What to do when someone dies
Essential steps to take: A comprehensive guide
Verify the death
Before you call a funeral director, you must have the death verified by a medical professional. How to do this will depend on where they died.
What to do if they died;
If the death was expected:
Before you contact a funeral director, a healthcare professional needs to confirm the death. You should call their physician or senior nurse, who will visit to verify the death.
If the death occurs at night, you can call NHS 111 to request an on-call doctor or nurse. There’s no immediate rush if you wish to spend some time with your loved one first.
Once confirmed, the doctor will provide a medical certificate of cause of death, necessary for registering the death. The doctor’s office will notify you when the certificate is ready for pickup.
In certain locations, the medical certificate may be directly uploaded to a portal, making it immediately accessible without needing to be collected.
If the death was unexpected:
In the event of an unexpected death, dial 999 to alert emergency services immediately. They will inform the coroner (or procurator fiscal in Scotland), who will investigate the death.
The coroner will coordinate with a local funeral director to transport the deceased to a hospital mortuary (or city morgue in Scotland). You are not obligated to continue services with this funeral director once the investigation concludes.
After their investigation, the coroner will issue a medical certificate of cause of death. You may begin funeral arrangements in the meantime, and sometimes an ‘interim’ certificate is provided during ongoing investigations.
If the death was expected:
The staff at the care home or hospice will notify the deceased’s doctor to come and confirm the death in person. After verification, the doctor will issue a medical certificate of cause of death, which is necessary for registering the death. You will be contacted by the doctor’s office when the certificate is ready for pickup.
If the death was unexpected:
Should someone die unexpectedly at a care home, it is essential to call emergency services immediately. They will inform the coroner (or procurator fiscal in Scotland) who will initiate an investigation into the cause of death.
The coroner will coordinate with a local funeral director to transport the deceased to the hospital mortuary (or city morgue in Scotland). It is important to note that you are not obliged to use the services of this funeral director beyond the transportation, even if the deceased was taken to their facility post-investigation.
Once the investigation is complete, the coroner will provide a medical certificate of cause of death. You may begin planning the funeral at this stage, and in some cases, an ‘interim’ certificate might be issued while further investigations are conducted.
If the death was expected:
The staff at the care home or hospice will notify the deceased’s doctor to come and confirm the death in person. After verification, the doctor will issue a medical certificate of cause of death, which is necessary for registering the death. You will be contacted by the doctor’s office when the certificate is ready for pickup.
If the death was unexpected:
Should someone die unexpectedly at a care home, it is essential to call emergency services immediately. They will inform the coroner (or procurator fiscal in Scotland) who will initiate an investigation into the cause of death.
The coroner will coordinate with a local funeral director to transport the deceased to the hospital mortuary (or city morgue in Scotland). It is important to note that you are not obliged to use the services of this funeral director beyond the transportation, even if the deceased was taken to their facility post-investigation.
Once the investigation is complete, the coroner will provide a medical certificate of cause of death. You may begin planning the funeral at this stage, and in some cases, an ‘interim’ certificate might be issued while further investigations are conducted.
Registering the death
You will need to contact the registry office in the area where the person died. You need to book a telephone appointment with the registrar.
Once you have attended your phone appointment with the registrar and been able to register the death, the registrar will issue you with a Death Certificate and the certificate for burial or cremation. These are free of charge unless you want extra copies. The price of extra copies is set by the government and changes periodically. Please see the government website for details on cost.
You can book the funeral as soon as you are ready.
The Coroner
If a coroner’s investigation is required, the usual requirement to register the death within 5 days is waived. Coroners, appointed by local authorities, investigate deaths where the cause is unclear or not straightforward. They determine the circumstances, timing, location, and manner of the death, both for official records and to assist the deceased’s family.
A coroner’s investigation is necessary under the following conditions:
- The cause of death is unknown.
- The death was sudden, violent, or unnatural.
- The deceased was in prison or custody at the time of death.
- The identity of the deceased is uncertain.
- The Medical Certificate of Cause of Death cannot be issued.
If you possess information that could aid the coroner’s inquiry, you should provide all relevant details. Any concerns about the circumstances surrounding the death should also be communicated at this time. During the investigation, you will be instructed to keep any confidential details you learn private.
Post-Mortem
Sometimes, a post-mortem is necessary to ascertain the cause of death, a decision made by the coroner. This involves a detailed examination of the body by pathologists. If the post-mortem reveals a natural cause of death, the coroner will issue the necessary documents for you to register the death. If the cause remains unclear, however, the coroner will initiate an inquest.
Inquest
If the cause of death remains unclear after a post-mortem, or if the death was unnatural or occurred in police or prison custody, an inquest will be conducted. This legal investigation aims to establish all the facts surrounding the cause of death.
During the inquest, you cannot officially register the death, but the coroner can issue an interim death certificate. This document enables you to inform relevant organizations and proceed with applications such as probate. Once the inquest concludes, the coroner will provide the registrar with the findings necessary to complete the official documentation, specifically the Pink form 100B. After the coroner releases the body, funeral arrangements can then be made.
Other Practicalities
Once you have begun the process, you will need to think about notifying not only friends and family but other organisations. The employer of the deceased, their GP, mortgage, utilities, HMRC, banks building societies and even perhaps social media sites. The government has a service called Tell Us Once which allows you to tell them once of the death and they will then notify many of the government organisations saving you the repeated calls.
We know that funerals can be expensive and as such we at Sunrise Cremations we are doing all we can to make our services as affordable as possible for you.
The government also has money available for those eligible for help with funeral costs all the details of this can be found on their website here.