After a loved one passes away, a doctor will confirm the death and provide a Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCD). Next, you’ll need to register the death within five days if expected. You can also contact a Funeral Director, like Freeman Brothers, to help start planning the funeral. If the death was unexpected, the coroner will advise on the next steps before registration and arrangements can proceed.

Funeral costs vary depending on the type of service, location, and any extras like flowers or memorials. A typical funeral in the UK costs around £4,000–£5,000, but it can vary widely. It’s best to get an estimate from your funeral director to plan within your budget. At Freeman Brothers, we always provide a full estimate of the costs. You can also use our Funeral Cost Estimation Tool to get a clearer idea of potential costs during early stages of planning.

It depends on whether the person who has died is to be buried or cremated and whether the death was expected or not. When someone is cremated, there are several pieces of paperwork that have to be at the Crematorium at least three working days before the funeral takes place. If someone dies unexpectedly and the Coroner is involved, a funeral cannot be held until any necessary tests have been carried out and permission is given for the body to be released. Broadly speaking, once the death has been registered, the funeral can take place after about a week. It is difficult to make arrangements on a shorter timescale although we will always try our best.

We will also have to take into account the availability of the crematorium, cemetery, and/or place of worship where the funeral is to take place. These are booked on a ‘first come, first served’ basis over which the funeral director has no control. If you have someone specific in mind to officiate at the service, we will need to discuss their existing commitments with them too. Some days of the week, and some times of day, are more popular than others and so tend to be booked further in advance. If you can be flexible about the day and time you would like the funeral, you may be able to have it sooner than if you have specific requirements. The funeral director tends to be most flexible, and can usually accommodate all requests, but there will be rare occasions when, due to commitments we have already made, we may be unable to provide our services exactly when you would like them. It is therefore very important that, if you have thoughts on the day and time of the service, you advise us as soon as possible.

In our experience, clients sometimes prefer to wait a while to hold the funeral, giving their family time to make arrangements to attend and ensuring the service itself is planned fully, especially if a printed order of service or special music is required. In such cases, we would agree that the extra time may be useful, but may also increase the average waiting time as more popular slots are often booked in advance. Presently, we estimate that most funerals take place approximately three weeks after a death.

When meeting with a funeral director, it may be helpful to ask about:
- What are the available funeral options (burial, cremation, green funerals)?
- Can I personalise the service with specific readings, music, or rituals?
- What are the costs involved?
- How do we handle paperwork?
- Can you help us coordinate with other services, such as florists or charities?

Don’t worry. There is no necessity or legal obligation to have the funeral within a certain time frame: we can look after the person who has died in our Chapel of Rest until the funeral can be arranged. The funeral can either be arranged immediately, for a time you know will be convenient, or the arrangements can wait, although please do bear in mind that this may impact the anticipated timescale as it is determined by when the booking is made; not the length of time that has elapsed since the death.

Of course. Our staff will treat the person who has died with all respect and care, and ensure the burial or cremation goes smoothly, but no-one needs to attend.

You should remember that this might impact people who knew the Deceased and consider having a get-together (or more formal memorial service) so that people can come together, share memories and have an opportunity to say ‘goodbye’.

Freeman Brothers has a bespoke package for direct cremations.

If you haven’t talked about it, this can be a difficult decision to make. The person who has died may have written a will, which specifies their wishes, or they may have discussed them with others. An older person, or someone who has previously arranged a funeral for someone else, may have made their wishes known to friends or family. There may be religious or cultural considerations but otherwise the choice is down to the Applicant of the funeral who formally instructs the funeral director. We will advise you of all the options available so you can make an informed choice.

The responsibility typically falls to a close relative of the person who has passed away. If no relatives are available, someone present at the time of death, the person responsible for arranging the funeral, or an official from the hospital or care home can register the death.

In the UK, registering a death is free of charge. However, if you need the Certified Copy of an Entry of Death (often required for legal and financial matters), there is usually a small fee for each copy. This fee is cheaper at the time of initial registration.

