Help arranging a funeral
When the death certificate has been issued by the Registrar, you will also be given a certificate authorising the funeral. The choice of a funeral director is important as you should feel comfortable and confident with them. We are members of the National Association of Funeral Directors and abide by their guidelines and regulations.
It is important to check whether the dead person left any
instructions with the Will about the funeral, or wished the
body to be given for medical research, or organs to be
donated for transplantation. If there is a Will, the
executor has the right to decide whether it will be a burial
or a cremation, whether the Will expresses a particular wish
or not. If there is no Will, the next of kin should decide.
It is important to check whether the deceased has already
made arrangements for their own funeral, or carried funeral
insurance.
You will need to make early decisions about:
- when the service will happen (day, date, time)
- where it will happen (church, cremation chapel, cemetery chapel, graveside, elsewhere)
- whether it will be a burial or a cremation
Then you can decide the arrangements at leisure.
We can make all the arrangements for the funeral, burial or
cremation, religious or secular service and can also advise
on all the procedures and documents needed to register the
death.
If you are considering a headstone most cemeteries will
advise to wait for a period of approximately six months
before placing it. However, please speak with us as soon as
possible to avoid any unnecessary delay after this waiting
period.
Costs and Charges
The costs of a funeral fall into three main categories:
- Cost of materials, such as coffin or casket, clothing and memorials
- Funeral director's fee, including making arrangements, hire of vehicles, liaison with third parties on documentation and management of the funeral.
- Disbursements paid to other organisations on your behalf, such as church or crematorium fees and obituary notices
The ultimate cost will depend on your choices for the funeral.
We will explain clearly to you what the options are and how much they cost so that you are fully informed about the choices you make.
Burial
Everyone has a right to be buried in the churchyard of the
parish in which they die - assuming that one exists, and
that there is space left. If the dead person has paid for a
grave space in the churchyard, there will be a document
called a 'faculty' in existence, and you will need to
produce this.
With a family grave, there will be a fee for opening it up,
for moving headstones, and for additional inscriptions on an
existing headstone. If the dead person wanted to be buried
outside the parish where they lived, the permission of the
local clergy must be sought, and can be refused, unless
there is space in an existing grave that the family intended
for the dead person. The charge is likely to be higher than
that for a parishioner.
There is normally a fee charged for digging the grave. There
may be a further charge if you wish to purchase the
exclusive right of burial. This means that no further
burials can take place in that grave without your
permission. In many areas, you need to purchase the
exclusive right of burial if you want to put up a memorial.
There are alternatives to burial in a churchyard or
cemetery, such as burial in a vault, burial at sea and
woodland burials.
Many bereaved people take comfort from placing belongings
such as photographs and letters in the coffin with the
person they have lost. It may also be your wish that they
are dressed in their own clothing. And that the coffin is
decorated to reflect an interest or pastime they may have
enjoyed. In a burial, there are fewer restrictions about
possessions, clothing and decoration than in a cremation.
Cremation
Before a cremation can take place three statutory forms have
to be completed, one by next of kin, the others by two
different doctors. Each of the doctors is entitled to a fee.
One will be the doctor who has attended the person in their
last illness who must see the body before completing the
form, and another doctor who must also see the body. When a
coroner has issued a certificate for cremation, no other
doctors are required to certify, and the coroner's
certificate is free. A final document is signed by another
doctor, who is the medical referee to the crematorium. They
must receive the above certificates the day before the
cremation is due to take place. The fee for this usually
comes as part of the crematorium fee.
Most crematoria incorporate a service chapel. You may wish
to use this if you don't want to hold the service itself in
a church or other location. Or you may choose to use the
crematorium for committal only.
You may wish to consider music to be played. Commonly,
crematoria provide one or more of the following:
- An organist.
- Pre-recorded music from which you can choose.
- A cassette or CD player on which you can play music of your choice.
Many crematoria include scattering or burying the ashes in a garden of remembrance in their fee. If a relative wants to collect the ashes they can be collected or sent, but they will only be kept free for a time (usually about a month) - a charge will be made after that time. Some churches are happy to scatter the ashes in the graveyard or bury them according to the family's wishes.
