Losing a loved one is a difficult time. Death in itself is distressing and unfortunately, the administrative procedures which must be followed can be an additional unwelcome burden. These pages are designed to provide some useful help and advice with the arrangements for dealing with a death.
If the death occurs in hospital, the hospital staff will contact the person named by the deceased as next of kin. This may be, but need not be a relative. you may, if you wish, request to see the hospital chaplain. The hospital will keep the body in the hospital mortuary until the executor arranges for it to be taken away. Most funeral directors have a chapel of rest in which the deceased will be held pending the funeral. The hospital will arrange for the nearest relative to collect the deceased's possessions.
If the death was expected, contact the doctor who attended the deceased during their final illness. If the doctor can certify the cause of death he or she will give you the following:
You may wish to contact the deceased's minister of religion if you have not already done so. Arrangements for the funeral may be made by a funeral director.
If the death followed illness from HIV or AIDS there may be special rules about handling the body. The following organisations can advise on funeral arrangements;
If you discover a body or the death is sudden or unexpected, you should contact the following people:
If there is any reason to suspect that the death was not due to natural causes, do not touch or remove anything from the room. The death may be referred to the coroner. The doctor may ask the relatives for permission to carry out a post-mortem examination. This is a medical examination of the body which can find out more about the cause of the death and should not delay the funeral.
In any of the following circumstances the doctor may report the death to the coroner.
You will be advised if the death has to be reported to the Coroner, in which case the death cannot be registered nor the funeral take place, without the Coroner's Authorisation. Where a death is reported to the Coroner, the Coroner's Office will contact the relatives.
A Coroner can order a post-mortem examination without getting the relative's permission. This examination will ascertain the cause of death. He may also wish to hold an investigation into circumstances leading up to a death. (This is called an inquest). When an inquest is called, the Coroner's Office will contact the relatives. This should not cause undue distress as it is a legal formality.
In such cases the Death Certificate will be issued direct to you from the Coroner's Office and the relatives must then go to the Registrar to register the death. When an inquest is to be held, the death cannot be registered until the conclusion of the inquest, but a certificate will normally be issued at the opening of the inquest to allow the funeral to take place.
For enter location, the Coroner can be contacted on enter telephone number
For more information on the Coroner click here to visit the website of the Home Office link to external website
The death must be registered in the District Register Office where it occurred.
The Register Office for enter location is located at; enter address
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The Registrars Office operate an appointment system - please click here if you wish to make an on-line appointment link to pid 321 or telephone the office. We strongly recommend you read the conditions detailed on the booking screen before making your appointment.
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It is also possible to make a declaration to register the death before any Registrar in England and Wales to be posted to the Register Office for the district where the death took place. If you choose to do this there could well be a delay in the funeral arrangements and in receiving documents.
An emergency service for weekends is available for the following:-
In the first instance, contact should be made with the Council's 24 hour emergency call centre, enter telephone number
Home visits to register a birth, death or still birth are entirely at the discretion of the Registrar, and are subject to many and varied criteria. Please contact Registrars (details above) for further details.
In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, a death should be registered within five days of its happening. Registration can be delayed for a further nine days provided the Registrar receives, in writing, confirmation that a medical certificate of the cause of death has been signed by the doctor.
People with legal responsibility to register include:
In certain circumstances others, such as the administrator of an elderly persons home, can register a death, for advice please contact the Register Office.
The Registrar will interview you in private and will need to know the following information:
You will need to bring:
The Registrar will enter all these details into a computer system and will then give you the opportunity to check they are correct. The information will then be written into a register. This is the "original" legal record and you should check it through very carefully before signing it, as any mistakes discovered later on may be difficult to correct.
Both of these documents are issued free of charge.
A death certificate link to pid 663 can also be purchased from the Registrar.
When the death certificate has been issued by the Registrar, you will also be given a certificate authorising the funeral.
The choice of a firm of funeral directors is important as you should feel comfortable and confident with them. They may be known to you personally, may be recommended by a friend, your GP or religious adviser or may just have a good reputation in your area.
Click here to visit the on-line Yellow Pages - www.yell.com link to external website where you can search for local Funeral Directors.
The Municipal Funeral Service link to pid 671 is a service provided, at low cost to the customer, by enter location
All have a code of practice and should give you an estimate of costs - their own and those fees they will pay on your behalf and add to the account. You can ask for this estimate in advance and it's a good idea to ask different firms to quote so that you can compare costs.
Your funeral director can make all the arrangements for the funeral, burial or cremation, religious or secular service. The funeral director can also advise on all the procedures and documents needed to register the death.