No, deaths cannot be registered online. You must register the death in person at the local Registrar’s Office where the person passed away. In some cases, the death may be registered by declaration if you cannot visit the district where the death occurred, but you will still need to attend an appointment.

If a death is sudden, unexplained, or occurs under certain circumstances, the coroner may investigate to determine the cause of death. This will delay the registration process. Once the coroner completes their investigation and issues the necessary paperwork, you will be able to register the death and proceed with funeral arrangements. On some occasions, an interim death certificate, also known as a Coroner's Certificate of the Fact of Death, will be issued. This is a document that allows you to deal with a relative's estate and funeral arrangements while an investigation or inquest is ongoing.

You will need the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCD), which the Medical Examiner will have forwarded to the registrar. If available, it’s also helpful to bring the deceased’s birth certificate, marriage or civil partnership certificate, and NHS medical card, though these are not always required. It is also useful to prepare details such as residential address and place of death, previous name(s), date and place of birth, occupation, and – if there is one - the date of birth of a surviving spouse or civil partner.

The Certified Copy of an Entry of Death, often referred to as a death certificate, is a legal document confirming the death, and it’s often required for settling financial and legal matters. The Green Form (also known as the Certificate for Burial or Cremation) is given to the funeral director and is necessary to proceed with the burial or cremation.

The police who attend the scene will arrange for the Coroner’s Office to be informed and for the person who has died to be taken to the appropriate place: this may be a public mortuary or a hospital.

The Coroner’s Office will first determine if the death truly is unexpected: it might be that the person who has died was being treated by a doctor who is able to provide their cause of death, in which case the Coroner’s Office declares that they have no further interest and there is a reversion to the procedures for expected deaths (see our section above).

If this is not the case, investigations will be carried out to determine the cause of death: this may well involve a post-mortem and might include reports on toxicology and other investigations. The Coroner’s Office will either determine the cause of death, and issue paperwork for the death to be registered, or they may decide an inquest is necessary. They will always keep the next-of-kin informed about what is happening.

A death is referred to a coroner if it was sudden, unexplained, or occurred under certain circumstances such as an accident, suicide, or a crime. The coroner's role is to investigate the cause of death when a doctor cannot issue a Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCD).

A coroner's investigation seeks to determine the cause of death when it is unclear or occurred in unusual circumstances. This may involve a post-mortem and additional tests. The investigation may conclude with the issuance of paperwork to allow the death to be registered, or it may proceed to an inquest if more detailed examination is needed.

In the UK, an unexpected death is defined as any death that occurs without a known medical reason, or under circumstances like an accident or crime. These deaths are reported to a coroner, who then investigates the cause.

Instead of taking the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death to the Registrar, the Coroner’s Office liaises with them directly and gives them the information they require.

If the funeral is to be a cremation, it will not be necessary for you to collect a green form from a registrar: instead, the Coroner’s Office will send paperwork directly to your nominated funeral director. This is why the Coroner’s Officer will need to know the name of your chosen funeral director.

An interim death certificate is issued by the coroner when the full registration of death is delayed due to an ongoing inquest or investigation. It allows families to manage certain legal and financial affairs until the final death certificate is available.

It is a legal necessity in the UK to know the cause of someone’s death. If the death is unexpected, a post-mortem may be the only way to determine the cause of death. If the person who has died was being treated for any illness, it is important to tell the Coroner’s Officer as soon as you are able as the doctor may be able to complete a Medical Certificate of Cause of Death, which means no post-mortem is necessary.

If you let us know about the death - and let the Coroner’s Officer know we are dealing with the funeral for you - we will liaise with the Coroner’s Office. As soon as the investigations are completed, the Coroner’s Office will let us know the paperwork has been sent to release the body of the person from where they are being held. We can then go and collect them. We are not able to collect the person who has died until the Coroner’s Office has told us the body is released.

