Funeral and Burial Expenses after a Fatal Accident

Funeral expenses: entitlement and evidence

Assessing the expenses

A death may give rise to transport, burial and cemetery expenses. Recovery from a liable person depends on their connection with the death, their reasonableness and the available evidence. A funeral-expenses claim is separate from loss of support and non-pecuniary damages.

Legal basis

Article 53 of the Turkish Code of Obligations expressly lists funeral expenses among losses arising from death. The claim must also establish who is legally responsible for the death and on what basis.

This head of loss concerns reasonable funeral and burial expenditure incurred or required. It is not an actuarial calculation of future income loss, nor does it compensate for grief.

Who can claim?

Under Article 53, funeral expenses and loss of support are separate heads of loss. A person claiming funeral expenses does not have to prove financial dependence on the deceased solely for that claim.

The evidence should identify who bore the cost, whose funds were used and who holds the claim. The same expense must not be recovered twice.

How is the amount assessed?

Actual expenditure is the starting point. Life tables, dependency shares and discount assumptions used in loss-of-support or permanent-incapacity calculations do not directly determine funeral expenses.

Invoices, receipts, bank records and transport or cemetery documents can show what was paid and why. They should identify the service, date, payer and amount where possible.

Where the exact amount cannot be proved, Article 50(2) allows the judge to assess it in light of the ordinary course of events and the steps taken by the claimant. This does not remove the need to submit available evidence.

Keeping the heads of loss separate

Debates over life tables and technical interest concern future support or earning-capacity losses. They do not create an automatic uplift for funeral expenses.

Each expense must be connected with the event and reasonable. The calculation should distinguish each head of loss and avoid claiming the same payment twice.

Before making a claim

Start with an itemised expense list, proof of payment and records relevant to liability. These help establish the scope of the claim and the appropriate respondent.

Insurance cover, application requirements and limitation periods require a separate assessment. This general explanation does not mean that every expense in a particular case will be recoverable.