Funeral Arranger at Memoria Funerals
Funeral Consultant at Memoria Funerals
When someone you love dies, knowing what to do next can feel overwhelming. The paperwork, the phone calls, the decisions. It all lands at a time when you can barely think straight.
This guide covers each step, from the moment of death through to registering the death, arranging a funeral, and sorting out the estate. The process depends partly on where the person died, so we cover each situation separately: at home, in hospital, in a care home, in a hospice, and abroad.
When someone dies, the first step is to have the death confirmed by a medical professional. You then need to obtain a medical certificate, register the death within five days (eight in Scotland), and arrange a funeral.
Most people do not know what to do when someone dies at home. The process differs depending on whether the death was expected or came as a surprise.
If the person was receiving palliative care or hospice-at-home support, the care team may have given you a specific number to call. A district nurse or end-of-life nurse can often verify the death without needing to wait for a doctor.
A doctor will issue the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCD), usually within a day or two. Then you need this to register the death at the local council register office – in many cases this can be issued electronically directly to the registrar.
The person can remain at home for as long as you need, as there is no legal time limit. We will work with you to agree an appropriate time to bring them into our care, allowing family and close friends the opportunity to spend time with them and say their goodbyes.
Call 999 immediately. The ambulance service will attend and confirm the death.
The police will usually attend when someone dies unexpectedly at home. This is standard procedure. It does not mean anyone is under suspicion. The officers will ask questions about the person’s health, when you last saw them alive, and any medication they were taking.
The death will be referred to the coroner (or the procurator fiscal in Scotland). The coroner may decide that the cause of death is clear from medical records and release the body quickly. If not, a post-mortem examination may be needed. Most are completed within a few days.
In rare cases, the coroner may open an inquest. This usually happens only where the death was violent, unnatural, or remains unexplained after a post-mortem. An inquest can delay the funeral by several weeks.
When someone dies in hospital, the ward staff will confirm the death. They will usually move them to the hospital chapel of rest or mortuary.
A doctor at the hospital will issue the MCCD. You will be told where and when to collect it. In some hospitals, the bereavement office handles this and can also help with practical questions about next steps.
All deaths in England and Wales are reviewed by a medical examiner before the MCCD is issued. This is an independent senior doctor who checks the recorded cause of death. The medical examiner or their officer may contact the next of kin to ask about the circumstances. This is routine and is not an investigation.
If the death was unexpected or the cause is unclear, the hospital will refer the case to the coroner. The same process applies as for an unexpected death at home: the coroner may order a post-mortem and, in some cases, an inquest.
The ward staff will gather the person’s clothes and personal items, including jewellery. You can collect these from the ward or the bereavement office. Check whether the hospital charges for storage beyond a certain period.
Care homes have their own procedures for handling a death, and the staff will guide you through the immediate steps. In most cases, a GP or the care home’s visiting doctor will be called to verify the death and issue the MCCD.
The person will usually remain at the care home until a funeral director collects them. Some care homes have a dedicated room where the person can rest until collection. You can normally visit and spend time with them during this period.
If the death was unexpected, the care home is required to notify the coroner and the Care Quality Commission (CQC) in England (or the equivalent regulator in Scotland, Wales, or Northern Ireland). The CQC monitors all deaths in regulated care settings as part of its safeguarding duties.
Personal belongings. The care home should give you a full inventory of the person’s possessions. Collect these promptly, as some care homes have limited storage space and may need the room for another resident.
Under the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) funeral director rules, the care home cannot require you to use a particular funeral director. You are free to choose your own.
Deaths in a hospice are almost always expected. The hospice team will have been managing the person’s care and will be prepared for the death. In many ways, this is the most supported setting for end-of-life care.
The hospice doctor or nurse will confirm the death and issue the MCCD. Most hospices have a bereavement coordinator who can help with the paperwork and answer questions about what to do next.
There is no rush to leave. Most hospices encourage families to spend as much time as they need with their loved one. Some offer a family room where you can sit together away from the ward.
Many hospices offer ongoing bereavement counselling for families and carers, sometimes for up to a year after the death. This is usually free and available to anyone affected by the death, not just the person’s spouse or partner. Ask the hospice team what support is available.
When someone dies outside the UK, the process is more complex and depends on the country where the death occurred.
Contact the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). Call +44 (0)20 7008 5000 (available 24 hours). The FCDO can put you in touch with the British consulate in the country where the person died. The consulate can help with local procedures and provide a list of English-speaking funeral directors.
The death must be registered within five days in England and Wales, or eight days in Scotland. You can register at the register office for the area where the person died, or in some cases where they lived.
