The Coroner will issue a ‘Coroner’s Interim Certificate of Death’ once an inquest has been opened or an investigation formally commenced. This allows the funeral to be organised and to enable administration of the estate.
The death cannot be registered, and a final death certificate obtained until after the investigation or inquest has been concluded.
Once the inquest has taken place the Coroner will issue paperwork to the Register Office who will register the death. The Register Office will let you know when the death is to be registered and advise you of how to order certificates if required.
Burial and Cremation Disputes
The Coroner recognises that sometimes there may be disagreement regarding funerals and the burial/cremation of the deceased. This Is not something ordinarily that the Coroner can get involved in.
The Coroner has an obligation in law to release the body of the deceased as soon as it is practicable when no longer needed for the purposes of the coronial investigation. This enables the Coroner to release the deceased at an early stage to allow for funeral arrangements to be made.
Case law has made it very clear that there is no right of ownership in a dead body. However, there is a duty at common law to arrange for its proper disposal. It is usually the case that the person receiving the body of the deceased also assumes responsibility for funding the funeral arrangements.
Where a person has died and left a will this duty falls primarily upon the personal representatives (PR) of the deceased. The PR will have the right to possession, not ownership, of the body and have a duty to arrange for the disposal of the body.
PR’s can of course be different to family members or next of kin (NOK). There is no legal definition of next of kin and this term can mean different things depending on the context (e.g. medical, legal, or inheritance).
An individual of course may express their own wishes during their lifetime about regarding their funeral and the disposal of their body but unless this is set out in their will then this cannot be legally enforced.
In the event the deceased passed away without a will (intestate), then the person(s) entitled to a grant of letters of administration for the deceased’s estate follows the order of priority set out in Rule 22 of The Non Contentious Probate Rules 1987):
- the surviving spouse/civil partner
- any children (if the surviving child is under 18 entitlement usually passes to another person with parental responsibility to make arrangements on behalf of the child)
- any of children of the children (i.e. grandchildren), if their parent has died
- brothers and sisters of the whole blood and the issue of any deceased brother or sister of the whole blood who died before the deceased;
- brothers and sisters of the half blood and the issue of any deceased brother or sister of the half blood who died before the deceased;
- grandparents;
- uncles and aunts of the whole blood and the issue of any deceased uncle or aunt of the whole blood who died before the deceased;
- uncles and aunts of the half blood and the issue of any deceased uncle or aunt of the half blood who died before the deceased.
That individual (or individuals) will ultimately be entitled to lawful possession of the body of the deceased and the right to deal with the funeral and the disposal of the body, including the location of any burial. If the deceased was unmarried (or not in a legal civil partnership) but had a surviving partner, then they would have no rights if there was no will.
If no close family member has survived the deceased, or if they do not wish to be involved, then the Local Authority covering the area in which the deceased died ultimately has responsibility for sorting out the funeral arrangements and the disposal of the body (s.46 of the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984).
What should I do if I disagree about who should receive the body of the deceased and how the deceased should be disposed of?
If the death involves the Coroner then you should let the Coroner know at the earliest stage. Once the Coroner has released the deceased for burial or cremation, then the Coroner cannot prevent the funeral from taking place.
If there is a disagreement, then you should seek to reach agreement between all persons involved in the dispute for example by jointly instructing a funeral director.
The Coroner will ordinarily release the deceased to the persons following the order set out above. If you object to the Coroner releasing to a specific individual then you may need to seek an urgent injunction from the Court preventing the Coroner from doing so.
The Coroner cannot determine who should receive the body of the deceased and make funeral arrangements in the event of a disagreement between any of those persons listed above or indeed anyone who believes they have a competing interest. Only the High Court can resolve the disagreement and an application should be made to the High Court as soon as possible.
Burial/Cremation disputes cause delays and cost money. The costs of storing the deceased (which will increase) may have to be met by either the estate or the person challenging the entitlement. Any application to the Court will also likely involve a fee.
There is also the possibility that the local authority may take over the funeral arrangements in the event of a significant delay as there is a duty on the relevant local authority under s 46 (1) Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984 to cause a body to be buried where suitable arrangements for the disposal of the body have not been or are not being made otherwise than by the authority.
In the event of a burial/cremation dispute, the Coroner and the Coroners team can only assist and cannot give legal advice. You should seek independent legal advice.