In Times of Bereavement

In the unfortunate event that a person has passed away, there are three things that need to be arranged:

• A medical certificate from your GP or hospital doctor (this is necessary to register the death) and can take a couple of days depending on circumstance.
• Register the death within 5 days (although the average time is up to two weeks). You will then receive the necessary documents for the funeral.
• Make the necessary funeral arrangements.

Register the death

All deaths in the community now have to be reported to the coroner who must give permission before your GP can issue a Medical Cause of Death Certificate.

You can register the death if you are a relative, a witness to the death, a hospital administrator or the person making the arrangements with the funeral directors.

You can use the ‘Register a Death’ page on the gov.uk website that will guide you through the process. 

Arrange the funeral

The funeral can usually only take place after the death is registered. Most people use a funeral director, though you can arrange a funeral yourself.

Funeral directors

Choose a funeral director who’s a member of one of the following:

 National Association of Funeral Directors

 National Federation of Funeral Directors

 Society of Allied and Independent Funeral Directors

These organisations have codes of practice - they must give you a price list when asked.

Some local councils run their own funeral services, for example for non-religious burials. The British Humanist Association can also help with non-religious funerals.

Arranging the funeral yourself

Contact the Cemeteries and Crematorium Department of your local council to arrange a funeral yourself.

Funeral costs

Funeral costs can include:

• funeral director fees
• things the funeral director pays for on your behalf (called ‘disbursements’ or ‘third-party costs’), for example, crematorium or cemetery fees, or a newspaper announcement about the death
• local authority burial or cremation fees

Funeral directors may list all these costs in their quotes.