Handling Bereavement

A Straightforward Guide

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• Publisher: Straightforward Publishing Digital
• Year: 2015
• Print ISBN: 9781847165626
• eBook ISBN: 9781847166364

This latest book in the Straightforward Guides series (Straightforward Publishing), Handling Bereavement, deals with the practical arrangements necessary after a death. The book is factual yet sympathetic and is intended to guide those who have suffered a bereavement. The book is clear and concise and is intended for the layperson. It is ideal for anyone who wishes to gain knowledge of this area.

1

Death and the Registration Of Death

If you suspect a person is dead, the first thing that you should do is to tell a doctor. There may be some doubt as to whether the person has died. In all cases, call a doctor or phone the ambulance service. Ask whether the doctor is going to attend. If the death of a person has been expected, then it may not be immediately necessary for a doctor to attend late at night, the next morning will do.

If the doctor does not intend to come, for reasons made very clear, then you need to ask for permission for a funeral director to remove the body. If a decision has been made that the funeral will be a cremation, the doctor will need to know as special papers will need to be drawn up which will involve an inspection, separately, by two doctors. If you intend to keep a body at home prior to such an inspection, which can be carried out in a funeral parlour, then it will be necessary to keep the room at a cool temperature.

Laying out a body

This is the first stage in preparing a body for burial or cremation. If carried out by a funeral director it is termed last offices the “first office”, denoting either the first or last contact. The body is washed and tidied up, eyelids closed and jaw closed. Hair is tidied, arms and legs and hair usually grows for sometime after a death so therefore will need shaving. If a funeral director is laying out a body then a gown or everyday clothes will be applied.

Although laying out and general preparation can be carried out at home, and a funeral director can also provide a service in the home it is usual to allow the body to be taken away to a funeral parlor. An occurrence after death is Rigor Mortis, which is a stiffening of the muscles. This begins normally six hours after death and takes effect all over the body within 24 hours, after which it usually begins to wear off. In addition, about half an hour after death parts of the dead persons skin will begin to show dark patches. This activity is called Hypostasis and is due to settlement of the blood in the body due to gravity.

Police involvement

In certain circumstances it may be necessary to call the police if a persons death is not due to natural circumstances. It could be that a death is the result of murder or other suspicious circumstance. It is very important not to touch anything in the room as you may disturb vital evidence. The police will take statements from anyone with the person before death. There may at times be difficulty in identifying a dead body and the police have a specific procedure in this case.

Certificate of cause of death

In the United Kingdom, every death must be recorded in the local registrar’s office within five days. The Registrar will always require a certificate as to the cause of death. If the cause of death is known then the doctor attending on death will provide the certificate, which states cause, when last seen alive and whether or not any doctor has seen the body since death occurred. This certificate will be given to the family. No charge is usually made.

If the doctor concerned is uncertain about the cause of death or has not seen the body for 14 days after death then a certificate cannot be issued and the coroners office is informed. The body is taken to the coroner’s mortuary and a post mortem may or may not be carried out.

The coroner

A Coroner is a qualified doctor or solicitor and is paid by the local authority. The coroner is independent of both local and central government and is responsible only to the Crown. The coroner is assisted by the coroner’s officer, usually a police officer. The coroner’s office has contact with the public.

When a death occurs which is not due to natural causes it must be reported to the coroner. If the deceased died of natural causes but was not seen by a doctor for a significant time before death or after death then the coroner must be reported. The deceased person’s doctor will be contacted and cause of death and circumstances ascertained. If satisfied the coroner will cease involvement and issue a certificate and the family can then register the death normally. In any cases where the doctor is uncertain as to the cause of the death then the coroner must be notified. Death resulting from industrial disease, which has given rise to compensation, must be reported to the coroner. In addition, death arising from military service must be reported, in some but not all cases. Other circumstances in which death has arisen which must be reported are:

• If the death was suspicious

• Was sudden or unexplained

• Due to neglect, i.e., poisoning, drugs etc

• Caused directly or indirectly by accident

• Suicide

• In prison or police custody

Another situation is during surgery or before recovering from the effects of anesthetic.

When a death is reported to a coroner, and an investigation is decided upon then a death cannot be registered until enquiries are complete. There will usually be a post mortem. If death is shown to be from natural causes then the family will be notified and the death can be registered normally.

