If someone dies at home, you should contact their GP, who can arrange for a medical certificate confirming the death. If the death occurs in a hospital, the doctor on duty will certify it. The doctor will also advise you on when to contact a funeral director.

You must register the death with your local registrar within five days. This requires an appointment, and you must first have spoken with the national medical examiner’s team. After registration, you will be given a document called the Registrar’s Certificate for Burial or Cremation (often referred to as the “green form”). This must be passed to your chosen funeral director as soon as possible, as it authorises them to collect the deceased from the hospital mortuary. You can still choose and contact a funeral director before registering the death.

If the death is sudden or unexplained, the Coroner’s Office will be notified, and a post-mortem examination may be required to determine the cause of death. In such cases, it’s important to inform your funeral director, as this process may delay funeral arrangements.