Doves Funeral Directors
What to do when Someone dies.
When the Death occurs at Home, Care Home or Hospice
If the death was expected, perhaps due to a terminal illness, you should contact the deceased's GP, the end of life care team looking after your loved one, such as Macmillan or Marie Curie, or 111. Once the medical professional has confirmed death has occurred you can contact your preferred Funeral Directors who will arrange a time to bring your loved one into their care.
The medical examiner will issue a 'medical certificate of cause of death', which is needed before you can register the death. They will give the certificate directly to the registrars and let you know once they have sent it.
You will then have 5 days to register the death.
If the death was unexpected, you should dial 999 and ask for an ambulance and police immediately. You will be told what to do by the operator to establish whether you can try and resuscitate the person. The paramedics will carry out resuscitation or will confirm the death. Leave the area untouched apart from any attempt at resuscitation. The police will contact the Coroners Funeral Directors who will take your loved on into the Coroners care for further investigations to take place.
You do not have to use the coroners funeral directors and have a choice to use your preferred funeral directors.
The coroner will issue a medical certificate of cause of death when they've finished their investigation, but you can still start arranging the funeral in the meantime. Sometimes, an ‘interim’ certificate is issued whilst further investigations are taking place.
When the Death occurs at Hospital
When a Death occurs in Hospital, the Doctor will confirm death has occurred, the medical examiner will issue a 'medical certificate of cause of death', which is needed before you can register the death. They will give the certificate directly to the registrars and let you know once they have sent it.
You will then have 5 days to register the death.
The funeral director will arrange to bring the person who has died into their care directly with the hospital. You do not need to be there on that day.
Registering a Death
In England and Wales, you will usually need to register the death within 5 days after hearing from the Medical Examiner, unless a post-mortem has taken place which is then 14 days. Most deaths are registered by a relative. The registrar would normally only allow other people to register if there are no relatives available.
If an post-mortem has taken place and an Inquest has been opened you do not need to register the death.
Before making an appointment to register a death you will need to Contact the local Medical Examine Office where the deceased passed away, to ensure the Medical Cause of Death Certificate (MCDC) has been completed and sent to the Registration office.
The following information will need to be given to the registrar:
- The full name, and any maiden names, of the person who has died
- Their name before they were married, if this was different
- Their date and place of birth
- Their job and, if they were a married or in a civil partnership, the full name and job of their spouse or civil partner
- Their usual address
- The date of birth of their husband, wife or civil partner, if applicable
- Their National Health Service medical card, if you have this
- Details of any government pensions
- A passport, driving licence, birth and marriage certificates, bank or utility bills should be supplied where available.
If a post-mortem is not being held the registrar will provide:
- A Certificate for Burial or Cremation (called the ‘green form’), giving permission for the body to be buried or for an application for cremation to be made. This will need to be given or emailed to your chosen funeral director.
- A Certificate of Registration of Death, you will need to pay for these. Depending on how many people you need to inform you may like to purchase multiple copies.
You need to go online to make an appointment in the county where the deceased died to make an appointment, this is usually a face to face appointment.
We ‘Continue to Care’. As we care for someone in life, we care for them in death. We believe in assisting you to create a meaningful, authentic personal funeral that is unique to you and yours. To provide the funeral you want, need and a funeral you can be proud of.
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