The first step in arranging a funeral is to contact a Funeral Director, such as Freeman Brothers, who can provide support and guidance throughout the process. While the death must eventually be registered, you can begin planning the funeral before registration is completed.

Freeman Brothers will help you personalise the service to reflect your loved one’s wishes and assist with other arrangements to ease the process during this difficult time.

Funeral arrangements are often made by close family members, such as a spouse or civil partner, children, or siblings. If there is no immediate family, a close friend or legal executor may take on the responsibility. It’s important to communicate with those involved to ensure the wishes of the person who has passed away are honoured.

Yes. Planning your own funeral in advance can bring peace of mind to you and your family. Start by discussing your wishes with loved ones and a funeral director. You can choose the type of service, burial or cremation preferences, and any personal touches.

Yes, personalising the funeral is an important way to honour your loved one’s life. You can include meaningful elements like favourite music, personal readings, or rituals that reflect their values or beliefs. Your funeral director can help you explore various options to make the service unique and memorable.

Your funeral director will tell you what documentation is required based on the chosen funeral service and, in some cases, the circumstances of the death.

Your solicitor can advise you best, but some people use a prepaid funeral plan as a way to decrease the amount of funds they have. This is different to giving the money to a family member or friend (which can have tax implications) as you are buying something.

We calculate how much it would cost to meet your requirements today and charge you that amount. The funds are invested until we need them. After the funeral, we assess the current value of the money paid and that is what we claim as costs.

Absolutely. We send your funds to an independent company who keep the money in trust. The only way we can access that money is by sending the funeral account to that company. This means your money is totally safe and there will be no further costs incurred by your family or friends unless they choose to have additional services not included in the original package, for which they will be charged the prevailing rate.

For many reasons. A company that only sells funeral plans will be using your money for marketing, costs, staff wages, commission to funeral directors and so on. We put every penny you give us into trust and don’t use it to run our company. As a result, our extensive research shows we are very competitively priced against the larger companies. We are a local firm that you can contact at any time. We don’t use call centres miles away or salesmen paid on commission. And we’ve been around for over 165 years so you know you can trust us to still be here for years to come.

These products are not necessarily comparable to a prepaid funeral plan because, although they are often sold with a mention of funeral expenses, what they give you is a lump sum that can be used for any purpose. You may pay more than you get back and often can’t miss a payment or you lose everything. It’s also worth bearing in mind that there is no guarantee that the amount of the lump sum you receive will be enough to pay for your chosen funeral arrangements, unlike pre-paying for a funeral where the price at the outset is designed to be related to those costs.

A direct cremation is a simple, no-service cremation where the person who has passed away is cremated without a formal funeral service or attendees. It allows families to receive the ashes afterwards, giving them the freedom to hold a personal memorial if they choose to.

No, in the UK direct cremations do not include a service or the option for mourners to attend.

Direct cremation is typically more affordable than traditional funerals since it does not involve a service, hearse, or other formal arrangements. Our direct cremations start from £1,395.

After the cremation, the ashes are respectfully returned to the family in a simple container. From there, you can decide how and when you’d like to scatter, inter, or memorialise the ashes in a way that feels meaningful to you.

Yes, as with any cremation, paperwork such as the Green Form and cremation application will be required. Freeman Brothers will guide you through all necessary documentation and ensure the process is straightforward and stress-free.

Yes, families often choose to hold a memorial or celebration of life at a later time, in a location that feels special or significant. Direct cremation gives you the flexibility to organise a memorial that reflects your loved one’s life, without the time pressure of a traditional funeral service.

Direct cremation offers simplicity, affordability, and flexibility. It allows families to avoid the formality of a traditional funeral and make their own decisions about how to honour their loved one in a more personalised way.

There are lots of options, but the first decision is whether you would like them to remain at the Crematorium or to do something with them away from there. If the former, there will be a variety of options, depending on availability at that Crematorium. Usual options include the ability to have them scattered in a communal area (costs may apply) or to purchase a plot in which they may be interred.

