a funeral bill.