What to do when someone has died.

If the death was expected and at home

If the person was being cared for at home and the death was expected, there is no emergency. The first call is to their GP surgery (during working hours) or the out-of-hours GP service. The GP will visit, formally verify the death, and start the process of issuing a Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCD). If the person was under hospice care, you call the hospice instead.

Once death has been verified, you can call us on 0333 242 1405 and we’ll arrange for the local funeral director to collect — usually within a few hours, or first thing the next morning.

You don’t need to ring 999. Doing so will lead to police attendance and an automatic referral to the coroner, which delays everything.

If the death was unexpected, or you’re not sure

Call 999. The paramedics will attend, and if they cannot resuscitate they will involve the police as a routine matter (this is standard for any death outside a medical setting). The death will then be referred to the coroner, who will decide whether further investigation is needed.

In coroner cases, the funeral director cannot collect until the coroner releases your loved one. Timeframes vary — from a day or two to several weeks if a post-mortem is required. See our coroner and Procurator Fiscal guide for what to expect.

If the death was in hospital

The hospital will look after your loved one until a funeral director collects. The ward will tell you who to contact in the bereavement office — usually the next working day. The bereavement office is where the MCCD is signed and where you will be given the paperwork you need to register the death.

You can call us at any point — before or after speaking to the bereavement office — and we will coordinate collection from the hospital.

If the death was in a care home

The care home will follow its own procedures, which usually include calling the GP to verify death and getting the MCCD signed. They will hold your loved one until the funeral director collects. You can call us as soon as you’re ready and we will liaise with the care home directly — you don’t need to be there for the collection.

The next steps once collection is arranged

1. The MCCD is issued by the GP, hospital doctor, or coroner’s office.
2. You register the death at your local register office — see our guides for England & Wales and Scotland.
3. The registrar gives you a Certificate for Burial or Cremation (the “green form” in England and Wales).
4. We complete the cremation paperwork in the meantime.
5. The cremation takes place at a local crematorium, usually within one to three weeks.
6. Ashes are returned to you, by hand or by tracked courier.

Things you don’t need to do straight away

Resist the urge to start cancelling utility accounts, card payments, or government services in the first 48 hours. The Government’s Tell Us Once service handles most of that in one go after the death is registered, and the registrar will give you a code to use it.

Probate, the will, and the estate all wait. There is no urgency on any of that in the first week.