What to do when someone dies

If the death was expected, a medically qualified professional must verify the death. Contact the deceased’s doctor (if during surgery hours), who will attend and verify the death. If death occurs out of hours, call NHS 24 (Tel. 111), who will arrange for an on-call doctor or senior nurse to attend. The doctor will subsequently issue a MCCD.

If the death was not expected, call 999 and ask for the emergency services to attend. A report will be sent to the Procurator Fiscal, who will investigate the cause of death and may instruct a post-mortem. A contracted funeral director will be instructed to convey the person who has died to the hospital/city mortuary. Once the investigation is concluded, a MCCD will be issued.

Where someone dies in hospital, they will be cared for at the hospital mortuary until such time as the MCCD has been issued by a hospital doctor.

If the death was expected, care home staff will contact the person’s doctor to attend and verify the death. The doctor will subsequently issue a MCCD.

If the death was not expected, the emergency services will be contacted and asked to attend. A report will be sent to the Procurator Fiscal who will investigate the cause of death and may instruct a post-mortem. A contracted funeral director will be instructed to convey the person
who has died to the hospital/city mortuary. Once the investigation is concluded, a MCCD will be issued.

We can provide a global repatriation service to and from the UK, as well as internal UK transfers. We will take care of all the formalities from the administrative paperwork to the necessary preparations of the person who has died.

Once the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCD) has been issued, the death must normally be registered within 8 days. Death registrations are now done remotely (over the telephone). It is the responsibility of the certifying doctor to email the MCCD to the registrar of your choice. Ask the doctor to include your contact details to the registrar. The registrar will the contact you. If, however, your contact details are not copied in by the doctor, you will have to contact the registrar. The registrar will guide you through the process.

Who can register a death?

• Any relative of the deceased
• Any person who was present when the person died
• The deceased’s executor or another legal representative
• The occupier of the property where the person died; or if there is no such person as above,
• Anyone who knows the necessary information to register the death
• You must be at least 16 years of age to act as a qualified informant

To assist the registration, it would be helpful if you have the following documents available:

• The Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (this should have already been emailed to the registrar by the certifying medical professional prior to your appointment)
• The deceased’s birth certificate
• The deceased’s marriage or civil partnership certificate, if applicable
• The deceased’s medical card/number, if available

The registrar will issue:

• A white document (Certificate of Registration of Death) required by the funeral director before burial or cremation can proceed
• An abbreviated Death Certificate which is issued free of charge (if you require a full Death Certificate there is a charge, you may wish to purchase more than one for banks, insurance companies etc)
• You will also be given advice on how to use the Tell Us Once service for informing government departments of the death

When ready, the next of kin or the person taking responsibility for the funeral can begin making the funeral arrangements. This can be done over the telephone, at our funeral home or by a home visit, whichever is most convenient. We are good listeners. We will very carefully take your instructions and gently guide you through the choices available and the things to consider. A written estimate of the funeral cost will always be provided at the end of the arrangement, confirming the choices made.

The main decisions to be made will include:

Will the funeral be a burial or cremation, religious or non-religious?  Where will the service take place?  What are the family’s transport requirements?     How to personalise the funeral – Order of Service booklets, floral tributes, music, charity donations etc