When a Death occurs at home

Contact should be made with deceased’s own Doctor’s surgery within working hours or the local out of hours Doctor’s service outside of office hours. A Doctor will attend and confirm that death has taken place and that we, as your Funeral Director’s may attend. With the Doctor’s permission and if you as a family are ready, please contact us at any time, 24 hours a day and arrange for your loved one to be sensitively taken into our care. We will advise you on where you can collect The Medical Certificate of Cause of Death ‘The Death Certificate’. Once in the procession of the Death Certificate, an appointment should be made to register the Death with one of the local Registry Offices. With the Doctors permission and if you as a Family are ready, please contact our office 24 hours a day and arrange for your loved one to be sensitively taken into our care. We are here to support and care for you and your loved one.

When Death occurs in a Nursing / Residential home

When someone passes away within a Nursing or Residential home the staff with your permission will contact your loved one’s Doctor’s Surgery so that they can attend to confirm death and they will often contact us as your Funeral Director. We will inform you as to where you can collect the Death certificate. Again once in the procession of the Death certificate, you’ll need to make an appointment with one of the local Registry Offices to register the death.

When Death occurs in a Hospital

When someone passes away in the hospital you’ll need to arrange to collect the Death certificate from the bereavement office within the hospital and not at the Doctors surgery. The staff within the hospital will make contact with you to arrange this

Sudden Death / Coroner involvement

Sometimes a Death has to be reported to the Coroner. This can be for a number of reasons for example if your loved one’s Doctor doesn’t know the cause of death, the deceased hasn’t seen a Doctor within 14 days or if a person passes away suddenly. In most cases a company acting on behalf of the Coroner will attend to take your loved one to our local mortuary, this is not our company and we would like to stress that you are under no obligation to employ this company to take care of the funeral arrangements, if you are unsure at any time, please call us and we will be able to advise you or put your mind at ease. When the Coroner is involved you will be informed of what is happening every step of the way from the Coroner or one of His/Her officers. They will inform you when you can register the death and in some instances, the coroner will register the death on your behalf.

You can read more about how Her Majesty’s Coroner Service