It is one of the few certainties in life that, at some point, we will all experience the death of someone close. How many of us know what steps to take?
What are those first steps when someone you know dies and the death occurred at home and was expected?
The first thing to do is obtain a medical certificate recording the ‘Cause of Death’. These certificates can be obtained from a doctor or a hospital and will be issued immediately if the cause of death is clear. If it isn’t clear then the deceased may need to go to the coroner to have the cause of death established.
The next step is to register the death. This should be done at a registry office within 5 days if the death occurred in England or 8 days if the death occurred in Scotland.
You should also try to take as many of the following documents as possible. They are not essential but give more information needed for registering the death. However, don’t delay the registration process because you don’t have some of the documents.
- NHS card (also called the medical card)
- Birth certificate
- Driving licence
- Council tax bill
- Marriage or civil partnership certificate (if applicable)
- National Insurance number of the deceased and that of a surviving spouse or civil partner.
- Passport
- Proof of address (e.g. utility bill)
The registrar will require the following information about the deceased:
- Date and place of the death
- The address of the person
- Their full names (including the maiden name of a married woman). Any former married names or other names by which the deceased was known can also be recorded.
- Where and when they were born (the town or county is sufficient if the exact address is not known). Only the country of origin is required for people born outside the United Kingdom. The country is recorded according to its current name if this is different from how it was known at the date of birth.
- Their occupation
- Details of their wife or husband or civil partner
- Whether they had any government pension or other benefits
You should also take along any documents that show your name and address (e.g. a utility bill) but it isn’t essential as you can still register a death without them.
The registrar will give you a Death Certificate to prove the death has been registered. You will need to purchase this and it is advisable to purchase multiple copies because photocopies are generally not accepted. The certificates are needed if the deceased’s estate needs to go through probate and even if it doesn’t then you will need one for each of the asset holders; banks, building societies, pensions and insurances.
You will receive what is known as ‘the green form’, the Certificate for Burial or Cremation. Without this form, you will be unable to arrange a funeral as it needs to be passed to the crematorium or funeral director.
Once these steps have been taken then you should notify a funeral director who will make arrangements to collect the deceased and you can begin to give some thought to the funeral service. And this is something I’ll look at in a future post.