PAYMENT OF BURIAL EXPENSES NOT AN OBLIGATION OF LODGE OR GRAND LODGE

It is not the obligation of a Lodge to pay the burial expenses of a member unless he dies in financial circumstances requiring it. The Lodge has no obligation to pay the burial expenses of a deceased member except as a matter of charity where the family is unable to pay such expenses. The Grand Lodge is under no obligation to pay the burial expenses of a Mason and obligation should not be undertaken or incurred by the Grand Lodge. The greater the expenses of the Grand Lodge, the greater must be the assessment it makes upon the Lodges to supply it with funds necessary to pay its obligations. The policy of shifting the financial burdens of the Lodges to the Grand Lodge should not be encouraged. All such matters should be handled under the authority and at the expense of the Lodge of which the deceased brother was a member. (Proc. 1933, pp. 129-130)