Alcohol Purchases in Estates Often Disallowed
Cecil County, Maryland has a high per capita alcohol consumption rate when compared to other counties in Maryland (second behind only Worcester County for distilled spirits, and behind Garrett and Worcester Counties for beer). See Page 26, Alcohol & Tobacco Tax Annual Report: Fiscal Year 2018. Despite a high level of sales of alcohol, the Cecil County Orphans’ Court has, in the past refused to allow the inclusion of the cost of alcoholic beverages as part of estate funeral or celebration of life expenses.
Although many estate expenses can be questioned by the Register of Wills, Orphans’ Court, and beneficiaries, any alcohol consumed at a funeral or celebration of life that is claimed as an estate expense is likely to cause the outright rejection of an estate accounting. Accordingly, should a testator (the person making a will) desire to buy one last round for friends and family, then such a direction should be clearly contained in the will.
Despite the general rule, sometimes an itemized receipt for a restaurant or venue or caterer may not be scrutinized or the personal representative may be provided a generic invoice or receipt not specifically showing the sale of any alcohol.** Stand alone purchases made from a liquor store, however, will likely cause an outright rejection of an accounting and the Register of Wills and/or the Orphans’ Court may require that the personal representative reimburse the estate account for such expenditures and resubmit a revised accounting.
If the serving of alcohol at a funeral or celebration of life is important to a testator (the person making a will), a clause contained in the will is important, lest a celebration of life become BYOB.
*The sale of alcohol belonging to a decedent who is not otherwise licensed to sell such alcohol is an entirely different affair with rules varying throughout the United States. See, e.g., Connecticut Liquor Control Act, Sec. 30-118.
**Note that the Comptroller requires that the “bill of sale” list alcohol separately, and therefore restaurants and other venues run a risk in providing a receipt that is not appropriately itemized. See Maryland Comptroller Alcohol Tax (under Alcohol Industry FAQs) stating that “[t]he tax must be separately calculated on sales of alcoholic beverages at the 9% rate and on sales of food, non-alcoholic beverages, and other merchandise at the 6% rate. The 9% tax amount must be listed separately from the 6% tax amount on the bill of sale.”