I lost both of my parents last year. they had really planned ahead, had a Living Trust (better than a will, no probate), I was on all of their bank accounts (I am an only child), they had pre-paid their cremation. That is where the "problem" comes in.

Approx ten years ago they went to a local mortuary and pre-paid. What that entails is depositing the cost of the cremation into a special bank account, accessable only by the mortuary. The account builds interest, which my parents had to declare on their taxes every year. By the time they died the account had grown to about twice the current cost of a cremation, making a ton of "free" money for the mortuary, and due to the tax thing making my parents pay much more than they should have. They did this to "make things easier" for me when they were gone, but all it did was increase the details I had to take care of, and wasted their money...

A much better plan is to just have enough money set aside, and accessable by a trusted person, to pay for the funeral/cremation...