If you are considering a headstone most cemeteries will advise to wait for a period of approximately six months before placing it. However, we suggest you contact your preferred choice of monumental mason as soon as possible to avoid any unnecessary delay after this waiting period.
There is no requirement to have a religious ceremony, or any kind of ceremony at all at a funeral. People that regard religion to be unimportant or have made a decision to live their lives without it may prefer a Humanist Ceremony.
This type of ceremony is not intended to oppose a religious funeral, but to provide a dignified and respectful celebration of the death that has occurred.
At this type of funeral the services of an officiant, on the lines of a minister or celebrant are commonly employed. They will conduct the proceedings which can involve readings of appropriate prose, tributes by attendees or the officiant and the playing of appropriate music.
The British Humanist Association link to external website website offers advice on all aspects of humanist ceremonies and produce a booklet Funerals Without God: A Practical Guide to Non-religious Funerals which can be purchased for £5 (including postage and packing).
Celebrants are trained professionals who can officiate at funerals, weddings, namings or any other rite of passage. For more information on celebrancy visit The International Federation of Celebrants link to external website website.
If you don't want a ceremony at all, members of the family or close friends can attend the committal, which can be in silence or with some music being played.
If you have to arrange a funeral for someone who is of a faith different from your own, it is important to contact the equivalent of the local priest of the demonination to find out what needs to be done.
A brief word on the practices of other faiths is included below;
Most Muslim communities appoint one person who is responsible for making funeral arrangements. It will be their job to advise of the rules and to select a suitable funeral director.
Hindus are always cremated, and never buried. There are many possible variations of rites which depend on their form of Hinduism. The Asian Funeral Service can give advice on and arrange Hindu Funerals. They can be contacted on 020 8909 3737 or by email
Jewish funerals are usually arranged by a dedicated Jewish Funeral Agency, or the local community may have a contract with a Gentile funeral service, which will be carried out under strict rabbinical control.
The Jewish Bereavement Counselling Service offers support and can be contacted on 020 8349 0839.
If you have any difficulty in dealing with the deceased's property, possessions or guardianship of their children, get advice from a solicitor or Citizens Advice Bureau link to external website as soon as possible.
From the CAB (or their website) you can get the leaflets Legal Aid Guide and Getting Legal Help from a Citizens Advice Bureau, public library, police station or a court, to find out if you can get legal aid.
These places also hold a list of local solicitors which shows whether they take legal aid cases and if they specialise in probate work. Again you can search for local solicitors using the On-line Yellow Pages - www.yell.com link to external website
The Legal Services Commission Website link to external website also contains leaflets and other useful information.
Many solicitors are prepared to offer upto half an hour of legal advice for a small fee, some even offer a free initial consultation to discuss your situation.
The word "probate" is often misunderstood. It conjures up images of months of difficulty and delay. This is not inevitable and many simple probates are finished quite easily in a month or so.
Putting it simply, a probate is a piece of paper, nothing more. It is a document issued by the Probate Registry confirming that an executor has the right to wind up an estate of the person who has died. The "estate" is the house, money and savings left by someone when they pass away. The "executor" is the person chosen in the Will to sort out the estate and make sure it goes to the people named in the Will.
This depends upon the size of the estate. Quiet often, when the estate is very small no probate is needed.
By filling in some forms. If the estate is small the forms do not have to give full details of it. The important form is the "Executors Oath". This is not usually available from stationery shops but can be found in books about probate. It has to be sworn as being true.
For more information on Probate, including application forms, fees etc, visit the website of the Court Service - http://www.courtservice.gov.uk/cms/wills.htm link to external website
No, but it helps. You can also apply direct to the Probate Registry yourself. Most solicitors offer probate services and their fees depend upon the amount of work necessary and the size of the estate. Always ask them first.
In order for a will to be valid, it must be:-
Although it will be legally valid even if it is not dated, it is advisable to ensure that the will also includes the date on which it is signed.
As soon as the will is signed and witnessed, it is complete.
Speak to a solicitor - it is safer in the long run because various laws affect who is entitled to wind up the estate and receive the money.
If the person who died was paying tax on income from investments or as a self employed person or as an employee, tell the tax office about the death as soon as possible. This will enable the deceased's tax affairs to be settled. Depending on circumstances, this may involve some more tax or claiming a repayment.
The particular tax office to contact will depend upon the deceased's circumstances.
For instance:
Inland Revenue leaflet IR45 What to do about tax when someone dies gives more information. Alternatively, further information, and copies of IR45 leaflet are available at the Inland Revenues's Website - www.inlandrevenue.gov.uk link to external website
Professional advice on financial matters can be obtained from a variety of sources: