What is a procurator fiscal and what do they do
What the Procurator Fiscal does when a death is reported in Scotland, what happens at a post-mortem or Fatal Accident Inquiry, and whether a funeral is delayed.
Dealing with death
It is perfectly normal to be unsure of what to do when someone dies. Your funeral director will be ready to be by your side from the moment you notify them, to guide you through the key steps after a death, offering you help and support at such a difficul
Read our guides
What to do when someone dies: common questions
The questions families ask most in the first few days after a death, with links to the fuller guides on registering, arranging and what comes after.
When someone dies unexpectedly
What to do in the first hours after a sudden death, why a coroner is usually involved, and where to find support for the shock that follows.
Organ and body donation after death
How the opt-out organ donation law works, why your family is still asked, and the separate route for donating your body to medical science.
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Dealing with death
From registering a death to arranging the funeral, you can use our checklist to ensure you know what to do when someone dies.
Less has to happen in the first day or two than most people expect. A doctor or the coroner has to confirm the cause of death, the death has to be registered, and the person needs to be brought into a funeral director's care. Everything after that can move at your pace.
The four stages below are the order it usually happens in. If you would rather someone talked you through it, a funeral director will do that at any hour, whether or not you have decided to use them.
Get the medical certificate of cause of death
Nothing else can start until the death has been medically certified. A doctor issues the medical certificate of cause of death, which is what lets you register the death.
Who you call first depends on where the person died, and in some cases the death is reported to a coroner – or, in Scotland, the procurator fiscal – before a certificate can be issued. That is routine and does not mean anything is wrong.
Register the death
The death is registered at a register office in the area where it happened, by appointment. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland this is normally within five days; in Scotland, within eight. If a coroner is involved, the clock starts when they release the paperwork.
Take what you can find of the person's documents – birth certificate, marriage or civil partnership certificate, NHS number, passport – but do not delay the appointment if some are missing. The registrar gives you the certificate for burial or cremation, which your funeral director needs, and you can buy extra copies of the death certificate at the same time. Banks and pension providers each want their own, so several copies saves time later.
See how to register a death, or registering a death in Scotland.
Contact a funeral director
You can call a funeral director before the death is registered – most families do. They will bring the person into their care at any hour, and hold everything there while you decide what you want.
Nothing has to be settled on that first call. When you are ready, the choices are the type of service, the coffin, transport, and the details like flowers, music and readings – all set out in arranging a funeral. It is also worth knowing what to ask a funeral director before you choose one.
We can come whenever you are ready
Your local funeral director will collect the person who has died and bring them into our care, at any time of day or night. Call when you are ready – there is no charge for the conversation and no obligation to go further.
Tell people, and deal with the estate
Tell Us Once covers most government departments in a single step and is worth using early. Banks, pensions, insurers, utilities and subscriptions each need telling separately – who to notify after a death sets out the order of work. Online and social media accounts are easily forgotten and have their own bereavement processes.
If there is a will, the executors named in it deal with the estate; if there is not, the closest relative entitled to inherit applies to administer it. See when someone dies with a will, when someone dies without a will and how to deal with an estate after death. Most of it takes months rather than weeks, and there is rarely a reason to rush.
Support is there for you too, not only for the paperwork – see helpful organisations for grief and bereavement.
Talk to us in person
Contact your local Dignity branch to talk to a funeral director.