If you have other plans, Freeman Brothers will collect the ashes for you, if you would like, and then let you know once they are back in our care; you can then collect them or we can assist you with your plans. This may involve them being buried elsewhere (see below). There are a variety of products available where the ashes can be turned into jewellery or other permanent pieces: please contact us to find out what is available as new products and suppliers are entering the market all the time.

If you wish to scatter the ashes yourselves, you can simply collect them from us or you might like to choose a scatter tube to make the task easier. You should ensure you have permission from the landowner to scatter the ashes on any land that isn’t your own. We also have suppliers who offer water-soluble and biodegradable containers if this is appropriate to your plans.

It’s worth remembering that none of these options are mutually exclusive: most jewellery and keepsake options use only a small portion of the ashes. Also, the ashes can be split by request if you have multiple plans, though we appreciate some clients will not want this.

We suggest that, if at all possible, you start to think about options for the ashes as soon as you can, if there are no set plans already in place. It is our experience that people can find deciding their final resting place quite difficult as it is one of the final decisions to be made. As time progresses after the funeral, this decision doesn’t become easier and it sometimes means no decision is made at all. That’s fine for people who are happy to hold onto them (see below) but, regrettably, we are not able to store them indefinitely for you as our storage space – although secure – is finite and not a suitable final resting place.

This depends on whether the cremation has taken place at the same crematorium as the desired scattering place. If so, when the instructions for the cremation are given to the crematorium concerned, there is a section on the statutory paperwork for such an instruction. All that will be required are some brief details of the previous funeral, which will enable them to find the previous scattering location in their records. You will need to decide whether or not you wish to be present when the ashes are scattered, and a fee may apply.

If the subsequent cremation is held elsewhere, the ashes will need to be removed from the crematorium where the more recent funeral took place and brought to the other. Freeman Brothers can do this for you, if both crematoria are local, or arrange a reliable courier if one of the venues is at a distance. The receiving crematorium will require an ‘ashes from away form’, which we can help you with, and will probably require you to pay a fee for this service. Again, you will have to give details of the previous funeral and decide if you want to be present or not.

It is worth bearing in mind that you do not have to have a service at a particular crematorium just because you have done so in the past. It is particularly useful for those to whom cost is a prime consideration to understand that it can be cheaper to have a service at one crematorium and then pay the ‘ashes from away fee’ to another.

Yes, quite often they can. If there is an existing plot with space, this is relatively easy to arrange.

Both cemeteries and churchyards often have areas specifically for the interment of ashes, which are sometimes called Gardens of Remembrance. They may have different rules about headstones to the areas where full burials take place. In cemeteries or burial grounds, you will still buy a plot (although it will often be cheaper than a plot for a full burial). In churchyards, there will be rules as to what qualifies you for burial there.

Fees will apply and there may be paperwork to complete. Freeman Brothers can assist you with all of this.

You don’t have to do anything with the ashes if you don’t want to. It is perfectly legal to keep them at home, although some people find this idea strange.

It is worth remembering that the standard containers in which ashes are returned from a crematorium are designed to be functional rather than aesthetically pleasing and so you may wish to choose something else to keep them in, especially if you are intending to have them displayed. The options, in terms of materials, shapes, sizes and finishes, are vast so, if this is of interest to you, please contact us; we will be able to discuss your requirements and help narrow down the options, or else direct you to a supplier we think can fulfil your needs.

You should also know that ashes can be decanted into any container (apart from in some circumstances such as when they are being flown or couriered). The only requirements are that it is (at least temporarily) sealable and of sufficient capacity. We will be very pleased to transfer the ashes into any container of your choice. In the past, containers we have been given have included a statue with a hollow base and a biscuit tin: the sky really is the limit.

