Death at Home
If your loved one dies at home and the death was expected your first call should be for the doctor to attend and certify the death. Out of surgery hours call the number given by the surgery for emergencies. If the death is unexpected the police must be called as well as the doctor. Once the death has been certified by a doctor or another qualified person such as a paramedic we can attend to collect the deceased. We will also make sure any family who would like to see their loved one before we arrive has done so. Our staff are on call 24 hours a day and we aim to be in attendance within an hour of the request.
You will need to collect from the doctor the Medical Certificate to enable you to register the death. Sometimes if the doctor has attended the house they may complete the medical certificate while they are with you. Usually though, it will be available to collect from the doctors surgery. Always ring the surgery to make sure it is ready.
If the death has occurred outside of surgery hours and a paramedic has attended, they will leave a document that the doctor will require. Take this to the surgery and the doctor should be able to issue the medical certificate. However if the death was unexpected there is a likelihood the coroner may be consulted. If this happens we suggest contacting us for what to do next. Coroners involvement and procedures differ each time dependent on the circumstances of death.
Once you have the Medical Certificate the death must be registered at the appropriate registrars. For deaths occurring in a district of Birmingham you should go to Birmingham Register Office. For deaths in a district of Solihull, you will need to make an appointment at a Solihull Register Office. For other districts please contact us for details.
Ordinarily the registrar will issue a green certificate which will be required by us to enable the funeral to take place. This is issued free of charge. On request the registrar will issue copies of the death certificate and for each copy a fee will be charged, currently £12.00. Ordinarily we will not require a copy of the death certificate; however banks, solicitors, insurance companies to name the most common may all require a copy. Give some thought to how many you might need.
With registration of the death complete your next step is to contact us so we can meet with you and your family to discuss the funeral arrangements.
You will need to collect from the doctor the Medical Certificate to enable you to register the death. Sometimes if the doctor has attended the house they may complete the medical certificate while they are with you. Usually though, it will be available to collect from the doctors surgery. Always ring the surgery to make sure it is ready.
If the death has occurred outside of surgery hours and a paramedic has attended, they will leave a document that the doctor will require. Take this to the surgery and the doctor should be able to issue the medical certificate. However if the death was unexpected there is a likelihood the coroner may be consulted. If this happens we suggest contacting us for what to do next. Coroners involvement and procedures differ each time dependent on the circumstances of death.
Once you have the Medical Certificate the death must be registered at the appropriate registrars. For deaths occurring in a district of Birmingham you should go to Birmingham Register Office. For deaths in a district of Solihull, you will need to make an appointment at a Solihull Register Office. For other districts please contact us for details.
Ordinarily the registrar will issue a green certificate which will be required by us to enable the funeral to take place. This is issued free of charge. On request the registrar will issue copies of the death certificate and for each copy a fee will be charged, currently £12.00. Ordinarily we will not require a copy of the death certificate; however banks, solicitors, insurance companies to name the most common may all require a copy. Give some thought to how many you might need.
With registration of the death complete your next step is to contact us so we can meet with you and your family to discuss the funeral arrangements.