What to do when someone dies
Step 1 – 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.
If the death was expected
A medical professional must come to verify the death before you can contact a funeral director. Call their doctor or senior nurse who will come in person to do this.
If they died at night, call NHS 111 and ask for an on-call doctor or senior nurse who can do this. You don’t have to do this right away if you would like some time with them.
The doctor will issue a medical certificate of cause of death, which you’ll need to register the death. The doctors’ surgery will contact you when this is ready to collect.
In some areas doctors upload a medical certificate directly to a portal making this instantly available with no need for collection.
If the death was not expected
If someone dies unexpectedly you must call emergency services on 999. They will contact the coroner to investigate the cause of death.
The coroner will arrange for a local funeral director to collect the person who has died to take them to the hospital mortuary (or city morgue in Scotland). You don’t need to use this funeral director, even if the person has been taken to their funeral home after the investigation is finished.
The coroner will issue a medical certificate of cause of death when they’ve finished their investigation, but you can still start arranging the funeral in the meantime. Sometimes, an ‘interim’ certificate is issued whilst further investigations are taking place.
If the death was expected
The doctor will issue the medical certificate of cause of death, which you will need to register the death. The funeral director can then bring the person who has died into their care. This can be arranged directly with the hospital. You do not need to be there on that day.
If the death was not expected
The hospital might need to do a post-mortem examination to find out the cause of death. If they’re unable to find out the cause, the doctor will contact the coroner (or procurator fiscal in Scotland) who will investigate further.
The coroner will issue a medical certificate of cause of death when they’ve finished their investigation. Sometimes, an ‘interim’ certificate is issued whilst further investigations are taking place. A funeral director can then bring the person who has died into their care. This can be arranged directly with the hospital. You do not need to be there on that day.
If the death was expected
Staff at the care home or hospice will contact the person’s doctor to go in person to verify their death. The doctor will then issue a medical certificate of cause of death which you’ll need to register the death. The doctors’ surgery will contact you when this is ready to collect.
If the death was not expected
If someone dies unexpectedly at a care home the emergency services must be involved. They will contact the coroner (procurator fiscal in Scotland) to investigate the cause of death.
The coroner will arrange for a local funeral director to collect the person who has died to take them to the hospital mortuary (or city morgue in Scotland). You don’t need to use this funeral director, even if the person has been taken to their funeral home after the investigation is finished.
The coroner will issue a medical certificate of cause of death when they’ve finished their investigation, but you can still start arranging the funeral in the meantime. Sometimes, an ‘interim’ certificate is issued whilst further investigations are taking place.
Step 2 – Contact Peredur Roberts Funeral Directors
Once the death has been verified, you can then contact us. We will need some information about the person who has died, including their:
- Full name
- Date of birth (if you don’t know it, you can tell us later)
- Home address
- The address of where they are at present
- Religion
- Relationship to you
We will then ask if it will be a burial or cremation. You don’t need to know all the answers to these questions. We can find out later.
Step 3 – Register the death
You need to register the death within 5 days in Wales and England and within 8 days in Scotland. You can register the death at the Registrar’s Office local to the person who has died. Take the medical certificate of cause of death with you. It’s better to make an appointment before you go.
You can start making funeral arrangements before you’ve registered the death.
Step 4 – Check if they had a funeral plan with us or an over 50’s insurance policy
Before you pay for the funeral, it’s important to check if they had a funeral plan with us or an over 50’s life insurance policy in place. You can find out by:
- contacting us
- asking family members
- checking their will, if they had one
- checking bank statements or insurance statements
- asking other local funeral directors
Help with funeral costs
There is some help available when paying for a funeral. Find out how you could receive some help from the government.
Step 5 – Arrange the funeral
We will contact you to make an appointment to start the funeral arrangements. This can be on the telephone, in person at our funeral home or from a home address, whichever is easiest for you.
Before the arrangement meeting, you might want to think about:
- if it will be a burial or cremation.
- where the service will be held.
- music, hymns and reading choices.
- any personal touches you want to add – if it will be celebratory, religious, relaxed, or traditional.
- who will conduct the service, for example a celebrant or religious officiant.