We would issue one word of caution however. If you have responsibility for a set of ashes, and you don’t intend to do anything with them, it is only fair to discuss what might happen to them with the person who will have responsibility for your funeral, otherwise they may be left with a difficult decision. If you would like to be cremated, and they can choose what to do with both sets of ashes, tell them. They will no doubt be relieved one day to know they have a free choice and can’t ‘get it wrong’ or ‘should have known’.

Yes, and it’s very common. All you need to do is choose the charity or charities you would like to support and spread the word. Encourage friends and family to donate in memory of your loved one and ensure you mention the charity in any press notices or online announcements. We can also give the donation details to anyone who enquires with us about the funeral.

If you ask Freeman Brothers to collect donations for you, we will set up an online tribute page that allows people to share condolences and remember the person who has died together. This special memorial website acts as an ongoing tribute to your loved one where you can share memories, thoughts and stories with family and friends as well as lighting candles or adding music, photos and videos. The page also connects to our online donations function, where the charity or charities you have chosen are mentioned, and your friends and family can choose the amount they wish to donate and do so securely.

For those who do not wish to donate online, a cheque – made payable to the chosen charity – can be posted to any of our offices. The online donations are sent to the charity as received and any that we receive here will be posted when we close the collection several weeks after that funeral. At that time, we will send you information about the donations received both online and by ourselves.

You can also choose for donations to be sent directly to the charity or collect them yourselves. If you let us know your wishes, we will ensure we communicate them when people enquire.

Not at all. Most funerals now feature some element of charitable collection. We have provided an online donation facility because of feedback that many people expect to be able to donate in memory via our website.

We have a number of ways to ensure this does not take place. We have published price lists that detail the charges for each service we provide. Alternatively, you can enter your requirements for an estimate based on your answers to a few simple questions.

We are open about the total costs; we are always happy to provide a no-obligation quote based on your needs.

We encourage customers to obtain quotes from other companies for comparison: we believe we are competitive whilst maintaining the highest standards of service. All funeral directors are legally obliged to publish a standardised price list to facilitate comparison between them.

All our customers receive a written, fully-itemised estimate that gives our best indication of the overall charges. When we send our account, it is itemised identically; you can see where any discrepancies lie and query them if you wish. As members of the National Association of Funeral Directors (NAFD) and Society of Allied Independent Funeral Directors (SAIF), we are required to be open about our pricing. You may be interested to know that we have displayed our prices online since the inception of our first website, which was a considerable length of time before we were obliged to do so.

When we collect the person who has died, they are identified to us and we ensure they have a wristband with their details: either a hospital one or one provided by ourselves. Once at our premises, we have a system of checking and double-checking to ensure the person who has died remains identifiable. No coffin ever leaves our premises without us knowing that the name on it matches the name of the deceased person. Crematoria and cemeteries also have their own procedures in place for identification purposes.

It is a common myth that, once at the crematorium, the person who has died is removed from their coffin before being cremated. Firstly, this is not possible as it would require the collusion of crematorium staff, which would be judged as gross misconduct by their own employers: the funeral director cannot interfere with the mechanics of the actual cremation process. Secondly, the coffin is an important part of the cremation process and to cremate a person without their coffin would be ineffective and make the process more difficult, so it would be counter-intuitive for crematorium staff to facilitate this.

Crematoria are used to people witnessing the cremation process, sometimes for religious reasons, and will be only too happy to accommodate you if you feel this is important. Additionally, crematoria sometimes have open days where you are able to see their ‘backstage’ areas: these are usually well-publicised in local press so you may wish to look out for such events being advertised.

Through our identification process, we note what jewellery someone is wearing and what items they have with them. This is double- and treble-checked; lastly when the coffin is sealed. After that point, no-one is able to access the person who has died without some visible damage being done to the coffin. Obviously, if someone is buried, you will see the coffin being lowered into the grave and can, if you wish, then see the plot filled. You can also, as mentioned above, watch the cremation process if it is important to you for religious or other reasons.