pay your last respects?
pay your last respects : to honour someone after their death, usually by going to their funeral(Cambridge dictionary)
Does it only happen on a funeral?
Do you just have only one chance to do it(on a funeral)?
Can I say "He visits his mother's grave to pay his last respects every year"?

Thank you for helping

Question

pay your last respects?
pay your last respects : to honour someone after their death, usually by going to their funeral(Cambridge dictionary)
Does it only happen on a funeral?
Do you just have only one chance to do it(on a funeral)?
Can I say "He visits his mother's grave to pay his last respects every year"?

Thank you for helping

Answer

No, "last respects" would be only at a funeral or possibly a one-off visit to the grave; it is the finality of the event that makes them the last ones. Now you can "pay your respects" (no "last") in other  situations, too, including at a funeral, but also possibly subsequently at the graveside, as well as in social contexts to living people: "I paid my respects to my girlfriend's mother".

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