When Someone Dies

It can be difficult to know what to do when someone dies. The government website has a helpful step-by-step guide that tells you what to do and how to do it. 

When a person passes away, there are three things that must be done in the first few days:

• A medical certificate must be obtained from the GP or hospital doctor (this is necessary to register the death).
• The death must be registered within 5 days (8 days in Scotland) of being contacted by the medical examiner's office. You will then receive the necessary documents for the funeral.
• The funeral arrangements need to be made.

A death must be registered within 5 days of being contacted by the medical examiner.

If the death has been reported to the coroner they must give permission before registering the death.

You can register the death if you are a relative, a witness to the death, a hospital administrator or the person making the arrangements with the funeral directors.

You can use the Register a Death’ page on the gov.uk website that will guide you through the process. 

A Medical Certificate must be issued by the deceased's GP if they died in the community or a hospital doctor if they died in hospital if the death was expected. Any unexpected deaths are referred to the coroner.  

The GP will be notified by the attending healthcare party, or you can contact the surgery to notify them yourself.

The surgery will contact the Medical Examiner and issue a Medical Certificate of Cause of Death, who will then email it directly to the Registration Office. 

After you have registered the death, you will get a certificate for burial or cremation which you will need before a funeral can take place.

The funeral can usually only take place after the death is registered. Most people use a funeral director, though you can arrange a funeral yourself. 

Choose a funeral director who is a member of one of the following: 

• National Association of Funeral Directors
• Society of Allied and Independent Funeral Directors

These organisations have a code of practice and must give you a price list when asked.

Funeral costs can include: 

• Funeral director fees.
• Disbursements or third-party costs, such as crematorium or cemetery fees, or a newspaper announcement. 
• Local authority burial or cremation fees.

The British Humanist Society can help with non-religious funerals. 

If you get certain benefits and need help paying for the funeral, you can get a Funeral Expenses Payment. 

If you want to arrange the funeral yourself, you will need to contact Wiltshire Council Cemetaries and Burial Service by calling 0300 456 0100. Visit The Natural Dealth Centre website for further information on arranging a funeral yourself.