Be aware that it might be quite tricky to be at the person’s bedside when they die. Even if you are at their bedside 12 hours a day every day that is only a 50% chance of being present.
If a death occurs at home,
First contact your family doctor or out of hours GP, who will attend and verify the death. If a death occurs in a nursing or care home, the staff will attend to the above on your behalf.
Once the doctor has verified the death the funeral director can be called. Many offer a 24-7 service and take the body into their care where it will remain until the funeral.
A medical certificate which shows the cause of death will be issued by the deceased’s GP and an appointment may need to be made at the surgery to collect this.
If death occurs in a hospital or hospice
The doctor attending to the deceased will issue the medical certificate which shows the cause of death. This is might be collected from the bereavement office at the hospital, or it might be sent directly to the registrar.
You contact the funeral director and between them and the hospital/hospice the movement of the body is managed. This may not take place until the funeral director has certain forms issued after registering the death.
GOOD TO DO IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE DEATH:
You will need to make an appointment at the registrars to register the death. This will be in the area where the death occurred, not where you live.
Read the will. Ensure you have the latest will, and suitable people present. Make sure they know it could take many months to sort out money and the value could be pretty uncertain at this stage: my wife’s investments fell about 15% between death and distribution.
Identify any items specifically mentioned in the will. Instruct the funeral director. Select the celebrant. Agree a day and a venue & catering for a get-together afterwards. Typically 1-2 weeks later but even at 2 weeks it might be over-booked. Keep a copy of the Funeral Director bill & receipt so it can be offset for IHT.
REGISTER THE DEATH:
This will be in the area where the death occurred, not where you live.
A death should be registered within five days. It is a criminal offence not to register the death.
Sudden or unexpected deaths will be reported to the coroner and any certificates may be issued by the coroner. If the death has been reported to the coroner you cannot register it until the coroner’s investigations are finished.
The death should be registered by the next of kin or an executor of the Will.
Get certified copies of the death certificate. In my case these cost £11 each. Typically people get 5 or 6, but as several places accept scans, and companies return the original you might only need 3 or 4. If you have too few you can order extras (£11 each) or just wait for one to be returned from a company so you can send it to another company.
You must take with you the medical certificate of death since the death cannot be registered until the registrar has seen this. This might be sent directly from the hospital/hospice to the registrar. If possible, you should take the person’s NHS medical card.
The registrar will want from you the following information:
- Date and place of death
- The full name of the person (including maiden name) and their last address
- The person’s date and place of birth
- The person’s job.
- The full name, date of birth and job of a living or dead spouse or civil partner
- If the person was still married, the date of birth of their spouse.
- Whether the person was receiving a pension or other social security benefits.
- Which funeral director will be collecting the body from its current location.
Forms you’ll be given:
- Death Certificate. If you register remotely and are sent the death certificates it does no harm to sign every certificate next to your name.
- A green certificate (for which there is no charge) for the funeral director. This allows burial or cremation to go ahead. This might be given directly to the funeral director by the registrar.
- A form to send to the DWP. This allows them to deal with the person’s pension and other benefits. But if you use Tell-Us-Once you won’t need to use this.
- A unique number for Tell-Us-Once
Registering the death with a council will not necessarily inform that council departments of the death.
