Help and Advice When Somebody Dies
To make things easier for you, we have listed some helpful information.
What to do when somebody dies?
When a person dies it is useful to know what to do first. Being prepared for the death and knowing what needs to be done can relieve you from further stress when a loved one dies. It is important to act quickly to ensure you do not delay the process. The following guide will explain what to do when a death occurs at;
- Home
- Hospital
- Nursing Home
What do you do when person dies at home?
If your loved one should die at home, first call your GP or a qualified doctor who can certify the death. If it occurs out of hours, call the emergency services. After the death has been verified you can contact us. We offer a 24-hour call out service.
Please feel free to contact us if uncertain and we are happy to advise.
What if a person dies in hospital?
If a person dies in hospital, the hospital will assist with necessary paperwork. You can contact us to instruct our services, but this can be the next working day. Once instructed, we can transport the deceased to our funeral home in Yatton.
What happens if a death is unexpected?
What happens if the coroner becomes involved?
How to register a death
In normal circumstances, according to UK law, a death must be registered within 5 working days at the local Registration Office in the district where the person died. If the person dies in Scotland the death must be registered within 8 days.
What happens at the registry office?
The registrar will register the death and issue a green form which is a certificate that authorises the burial or cremation of the deceased. As soon as you are in possession of the green form you must pass that onto us so we can finalise all the funeral arrangements.
Details of the nearest registry offices:
Who to inform
When a person dies you must inform the relevant parties as soon as possible. To avoid the distress of having to inform many different government departments, the government operates a “Tell Us Once Service”. Your registrar can explain the process when you register the death.
Other parties to inform include but are not limited to:
- Employer
- Friends and family
- The solicitor of the deceased
- Any relevant local support services
- Inland Revenue
- The banks and building societies that held accounts for the deceased
- Insurance companies that the deceased had policies with
- Facility companies, such as gas, water, electricity, telephone etc.
- Royal Mail to arrange mail redirection