According to research by perfectchoicefuneral.com  27 per cent of people have feuded with friends and family members following the death of a loved one. Financial disagreements were the most common cause of the unrest, followed by differing views on funeral arrangements (51 per cent) and the division of the deceased’s estate (41 per cent).

Other common arguments included the explosion of existing family issues (28 per cent) and disagreement over the final resting place of the coffin or ashes of the deceased (21 per cent).

Almost half of Brits said that tensions came to a head during the funeral itself, while 21 per cent had their family feuds when the will was revealed. Two thirds were able to resolve their disputes, though an unhappy 33 per cent were not.

Emma Simpson of perfectchoicefunerals.com said: “The death of a family member or friend is always a difficult situation where all those involved will be experiencing raw, heightened emotions that unfortunately sometimes spill out into situations where they wouldn’t normally. It is regrettable that these emotions will come to a head when it is least appropriate, whether they are existing or new and often when combined with other internal and external influences.”

She continued: “We would always encourage people who are grieving to be particularly patient and tolerant of everyone involved at such a hard time, to ensure that nothing escalates where it need not. We also encourage people to be upfront about their funeral wishes to reduce any potential conflict at the time of the funeral – this is where a pre-arranged funeral plan can come in useful as it allows people to record their wishes and get agreement from their families in advance of the funeral.”