What To Do When Someone Dies

When a death, which has been expected, occurs at home then you should contact the surgery which your loved one is registered. If the death occurs out of hours, the doctor can be contacted by dialling 111 from your telephone.  

Once the Doctor has attended and gives permission to proceed, you are then able contact us.  A member of staff will always be available to respond sensitively and efficiently to your call. We will attend at a time convenient to you and then arrange for the deceased to be conveyed into our care. It is imperative that this emotional event is handled with care and respect, one of our Funeral Directors will attend and see to this personally. Please do not feel that the conveyance must take place immediately; some families, having informed the funeral directors, may wish to wait until other family members have had an opportunity to say their goodbyes at home. You are then welcome to visit our Chapel of Rest at a later date once an appointment has been arranged with the Funeral Director.

If a relative who has been a hospital in-patient dies, the doctors who have been treating the deceased will usually be able to issue the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death, although bear in mind this will not usually happen immediately. 

Most hospitals will give family members the opportunity to sit with the deceased before transfer from the ward or private room. There may even be a chapel of rest at the hospital specifically for this purpose.

Each hospital has a dedicated bereavement officer who will contact you and advise you once Medical Examiner has sent the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death on to the registrar. 

Once you have contacted us and instructed us to look after the arrangements, we will liaise directly with the hospital bereavement officer to arrange the necessary paperwork and the conveyance of your loved one into our care. 

This is largely the same process as when a loved one dies at home, however the Matron or nursing staff are able to verify that a death has occurred so there isn’t necessarily a need for a doctor to attend. 

Once death has been verified, you or the nursing home staff, can contact us and arrange conveyance of the deceased into our care. 

You will receive a call from the Medical Examiner once they have sent the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death to the registrar to inform you that you can now book your appointment to register, the appointment should be with 5 days of receiving notification from the Medical Examiner.  

If your loved one dies suddenly, it is likely that the police will have to attend. This is completely normal and you shouldn’t be alarmed by this. The role of the police is to begin an investigation on behalf of the Coroner.

Once the police have finished their investigation, they will arrange for the coroners undertakers to attend and convey the deceased to the Coroners mortuary.

Once we have been instructed by you to look after the arrangements, we will liaise directly with the Coroner to arrange the necessary paperwork. You can contact us at any point for help or guidance.

If the doctor will not issue a Medical Certificate of Cause of Death it is usually because the circumstances surrounding the death mean it should be referred to the Coroner for further investigation.

The doctor cannot issue the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death if the deceased:-

• Has died a violent or an unnatural death;
• Has died a sudden death of which the cause is unknown;
• Has died in prison or in such a place or in such circumstances as to require an inquest under any other Act.
• If the deceased underwent an operation shortly before death or there is a suggestion of a possible industrial disease, then it is probable that the doctor will not complete the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death but refer the death to the coroner.

If the death is referred to HM Coroner their office will arrange for the deceased to be conveyed to their mortuary in order that the death can be investigated and, if necessary, an inquest opened.

Should this happen, the Coroner will keep you updated at every stage and once their investigation has concluded, issue the necessary paperwork. We will be able to help and guide you through this process if required. 

When registering a death that was expected, the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death will have already been sent to the registrar. It may be helpful to take the following documents with you if you have them to hand. Please don’t worry if you can’t place them:-

• birth certificate;
• Council Tax bill;
• driving licence;
• marriage or civil partnership certificate;
• NHS medical card;
• Passport;
• proof of address (ie utility bill).

You will need to tell the registrar:-

• the person’s full name at the time of death;
• any names previously used, ie maiden name;
• the person’s date and place of birth;
• their last address;
• their occupation;
• the full name, birth date and occupation of a surviving/late spouse/civil partner;
• whether they were getting a State Pension or any other benefits.

You should also take supporting documents that show your name and address (ie a utility bill) but you can still register a death without them.

The informant will then sign the register, certifying that the information that has been given to the registrar is correct.

When the Coroner is involved, they will issue interim death certificates which you can use to manage the estate. If an inquest has been open and ajourned it may be that the coroner registers the death on your behalf some months later, one the inquest has been held. 

If the coroner is not involved, any doctor that has seen your loved one in their lifetime can issue a Medical Certificate of Cause of Death, this tells the registrar what cause of death to put on to the death certificate. 

Once this has been issued, it is sent to a Medical Examiner who verifies that the cause of death that is on the certificate is correct. Once they are content that the cause of death is correct they will contact you to inform you that this has been sent on to the registrar and that you can now register. You will not be able to register until you receive confirmation from the Medical Examiner that this has been sent to the registrar. 

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you need any help or guidance on the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death or indeed any other paperwork.