The family of the deceased do not have to be consulted or asked about carrying out a post mortem. If the law requires it then the coroner has to proceed. However, if a family or individual objects they can register that objection with the coroner who has to listen and give reasons for a post mortem. If there are still objections there is the right of appeal to the High Court. This will delay disposal of the body. The coroner has no duty to inform the next of kin about findings of a post mortem. After the post mortem, and a coroner’s report made to the relevant authorities, the body becomes the responsibility of the family.

The coroner is obliged to hold an inquest into every violent and unnatural death and also death whilst in prison. The inquest is open to the public and can take the form of a trial, with witnesses called. The office of the coroner is a powerful office and the intention is to ensure that death was natural and not due to violent or other unnatural means. After the inquest is over then the death can be registered in the normal way.

Information concerning death, including the handing in of a certificate or the informing of the registrar of an extended period without certificate due to post mortem or other examination, can be given at any registrar’s office (In England and Wales). This will then be passed on to the appropriate district or sub office.

Registration of death

As stated, in England, Wales and Northern Ireland a death should be registered within five days of occurrence. Registration can be delayed for up to another nine days if the registrar receives written confirmation that a doctor has signed a medical certificate of cause of death. The medical certificate must be presented at the register office in the sub-district where the death occurred. The person registering the death must decide how many copies of the death certificate is needed and pay for them at the office. Payment can be by cheque, or credit card if ordering online or by telephone.

The registration is free. Any certified copies of death certificates will be £4.00 at the time of registration. After registration, for up to one month, the cost of a copy certificate will be £7.00. After this time a copy certificate will be £10.00. If you require a copy certificate urgently, you may wish to use the Priority Service. The cost for this service is £20.

If the death certificate is to be sent to someone else then the details must be given to the registrar. It is possible at this stage for what is known as the “Green certificate” authorising burial or cremation to be sent to the funeral director carrying out the funeral arrangements.

Names addresses and phone numbers of local registrars can be found in doctors surgeries, libraries etc.

Registrar’s requirements

Registrar’s information is contained on a part of a medical certificate issued by the doctor. This part is entitled “notice to informant” and lists:

• The date and place of death

• The full name, including maiden name if appropriate of the deceased

• Date of birth

• Occupation

• Occupation of the husband if deceased was a married woman or widow

• Address

• Whether deceased was in receipt of pension or allowance from public funds

If the deceased was married, the date of birth of the surviving partner

The form also states that the deceased’s medical card should be given to the registrar. The other side of this particular form gives details of who is qualified to inform the registrar of a death. If the death occurs in a house or any other public building, the following can inform a registrar of a death:

• A relative of the deceased who was present at the death

• A relative who was present during the last illness

• A relative of the deceased who was not present at the death or during the last illness but who lives in the district or sub-district where the death occurred

• A person who is not a relative but who was present at the time of death

• The occupier of the building where the death occurred, if aware of the details of death

• Any inmate of the building where the death occurred, if aware of the details of death

• The person causing the disposal of the body, meaning the person accepting responsibility for arranging the funeral, but not the funeral director, who cannot register the death

The above are in order of preference. If a person has been found dead elsewhere, the following are qualified to register the death:

• Any relative of the dead person able to provide the registrar with the required details

• Any person present at time of death

• The person who found the body

• The person in charge of the body (which will be the police if the body cannot be identified)

• The person accepting responsibility for arranging the funeral

Only a person qualified under the law can inform the registrar of the death. If the registrar considers that the cause of death supplied on the medical certificate is inadequate, or the death should have been reported to the coroner, the registrar must inform the coroner and wait for written authority to proceed before continuing with registration.

In cases where a coroner’s inquest has been held, the coroner will act as the person informing death.

The Presumption of Death Act 2013

The (relatively) new Presumption of Death Act, 2013, passed after years of campaigning, will allow relatives to apply for a single certificate declaring someone presumed dead, helping them resolve...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Introduction
• 1. Death and the registration of death
• 2. Steps after registration
• 3. Taking decisions about a funeral
• 4. Different funerals
• 5. After a funeral is over
• 6. The estate of the deceased-applying for probate
• 7. The intervention of the courts
• 8. Welfare benefits after bereavement
• Useful addresses
• Index