What to do immediately after someone dies

1. Medical Certificate Confirming Cause Of Death

If your loved one has died at home and their death was expected, you should call their doctor. If the doctor saw the deceased in the deceased's lifetime, then the doctor can complete the Medical Certificate Cause of Death (MCCD) form, confirming the cause of death. The doctor will then send the Medical Certificate Cause of Death form electronically to the register office via a secure email account. The register office will then contact you to arrange an appointment so that you can register the death.

If the death was expected and occurred outside of doctors opening hours then you need to contact the nursing team whose care the deceased was under. If the death was unexpected or you do not know the name of the person's GP, then you should call 999 immediately and explain what has happened.

A doctor cannot issue a medical certificate if they are unsure about the cause of death. An unexpected death may need to be reported to a coroner. They may call for a post-mortem or inquest to find out the cause of death.

If the death has happened in hospital, the doctor there will issue the MCCD form. The deceased will be kept in the hospital mortuary, if they have one, or arrange for the deceased to be moved to a Chapel of Rest. In some cases, the doctor may decide to refer the matter to the coroner.

2. Medical Examiners

All deaths in England and Wales will be reviewed by an independent medical examiner, except those that have been referred to the coroner.

Medical Examiners (ME) are senior medical practitioners who were not involved in the care of the deceased, they provide independent scrutiny of deaths, outside of their usual clinical duties, we also have Medical Examiner Officers (MEO’s) who co-ordinate the entire process so they can ensure the medical certificate cause of death (MCCD) can be issued.

The Medical Examiners will liaise with the bereaved families and give them the opportunity to raise any concerns or ask any questions in relation to the care received by their loved one and/or the cause of death, they will also interact with the medical practitioner who is completing the MCCD and will carry out a proportionate review of the deceased medical records so that a cause of death

3. If Someone Dies Abroad

You will need to register the death according to the local regulations. A local death certificate can usually be used in the UK. The local police, British Consul or tour guide can advise you on how to do this. You can also register the death at the British Consulate as well. You don't have to do this, but if you do you can buy a UK style death certificate, and the record will be sent to the General Register office within 12 months. You will also be able to get a copy of the Death Certificate later from the General Register Office or from the British Consul in the country concerned. The British Consul will support you by offering advice and help with funeral arrangements and other formalities, such as inquests.

If the person died while on a package holiday, the tour operator will be able to contact funeral directors and British Consular staff for you.

If you hear of the death from anyone else, for example a tour operator, you should contact the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office on: 020 7008 1500 (open 24 hours).

4. Arranging a Funeral

We have prepared a complete guide to arranging a funeral which includes the types of funeral available, services and paying for a funeral.

YOU MUST REGISTER THE DEATH WITHIN FIVE DAYS (EIGHT DAYS IN SCOTLAND) AT THE REGISTER OFFICE LOCAL TO THE PLACE OF DEATH. The medical certificate will be sent electronically to your register office. Once the register office receive the Medical Certificate Cause of Death form, the register office will contact you to make an appointment to register the death. You will need to attend the register office in person to register the death, take the following items with you, Council Tax bill, driving licence, passport, proof of address (e.g. utility bill) but don’t worry if not so long as you know the date and place of the birth of the deceased.

5. Who can register a death?

• A relative
• Someone present at the death
• A person who lives in the house where the person died
• The person making arrangements with the funeral directors

When you go to the Registrar of Births and Deaths, take the following items with you:

• the deceased person's birth certificate, marriage or civil partnership certificate if available.

You should tell the Registrar:

• the date and place of death
• the deceased's last (usual) address
• the person's full name at date of death and any names previously used including maiden surname
• the deceased's date and place of birth
• the deceased's occupation and the name and occupation of their spouse, or civil partner
• if the deceased was married or had formed a civil partnership, the date of birth of the surviving widow, widower or civil partner
• whether the deceased was receiving a pension or allowance from public funds (e.g. State Pension).

The Registrar will give you:

• The Death Certificate
• A green certificate - i.e., the certificate for burial or cremation to hand to the Funeral Director, so that the funeral can be held. If the death was referred to the Coroner, other procedures may apply. (Most registrars will offer to issue this electronically).
• A form to complete to send off to the Department of Work and Pensions so that they can deal with the persons pensions and other benefits.

During this appointment the registrar will give you instructions on how to use the Tell Us Once service. This is a helpful service that notifies all government organisations at the same time to sort out council tax, income tax, driving license and passports, state pension and other benefits.

The registrar may also give you leaflets about bereavement benefits and income tax for widows/ widowers or surviving civil partners. The Registrar may ask you some other questions about the deceased person. These are usually for government statistical purposes.

NB: Slightly different forms and procedures apply if you are registering a stillborn baby (born dead after the 24th week of pregnancy). Your doctor or midwife will be able to give you more information.

6. The Death Certificate

The death certificate is a certified copy of the entry in the death register and you may need several copies for the will, settling of pension claims, etc. You can purchase these from the Registrar as required, either at the time of registration or later. There is a standard fixed charge for these copies, although this cost increases if you ask for copies some time after registering your loved one's death.

