Shaun Hodges of Alexandra Hills had $1,427 in late charges wiped after cemetery management ordered a priority review of his case following media coverage, ending a distressing two-week ordeal that began the day after he buried his wife Judi.
Judi Hodges, 61, died on 24 March 2026 after years fighting leukaemia, outliving her original prognosis by almost two years. Her husband of 38 years laid her to rest at Hemmant Cemetery on 2 April. The next day, he received an invoice he had not seen coming.
“They just added to my grief, anxiety, and PTSD problems,” Shaun said. “Why does it take media pressure for someone to act?”
A bill that arrived the day after the burial
The $1,427 invoice was made up of three separate charges: a $208 late chapel fee, a further $315 additional late chapel charge, and a $904 late cemetery fee tied to overtime for staff to complete the burial.
Shaun said he had no warning during the service itself that time limits had been exceeded, despite deliberately booking the final timeslot of the day to avoid that kind of pressure. “There was nothing during the service to say we were running out of time,” he said.
McCartney Family Funerals, which handled the arrangements, was clear about where the charges originated. “Supporting families through moments like these is at the heart of what we do, and we understand that any unexpected cost associated with a funeral can add further distress during an already difficult time,” Managing Director Bryan McCartney said. The fees themselves, he noted, were not set by the funeral home but by the cemetery’s operators.
How the charges came to be reviewed
After Shaun’s story was reported publicly, the case was escalated and reviewed as a priority. The charges were subsequently waived in full.
Shaun said he felt relieved, but remained frustrated that the situation required public attention to reach a resolution. While thankful for the outcome, he questioned the dependence on outside pressure.
‘Why does it take media pressure for someone to act?’ he said.
For Shaun, the stakes of the dispute were not really about the money. He had cared for Judi full-time through her battle with leukaemia, watching her fight well past what her prognosis had predicted. She was, he said, “a fighter through and through, for everything, for the kids, for me.” To receive a surprise invoice the morning after laying her to rest compounded grief that was already immense.
A broader question about funeral charges
Shaun’s experience raises a question that applies beyond his individual case: whether the practice of applying overtime charges at a funeral service, without warning during the service itself, is appropriate, particularly when families are at their most vulnerable.
McCartney Family Funerals expressed empathy for the situation. Cemetery overtime charges are not unusual in Australian capital cities, but the absence of any in-service notification that time was running out appears to be the core of what made this case feel so unreasonable to the family involved.
Hemmant Cemetery is located at 140 Bulimba Creek Road, Hemmant, and is managed as a Brisbane metropolitan cemetery. Families with questions about cemetery fee structures can contact McCartney Family Funerals on 07 3286 4999 or visit their website.
Published 1-June-2026
Featured Image Credit: Vecteezy
