When Someone Dies
The death of someone in the family or of a friend is often a time of great stress and emotion.
Quite often people are not familiar with what to do, either from a religious point of view or in terms of the practical steps that need to be completed to bury one’s loved ones.
What is most important to realise is that if you are unsure about any aspect, or if you need help and support, members of the extended family, close friends and your local Mosque are always available to help and consult.
Expected death
If the death was expected, contact the doctor who attended the deceased during their final illness.
If the doctor can certify the cause of death, he or she will give you the following:
- A Formal Notice that states that the doctor has signed the Medical Certificate and tells you how to get the death registered.
- A Medical Certificate that shows the cause of death (this is free of charge and will be in a sealed envelope addressed to the Registrar of
Deaths).
If the doctor treating the deceased had not seen him or her either after the death or within 14 days before the death, the death must be reported to the Coroner, as explained later in section 4 of this guide.
See later sections in this guide on what to do next.
Expected death in hospital
If the death occurs in hospital, the hospital staff will contact the person named by the deceased as next of kin.
If close family or friends are in hospital, it is important that you make sure that hospital staff are aware of and have recorded details of the next of kin in case of emergency.
A doctor will issue a Formal Notice and Medical Certificate, as in 2, above. See later sections in this guide on what to do next.
The hospital will keep the body in the hospital mortuary until the next of kin arranges for it to be taken away. Please note that the hospital will not normally release the body until the Certificate for Burial (Green Form) is obtained from the Registrar of Deaths. The process for obtaining the Green Form is explained below in section 11 of this guide.
Hospital staff will also arrange for the next of kin to collect the deceased’s possessions.
If you are asked for permission to do a post-mortem then please do not agree to this. As it is an expected death, doctors will only ask for research purposes. Islam does not permit post-mortems if they are not required by the law.
New Medical Examiner System
From 1st April 2019, all deaths that occur in a hospital will need to be referred to a Medical Examiner who will be based at the hospital. The Medical Examiner will be required to come to an agreement with the consultant on the cause of death. The medical Cause of Death Certificate will require the Medical Examiner’s signature. It will be the decision of the Medical Examiner whether to refer the case to the coroner.
Currently this is a non-statutory requirement, but several hospitals around the country have already implemented this system which is expected to become statutory by April 2020.
At the present time this system only applies to hospital deaths but there are plans for it to be used for all deaths.
This additional layer may result in delays and arrangements for out-of-hours have not been catered for, as of yet. Gardens of Peace are lobbying and working with the relevant government departments to ensure that the new system will not add an additional burden on the bereaved families.
Get Help with Funeral Costs
Funeral Expenses Payment can help pay for some of the costs of the following:
- burial fees for a particular plot
- cremation fees, including the cost of the doctor’s certificate
- travel to arrange or go to the funeral
- the cost of moving the body within the UK, if it’s being moved more than 50 miles
- death certificates or other documents
You can also get up to £1,000 for any other funeral expenses, such as funeral director’s fees, flowers or the coffin.
The payment will not usually cover all of the costs of the funeral.
How much you get depends on your circumstances. This includes any other money that’s available to cover the costs, for example from an insurance policy or the deceased person’s estate.
For more information please visit: Get help with funeral costs (Funeral Expenses Payment): How it works – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)