You can also arrange for the deceased person's details to be removed from some mailing lists in order to reduce the amount of unwanted mail, visit www.bereavementregister.org.uk. It is important to contact any organisation of which the deceased was a member as soon as possible, especially the deceased's bank, insurance company, council, and tax office. They may ask for copies of the death certificate.

7. The Coroner

Sometimes a death is reported to the coroner by a doctor, or by the Police, because it has been sudden or unexpected or as the result of an accident, an industrial injury etc., and in other circumstances. Try not to be alarmed – this is a normal legal requirement and the coroner's office should be able to answer any questions you may have. The coroner may require the death to be investigated through a post-mortem.

If it is found that the person died from natural causes then the family will be told, the death can be registered and the funeral can go ahead. An order for burial (from 101), is issued when an inquest is to be held and the deceased is to be buried. The coroner has to give permission for the funeral to proceed. This is usually collected by the funeral director from the coroner's service on your behalf.

If the body is released with no inquest, the coroner will send a Pink Form, form 100B to the registrar stating the cause of death. The coroner will also send a Certificate of Coroner - form Cremation 6, if the body is to be cremated.

If the cause of death is still unknown the Coroner will hold an inquest. An inquest is a legal investigation which is open to the public and evidence will be reviewed to determine how the person died.

8. Post-mortem

If the death was known to be caused by a natural illness but the doctors wish to know more about the cause of death, they may ask the relatives for permission to carry out a post-mortem examination. This is a medical examination of the body which can find out more about the cause of death and should not delay the funeral.

9. Other Practicalities

In the event of bereavement, there are other practicalities that need to be dealt with and you should not be afraid to ask friends and family to support and assist you. The following lists provide examples of things which may have to be done: You may have to return the following, including a note of explanation and the date of death with each of the documents:

• order books, payable orders or giro cheques to the social security office or other office which issued the payment. This also applies to a Child Benefit book which includes payment for a child who has died. Orders should not be cashed after the death of a person. It may be useful to keep a record of pension book numbers and other social security numbers before you send anything back, as these may be needed when completing other forms
• driving licence to the DVLA
• the registration documents for the deceased's car in order for a change of ownership to be recorded
• membership cards of clubs and associations – claim any refund due
• passport, to the UK Passport Agency
• National Insurance papers
• season tickets and claim any refund
• library books/tickets
• any NHS equipment such as wheelchairs, hearing aids or artificial limbs.

You may need to inform:

• family members
• the local social services department, if your loved one was receiving meals on wheels, home help, day centre care or had a piece of equipment on loan from the department
• hospitals the person was attending
• employer and trade union
• the Inland Revenue
• banks/building society
• family doctor
• the social security office, if benefits were being paid directly into the deceased's bank or building society
• a child or young person's teacher, employer or college if a parent, brother, sister, grandparent or close friend has died
• a car insurance company (if you are insured to drive the car under the deceased's name, you will cease to be legally insured)
• utilities and telephone suppliers
• the deceased's mortgage provider, landlord, housing association or the local council housing department
• the local council Housing Benefit/Council Tax Benefit section if the person who has died was getting Housing Benefit and/or Council Tax Benefit
• the deceased's bank, building society, insurance company, etc
• the Post Office so that they can redirect the deceased's mail.

Most local councils now run a 'Tell Us Once' service and will contact different government departments on your behalf - see www.gov.uk/ after-a-death/organisations-you-need-to-contact-and-tell-us-once

The HMRC offer a Bereavement Helpline for help with tax after someone dies. Tel: 0300 200 3300.

10. Organ Donation

The law around organ donations changed on the 28th of March 2021 in Scotland and the 20th May 2022 for England and in 2015 for people living in Wales and The Opt Out System applies to everyone in England, excluding under 18s, (under 16's in Scotland) people who lack mental capacity, visitors to England and people who have lived in England for less than 12 months before their death.

Although it is something that can be very difficult to think about when you lose a loved one, you will have to act quickly if it was the wish of the deceased or their nearest relative to donate the organs for transplant, or the whole body for medical teaching purposes. The usual procedure is to approach the next of kin to make sure they do not object to organ donation. If the death was in a hospital or similar institution, the head of that institution is lawfully in possession of the body. They may honour the deceased's request, in writing or orally before two witnesses, for the body to be given for medical research if there is no reason to think the request withdrawn. If the death has to be reported to the coroner, the coroner's consent may be necessary before the organs or body can be donated. A medical certificate must be issued before any organs can be removed or the body used. It is usual for kidneys, and essential for heart, lungs, liver and pancreas, to be removed from donors:

• who have been certified to be brain stem dead
• and whose breathing, and hence heartbeat, are maintained by a ventilator in a hospital intensive care unit.

Kidneys can, very rarely, be removed up to an hour after heart death. Other organs can be removed up to the following times after heart death:

• the corneas (from the eyes) – up to 24 hours
• skin – up to 24 hours
• bone – up to 36 hours
• heart valves – up to 72 hours.

The doctor attending will advise on procedure. After organ donation, the body is released to the relatives. Full body donation for medical teaching no longer requires two witnesses, but form HTA1 should be completed by the person wishing to donate whilst they are still alive (Human Tissue Act 2004 - see www.hta.gov.uk)