If someone has died and you need to know what to do, here’s our step-by-step guide to help you.
If they died in another country, or if you need to take someone who has died to another country, find out what to do when someone dies abroad.
If someone has died and you need to know what to do, here’s our step-by-step guide to help you.
If they died in another country, or if you need to take someone who has died to another country, find out what to do when someone dies abroad.
From contacting a medical professional to finding a funeral director and registering the death. Here’s a checklist to let you know what to do and when.
On this page:
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.
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 medical examiner will issue a 'medical certificate of cause of death', which is needed before you can register the death. They will give the certificate directly to the registrars and let you know once they have sent it.
You will then have 5 days to register the death.
If someone dies unexpectedly you must call emergency services on 999. They will contact the coroner (or 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.
If there is an inquest and you need legal advice, Co-op Legal Services can help you.
The medical examiner will issue a 'medical certificate of cause of death', which is needed before you can register the death. They will give the certificate directly to the registrars and let you know once they have sent it. You will then have 5 days to register the death.
The funeral director will arrange to bring the person who has died into their care directly with the hospital. You do not need to be there on that day.
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 there is an inquest and you need legal advice, Co-op Legal Services can help you.
Staff at the care home or hospice will contact a medical professional to go in person to verify their death. Once this has happened you can arrange for a funeral director to bring them into their care.
The medical examiner will issue a 'medical certificate of cause of death', which is needed before you can register the death. They will give the certificate directly to the registrars and let you know once they have sent it. You will then have 5 days to register the death.
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.
If there is an inquest and you need legal advice, Co-op Legal Services can help you.
Once the death has been verified, you can contact a funeral director. They will ask you for some information about the person who has died, including their:
They will also 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.
The medical certificate of cause of death will be sent to the registrars by the medical examiner. They will let you know when they have done this.
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. You should make an appointment before you go.
You can start making funeral arrangements before you’ve registered the death.
Before you pay for the funeral, it's important to check if they had a funeral plan or an over 50’s life insurance policy in place. You can find out by:
To find out how much a funeral could cost in your area, use our funeral cost calculator.
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.
1 in 2 people will need probate. This is the legal process of dealing with someone's home, money and possessions after they have died. You will only need probate if the person who died:
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:
Let us know if you need a British Sign Language interpreter at the arrangement meeting.
If you need to arrange a funeral and don't want to speak to someone right now, you can complete our online form and we will call you back within 1 hour.
However you experience bereavement, we're here to support you. We've got guides, expert advice and other useful resources that deal with some of the issues you may be facing.
We've got some useful guides to help you feel prepared for the funeral arrangement meeting.
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