When the death happens the usual Doctor that covers the Nursing or Care Home may be able to attend to verify the death. If not available another Doctor, District Nurse or Paramedic may be able to confirm death . If the death is sudden and unexpected then the Police will need to be called and the death will likely be referred to the Coroner.
Only once the doctor or somebody else qualified to do so has attended and confirmed the death and there is no requirement for the coroner to be involved can the deceased be taken into our care.
In the days after attending so long as there are no concerning circumstances the doctor will issue a medical certificate stating the cause of the death(MCCD) This is usually sent electroniclly to the registrar though you will may be required to collect this from the doctor’s surgery. The medical certificate is required in order that the death can be registered.
Registration of the death must take place within 5 working days of the certificate being issued. Once registered you will be issued with a Certificate for Burial or Cremation (the ‘Green Form’) though the registrar may send this to us electronically. We will require this to enable us to make arrangements for your choice of funeral.
If the usual Doctor of the deceased is unable to ascertain the cause of death, or the deceased has not had reason to visit the doctor or have been seen by them within the previous 28 days, the doctor may, in some cases, refer the death to the local coroner and no medical certificate will be issued at this time as you require a cause of death before registration.
If the Coroner is involved this will likely delay the undertaking of the Funeral.
The coroner may decide the cause of death is clear, in this case the doctor will issue you the medical certificate, you register the death within 5 days and the coroner advises the registrar that no post mortem examination is required.
If the cause of death is unclear a post-mortem examination may be required to ascertain the cause of death (you can’t object to this). Once completed and if no further examinations are required the coroners’ office will submit the relevant paperwork to the registrar stating the cause of death and what is to be entered on the register.
You must then register the death within 5 days.
A coroner must hold an inquest if the cause of death is still unknown, or if the person:
possibly died a violent or unnatural death
died in prison or police custody
You can’t register the death until after the inquest. The coroner is responsible for sending the relevant paperwork to the registrar but the coroner can give you an interim death certificate to prove the person is dead.
You can use this to let organisations know of the death and to apply for probate.
When the inquest is over the coroner will tell the registrar what to put in the register.
You can go to any register office but if you use the one in the area where the person died you’ll be given the documents you’ll need on the day. If you use a different register office the documents will be sent to the office in the area where the person died before they’re issued to you.
This means you’ll usually wait a few days.
Prior to a cremation the doctor that issued the cause of death certificate is required to issue a Medical Certificate that will be checked by a Medical Referee in the days prior to the cremation and must be approved before the cremation can go ahead.
This isn't required if the coroner is involved
