The death of someone close will inevitably affect you in many ways. Although the emotional impact is immense, often practical issues have to assume greater precedence. The following advice may be of use.
What to do immediately
If somebody dies in hospital, the hospital will contact the person identified as next of kin. The hospital will then keep the body in the mortuary until the family or the executor has arranged to have the body taken away. If the death occurs elsewhere, a death certificate needs to be issued, usually by a General Practitioner.
Registering the death
Once a death certificate stating the cause of death has been issued, the death must be registered by the Registrar of Births, Marriages and Deaths, usually within 5 days (8 days in Scotland). The Registrar will provide the certificate for disposal for arranging the funeral (the Certificate of Registration of Death in Scotland). Additionally, the Registrar will issue a certified copy of the death certificate (a form 334/DB8 Registration, commonly known as the ‘green form’ in Scotland).
Several certified copies may be required for obtaining probate and generally dealing with the estate of the deceased and it is usually more convenient to obtain these at this stage rather than later.
If the death has been reported to a coroner (Procurator Fiscal in Scotland) you can’t register the death until the coroner gives permission.
When a death is reported to a coroner
A doctor may report the death to a coroner if the:
- cause of death is unknown
- death was violent or unnatural
- death was sudden and unexplained
- person who died was not visited by a medical practitioner during their final illness
- medical certificate isn’t available
- person who died wasn’t seen by the doctor who signed the medical certificate within 14 days before death or after they died
- death occurred during an operation or before the person came out of anaesthetic
- medical certificate suggests the death may have been caused by an industrial disease or industrial poisoning
The coroner may decide that the cause of death is clear. In this case:
- The doctor signs a medical certificate.
- You take the medical certificate to the registrar.
- The coroner issues a certificate to the registrar stating a post-mortem isn’t needed.
Post-mortems
The coroner may decide a post-mortem is needed to find out how the person died. This can be done either in a hospital or mortuary.
You can’t object to a coroner’s post-mortem – but if you’ve asked the coroner must tell you (and the person’s GP) when and where the examination will take place.
After the post-mortem
The coroner will release the body for a funeral once they have completed the post-mortem examinations and no further examinations are needed.
If the body is released with no inquest, the coroner will send a form (‘Pink Form – form 100B’) to the registrar stating the cause of death.
The coroner will also send a ‘Certificate of Coroner – form Cremation 6’ if the body is to be cremated.
If the coroner decides to hold an inquest
A coroner must hold an inquest if the cause of death is still unknown or if the person:
- possibly died a violent or unnatural death
- died in prison or police custody
You can’t register the death until after the inquest. The coroner is responsible for sending the relevant paperwork to the registrar.
The death can’t be registered until after the inquest, but the coroner can give you an interim death certificate to prove the person is dead. You can use this to let organisations know of the death and apply for probate.
Funeral arrangements
There are several options for funeral arrangements. The only legal requirement is to have the death certified and registered and to take care of the body either by burial or by cremation. The option for the arrangement itself lies with the family who will frequently carry out the wishes of the deceased.
Funeral arrangements are usually undertaken by the next of kin, personal representative or executor. It is important to keep in mind that the person who enters into a contract with the funeral directors will also be liable for the cost of the funeral, unless there is a pre-payment funeral plan or a similar type of insurance policy that will provide adequate cover.
If there are any disputes regarding the funeral arrangements or the service was below the expected standard and if it cannot be satisfactorily resolved, the issue can be referred to the appropriate trade association. The associations are:
The National Association of Funeral Directors (NAFD), The Funeral Standards Council (FSC) or The Society of Allied and Independent Funeral Directors (SAIF).
The funeral service
Another consideration will be which kind of service to have and whether to choose a religious or a secular ceremony. A Minister of Religion is the best person to approach for the former, whilst the British Humanist Association can give advice on a secular funeral.
Since there is no legal obligation to use a funeral director, the family and friends can also decide to arrange the funeral themselves. The local authority will offer guidance on any local procedures and requirements with further advice being available from the Natural Death Centre, a charitable project that aims to help people arrange funerals themselves on an inexpensive and environmentally friendly basis.
Who to inform after a death
- Local social services to cancel meals on wheels, home help, etc
- Department of Work and Pensions
- Any hospital the person was attending
- The family doctor
- HM Revenue and Customs
- Employer and trade union
- School or college if the deceased was still in education
- Insurance companies that the person had policies with
- Utilities – gas, water and electricity suppliers
- Housing and council tax department of local authority
- Post office for redirection of mail
- Bank and other finance companies
Things to send back
- Passport to the regional passport office
- Driving licence and registration documents to DVLA
- Membership cards of clubs and associations
- Credit and store cards (ensure accounts are closed)
- Library books and tickets
- NHS equipment
Helping to stop unwanted direct mail to the deceased
If someone you know has died, you can reduce the amount of unwanted marketing post being sent to them, stopping painful daily reminders.
The Bereavement Register is a central database with details of the names and addresses of the deceased. They will supply this information to organisations throughout the UK so that the names and addresses can be removed from commercial telemarketing and advertising lists. This is a free service that can be accessed at the time of registering the death.
By registering for the free service, the names and addresses of the deceased are removed from mailing lists, stopping most advertising mail within as little as six weeks.
How does the service work?
Once you have registered the details of a deceased person, the information is entered into a secure data bank. Any company wishing to mail details of their products and services can check their mailing list against the information held on The Bereavement Register. If they find any matches they will remove the deceased’s details and stop sending them marketing communications, they are obliged to do this by law.
The service is free of charge for the bereaved. The direct marketing companies pick up the costs when they subscribe to use the information.
The Bereavement Register is prevented from using the information collected for anything other than the purpose for which it was originally obtained i.e. for removing the names of the deceased from mailing lists.
You should see a significant reduction in the amount of mail received within six weeks and virtually no mail at all within six months.
You may see a reduction in the amount of telephone calls to the deceased’s telephone number. This is because companies that subscribe to the service which practice telemarketing, as well as direct marketing, will identify the person as deceased and stop all forms of marketing, including telephone calls. However, if the deceased continues to receive telemarketing calls after six weeks we recommend you register the number with the Telephone Preference Service by visiting tpsonline.org.uk or calling 0845 070 0707. This is a free service offered by the Direct Marketing Association (DMA).
You can register using the Bereavement Register website – thebereavementregister.org.uk or by FREEPOST address: The Bereavement Register®, Freepost, 1 Newhams Row, London, SE1 3UZ.
You can call the Bereavement Register on 0207 089 6403, between 09h00 to 17h30 Monday to Friday or you can leave a voicemail message out of hours.
Inheritance Tax
Inheritance tax is a tax that is paid on the value of an individual’s estate – everything an individual owns either outright or has a share in, minus any liabilities in excess of the Nil Rate Band at the time of death. For more information on inheritance tax see the following link:
workplacewellbeing.com assumes no responsibility for the content of linked websites.
Useful Websites
gov.uk/wills-probate-inheritance
