Documentation

• The hospital staff will contact the next of kin (relative or friend)
  
• The hospital mortuary will keep the body until the executor (personal representative) makes arrangements to have it taken away
  
• The next of kin or nearest relative should collect the dead person's belongings
  
• The Death Certificate will be automatically completed by a doctor
  
• The health authority may give the Death Certificate to the registrar who attends the hospital, but someone must still go to the registration office. The one which covers the area of the hospital may be different to that of the deceased's place of residence.
  
• If the deceased is to be cremated then the hospital can also arrange the completion of forms B and C.
  

• Contact your local GP - in cases of terminal illness, the GP will be well aware of the situation and may well have been calling at the house regularly.
  
• The GP will need to certify the cause of death and will issue two forms. A Medical or Death Certificate showing the cause of death will be addressed to the registrar. A Formal Notice confirms that the doctor has signed the Medical Certificate and gives details about registering the death.
  
• Depending on your religion and immediate wishes about how long you wish the deceased to stay in the house, you will need to contact a funeral director (unless an alternative funeral is planned)
  
• The death certificate will need to be taken to the local registrar (address in your local telephone directory) so that the death can be registered.
  
• Deaths must be registered at the Registrar of Births and Deaths normally within five days of the death.
  
• Copies of the Death Certificate cost £3.50 and several copies may be needed for legal reasons such as grant of probate or letters of administration.
  

• Register the death as required in the country and obtain a local death certificate.
  
• Register the death the the British Consul so that it can be recorded in the UK and a copy obtained
  
• Either arrange a burial or cremation in the country of death or repatriate the body to the UK. Advice regarding repatriation can be obtained from funeral directors and there are a number of firms that specialise in this area.
  
• Authority to move the body will be required from the country of death, as well as a translation of the foreign death certificate.
  
• Contact the registrar on arrival back in the UK
  

• If the death is sudden, other than an obvious accident such as a road traffic accident, and a doctor has not seen the deceased during the last 14 days, then a Coroner may need to be involved. The Coroner will decide whether to hold a post mortem examination or an inquest, although this should not delay the funeral arrangements and the Coroner's Office will keep the next of kin informed about what to do.
  
• The Coroner will issue an Order for Burial or Cremation
  

• Full name of the deceased (including maiden surname if a married woman)
  
• Date and place of birth
  
• Recent occupation
  
• National Health Service number (if known) and medical card if available
  

• Form A - Application for Cremation - to be completed by the next of kin or an executor and needs countersigning by a householder who knows the person completing the form
  
• Medical Forms B & C - statutory forms completed by the doctor who attended the deceased before death and the doctor who confirmed the cause of death (for which there will be a charge of about £82)
  
• Notice of Cremation - gives notice of the cremation and details of the deceased and information about the service. It forms a binding contract concerning the payment of fees to the cremation authority.
  

•  Click here to email this page to a friend