What you need to know

When Death Occurs

There are key things you must do in the first few days after someone dies. Our advice is always to contact your funeral director first:

  • Arrange the funeral, where a funeral director is on hand to help
  • Obtain a medical certificate from a GP or hospital doctor. You’ll need this to register the death.
  • Register the death within 5 days. You’ll then get the documents you need for the funeral.
  • You can usually use the Tell Us Once service to report a death to most government organisations in one go.
  • You don’t need to deal with the will, money and property straight away.

Qualified Funeral Directors

With a qualified funeral director available at all times to deal with any questions, or to begin making the necessary funeral arrangements when required.

In many cases when people pass away in hospital, it is not necessary for us to attend immediately, but our staff can give the helpful advice needed to put peoples minds at ease, and to ensure that the family are aware of everything which needs to be done.

For immediate help, please contact us on 01685 385538 where a member staff will be able to help you.

Registering a Death

All deaths are required by law to be registered, preferably in the sub-district where they occur.  The GP who certified the death will issue a Medical Cause of Death Certificate, which must be taken to the Registrar by the next of kin or a nominated representative, together with the deceased’s medical card and birth certificate.  Registration must be done as a matter of urgency, usually within five days of death.  This may vary if the Coroner is involved.

The Registrar’s office must be telephoned before attending to make an appointment.  The contact details for the Registrar will often be printed on the envelope containing the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death.  Alternatively details of local Registrar offices are printed in the back of our brochure (which can be downloaded), or can be obtained by contacting our office.

People Who May Register A Death

  • A relative or civil partner of the deceased
  • A person who was present at death
  • An Executor of the Will of the deceased
  • The Matron/Governor of an institution where the deceased resided or died

Documents That Are Required

  • Medical Certificate of Death
  • The Deceased’s Medical Card, if available and/or Birth Certificate

Information That May Be Required

  • Date and place of birth and death of the deceased
  • Full name of the deceased
  • Marital status of the deceased
  • The last occupation of the deceased
  • If the deceased was married, the date of birth of the surviving partner
  • If the deceased was a married female, her maiden name and her husband’s full name and occupation.

Funeral Costs

Typically funeral costs are devised of two parts, these are Funeral Directors charges and Disbursements.

 

Funeral Directors Charges

These are our fees for taking care of all aspects of the funeral arrangements.  To help you better understand, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) have made it a legal requirement that all funeral directors make available a Standard Price list for customers to compare like for like service.

 

Disbursements

These are third party fees which we will pay on your behalf (for example, crematorium, burial authorities, doctors officiant etc)
A separate list of these fees is also available.