A little information to help you start making arrangements.

In the event of a death

A death of a loved one is a distressing time for all and it can leave you unsure of what to do first. We are here to provide advice and support to you and your family every step of the way so please don’t feel that it's too soon to contact us.

When a death occurs at home or nursing home

The first contact should be with the deceased's doctor who, if satisfied with the cause of death will say that you can now contact your funeral director to come and remove the deceased to the funeral home. Then you will need to collect from the doctor a Medical Certificate of Death, which in most cases you will be asked to collect the certificate from the surgery.

In the case of a nursing home death, you will get a phone call from the home regarding the death and then their staff should liaise with the doctor. Once the doctor has been the staff should know then to contact the funeral director which the family as previously given to them.

When a death occurs in hospital

The hospital staff will liaise with the bereavement officer who will arrange for a doctor to issue the Medical Certificate of Death. Then you will have a phone call regarding this for you to collect the certificate from the bereavement officer on that day or the day after. You will then need to collect any belongings from the ward of the hospital, if you haven't already done so at that time. The only thing you need to do if the funeral is to be a cremation, is to advise the hospital staff so they can make arrangements for any additional documentation that is needed. Once you have contacted us we will make all the necessary arrangements in collecting the documentation for us.

When a death is unexpected

With a sudden death, where the deceased has not been under a doctor's care or have not seen a doctor within fourteen days. The emergency doctor and police will come out who will then involved the relevant Coroner’s office.

A doctor may report the death to a coroner if the:

• cause of death is unknown
• death was violent or unnatural
• death was sudden and unexplained
• person who died was not visited by a medical practitioner during their final illness
• medical certificate isn’t available
• person who died wasn’t seen by the doctor who signed the medical certificate within 14 days before death or after they died
• death occurred during an operation or before the person came out of anaesthetic
• medical certificate suggests the death may have been caused by an industrial disease or industrial poisoning

The coroner may decide that the cause of death is clear. In this case:

1. The doctor signs a medical certificate.

2. You take the medical certificate to the registrar.

3. The coroner issues a certificate to the registrar stating a post-mortem isn’t needed.

   Post-mortems

   The coroner may decide a post-mortem is needed to find out how the person died. This can be done either in a hospital or mortuary.

   You can’t object to a coroner’s post-mortem - but if you’ve asked the coroner must tell you (and the person’s GP) when and where the examination will take place.

   After the post-mortem

   The coroner will release the body for a funeral once they have completed the post-mortem examinations and no further examinations are needed.

   If the body is released with no inquest, the coroner will send a form (‘Pink Form - form 100B’) to the registrar stating the cause of death.

   The coroner will also send a ‘Certificate of Coroner - form Cremation 6’ if the body is to be cremated.

   If the coroner decides to hold an inquest

   A coroner must hold an inquest if the cause of death is still unknown, or if the person:

   • possibly died a violent or unnatural death
   • died in prison or police custody

   You can’t register the death until after the inquest. The coroner is responsible for sending the relevant paperwork to the registrar.

   The death can’t be registered until after the inquest, but the coroner can give you an interim death certificate to prove the person is dead.

   ( Information Taken From www.gov.uk )

When someone dies abroad or away from home

You must register a death with the local authorities in the country where the person died.

In many countries you can also register the death with the UK authorities.

The Tell Us Once service is not available for deaths abroad.

There are different rules for bringing the person’s remains home, depending on whether you:

• bring the body home for burial or cremation
• have the person cremated abroad and bring their ashes home

Bringing the body home

To bring the body home you must:

• get a certified English translation of the death certificate
• get permission to remove the body, issued by a coroner (or equivalent) in the country where the person died
• tell a coroner in England if the death was violent or unnatural

Bringing ashes home

When leaving a country with human ashes you will normally need to show:

• the death certificate
• the certificate of cremation

Each country has its own rules about departing with human ashes and there may be additional requirements. 

Please contact us by phone so we can make all the necessary arrangements.

( Information Taken From www.gov.uk )