When a death occurs at home

When there is a death in your home, a Medical professional such as a Doctor, Nurse specialist or paramedic must verify the death. Once verification has been carried out you may contact us to bring your loved one into our care, but do not hesitate to call us for advice at any time (before or after verification).

The GP will then issue you with the medical certificate which contains the description of Cause of Death. You will then be required to make an appointment at your local Registrars of Births & Deaths to register the death of the deceased, we will give advice on which registration office you need to contact.

If the death is unexpected, then the Coroner will be called in to determine the cause of death. The Coroner’s office will then inform their removal team to collect your loved one and transport them to the coroner’s mortuary. (Please contact if you have any questions 24hrs a day).

You will then be told you can contact as your funeral director for further advice and support.

When a death occurs at the hospital.

If a death in hospital occurs, the deceased will remain in the care of the hospital, untill all necessary paperwork is completed, the bereavement office at the hospital will help you with this paperwork. We will then be able to bring your loved one into our care.

You will need to contact the bereavement office at the hospital, usually the next working day after you loved one has passed on, they will ask you a few questions and call you back once the doctors have been consulted, if the doctor can issue a medical Cause of Death certificate you will be advised to collect the certificate (to be able register at the registrars) or make an appointment to register at the hospital.

If the doctor is unable to issue the medical Cause of Death certificate, the Coroner will then become involved, at this point, you will not be able to register until the coroner has ascertained the cause of death (please speak to one of our funeral directors they will be able to advise you what you need to do at this point).

You will find a full list of useful contact numbers for local registrar office, please click this link.

Guide to help you register a death

C McGough & Sons are here for you at this time of loss. We feel that, as your funeral director, our role is to support and guide you, to make all the necessary arrangements to help you through this most difficult of times. The first and most important actions required are usually the registration. We hope the information below will help you.

How to register a death

Collect the Death Certificate from your family doctor or the hospital. (RSUH has a registrar in attendance at the hospital please ask your funeral director for advice)

Register the death by making an appointment with the Registrar of Deaths (see our list below, please ask your funeral directors for advice), you will have to register within the district the deceased died (for example all deaths at the RSUH need to be registered by Stoke on Trent registration office).

You will need alongside the Death Certificate from the doctor, the deceased’s medical card and any War Pension Books to registrar the death (if you have them at hand).

The Registrar will ask for:

• Where the death occurred, the date and the place.
• The last known address of the deceased.
• The full name and the maiden name (if married) of the deceased.
• The deceased’s occupation and national insurance number.
• If the deceased was getting a pension or allowance from the public fund.
• The date of birth of the deceased, surviving spouse (if they were married).

The Registrar will give you:

• A Green Certificate for you to give to the funeral director.
• The Death Certificate for the DSS.
• If you require any copies of the Death Certificate (usually for Banks, building society’s, Insurance, and occupational pensions) these need to be paid for and presently cost £11 each (3/4 will normally suffice as all parties that require a certificate will usually return them to you immediately).
• The Registrar will discuss with you the Tell Us Once Service. To help with this process you will need the deceased’s National Insurance number and if they have them, passport, driving licence and blue badge.
• The Tell Us Once Service is a free government service that will allow you to inform all the relevant government departments and all and local council services all in one go. You will still need to inform the deceased bank(s), utility companies, landlords or housing associations yourself.

Your local registrar’s office address, phone numbers and opening times are below..

The Coroner

The Coroner will become involved for several reasons including: if the cause of death is unknown, sudden, following an accident, a fall, a recent operation, or if the person has not seen a doctor in the last 14 days before their death, been suffering with an industrial disease or in receipt of a war pension. The Coroner will look to determine the precise cause of death. This process can be lengthy, many families use this time to discuss funeral arrangements with our dedicated staff, to make decisions, that may allow funeral arrangements to be put into place as soon as the coroner decides there loved one can to come into our care.

We at C McGough & Sons are at hand every step of the way to give advice and support, please contact us at any time on our 24-hour numbers 01782 834300 or 01782 515155, where a funeral director will be available to offer personal advice, help and support. You may be asked to call the Coroner’s office or the coroner’s officer may call you, to make an appointment to arrange an interview, to discuss the recent circumstances.

After they have gathered all the information required, a decision as to which direction the investigation is to go will be made, this may include a scan or post-mortem to help ascertain the cause of death. If the coroner is satisfied the death was due to natural cause, you will then be advised to make an appointment at the Registrar of Births & Deaths to register the death (please ask your funeral director for advice on which registration office to contact).

If there is going to be any further investigation or an inquest, you will not be able to register until further information is gathered or an inquest take place. The Coroner will, however, issue you with an Interim Death Certificate (which help with financial matters) and all the documentation you will need to enable, your loved one to come into our care and the funeral to take place, you will be advised, by the coroner’s officers on how the process will proceed, usually after the funeral has taken place. If you would like to contact your coroner’s office direct, please follow the appropriate links below:

• The coroner for North Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent is Mr Barkley
• The coroner South Staffordshire is Mr Haigh
• The coroner South Cheshire is Mr Alan G Moore