You will need to bring:
The death can be registered by a relative, someone present at the death, or the person arranging the funeral. Most register offices require an appointment, which you can book by phone or online.
The registrar will give you:
Tell Us Once is a free government service that lets you notify multiple departments about the death in a single step. Most registrars will offer this when you register the death.
Tell Us Once notifies:
You have 28 days from getting the reference number to use the service. You can do it online or by phone. Tell Us Once does not cover banks, insurers, utility companies, or private pension providers. You will need to contact those separately.
Beyond Tell Us Once, you will need to contact a number of organisations individually. There is no strict deadline for these, but dealing with them sooner rather than later can prevent bills building up or direct debits continuing.
| Organisation | What to tell them |
|---|---|
| Banks and building societies | Freeze accounts and begin the process of releasing funds. Most have a dedicated bereavement team. |
| Mortgage provider or landlord | Inform them of the death. If the property will be empty, check the terms of the tenancy or mortgage. |
| Utility companies (gas, electric, water) | Provide a meter reading and transfer or close the account. |
| Phone, broadband, and TV providers | Cancel or transfer contracts. Check for early termination fees. |
| Insurance companies | Life insurance, home insurance, car insurance. Policies may contain a time limit for claims. |
| Private pension providers | Report the death to release any survivor or dependant benefits. |
| Employer (if the person was working) | Inform them of the death. Ask about outstanding pay, death-in-service benefits, and workplace pension. |
| Social media and email | You may wish to memorialise or close accounts. Facebook, Instagram, and Google all have processes for this. |
Some families find it helpful to make two lists: one for personal contacts (family, friends, neighbours) and another for professional contacts (banks, utilities, insurers). Working through them methodically over several days is far easier than trying to do everything at once.
The Bereavement Register (bereavementregister.org.uk) is a free service that removes the person’s name from marketing databases, which can help reduce unwanted mail.
You can start making funeral arrangements before or after registering the death. Every funeral is unique. Depending on the type of service you require and the availability of registration appointments and your chosen venue, a funeral can often take place from around 10 days after the death. Where more detailed planning or specific requests are involved, additional time may be needed to ensure everything is arranged exactly as you wish.
The first decision is usually whether to choose a burial or a cremation. In the UK, cremation is now far more common than burial.
The second question, if you are choosing cremation, is whether you would like an attended service, where people can attend at the crematorium, or a direct cremation, with no service. It’s totally fine not to know, a good funeral director will answer your questions and help guide you so that you make the choice that is right for you. Call our funeral team on 0800 007 3620 if you want to talk through options.
Before making arrangements, look through the person’s paperwork for a will (which may contain funeral wishes) or a prepaid funeral plan. If the person had a plan, contact the provider directly as the plan will cover some or all of the costs. Note that funeral wishes in a will are not legally binding, but most families try to honour them.
| Timeframe | What to do |
|---|---|
| Immediately | Have the death confirmed by a medical professional. No rush beyond this. |
| Within 5 days (8 in Scotland) | Register the death at the local register office. |
| Within 28 days of registration | Use the Tell Us Once service to notify government departments. |
| As soon as practical | Notify banks, insurers, utility companies, and employers. |
| Within 2–3 weeks | Arrange the funeral (most take place within this window). |
Grief is not something that follows a neat pattern. It can come in waves: manageable one moment, overwhelming the next. The administrative burden of dealing with a death can make it harder, because you are forced to be practical at a time when you have very little energy for it.
A few things that can help:
Losing someone is never easy, and there is no right way to grieve. The practical steps in this guide can be taken one at a time, over days and weeks, at whatever pace feels manageable. There is no rush, and there is no shame in asking for help.
Five days in England and Wales, or eight days in Scotland. If the coroner is involved, the registration may be delayed until the coroner has finished their investigation. You will not be penalised for a delay caused by the coroner.
You should register the death in the district where the person died. In some cases, you can attend a register office in a different area and they will forward the paperwork, though this can add a few days.
There is no set number, but most people find they need between three and five. Banks, solicitors, pension providers, and insurance companies usually require a certified copy, and some will not accept photocopies.
Verification (or confirmation) of death is the act of confirming that the person has died. This can be done by a doctor or, in some areas, a trained nurse. Certification is the issuing of the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCD), which records what the person died from. Only a doctor can certify the cause of death.
If you are on a low income or receiving certain benefits, you may be able to claim a Funeral Expenses Payment from the DWP. Direct cremation is also the most affordable option.
Last reviewed: July 2026.
Industry statistics sourced from the SunLife Cost of Dying Report 2026
