The immediate thing that one normally needs to do is to register the death, and this should be carried out within 5 days.

Once that has been done, you will then be given a Death Certificate. We would normally recommend that you obtain 7 or 8 copies of the Death Certificate as it will be necessary for a copy to be circulated with various institutions with whom the Deceased person had money, copies maybe required for other reasons.

The most straightforward procedure is to go to the Register office in the area where the person died but please ensure that you make an appointment, as many offices are unable to register deaths without an appointment, the procedure should take no more than 30 minutes.

It will be necessary for you to take to the Registry office a certificate giving the cause of death which is normally provided by a doctor. Although you can begin arrangements for a funeral immediately after the death, a date cannot be finalised for a funeral until the death has been registered. We normally suggest that you contact any solicitor with whom you knew the deceased had made a Will, immediately following the death as the Will may have included specific provisions, for example it may have expressed a wish for a cremation rather than a burial.

If no clear indication is given in the Will then it is usually upto the Executors of the Will, or if no Will has been made up to the nearest relatives to decide whether the body is to be cremated or buried. Immediately following a funeral we then suggest that the Executors of the Will, or if no Will has been made, the nearest relatives contact us to deal with the Estate of the deceased person.

If you have any particular queries immediately following a death, please feel free to telephone our offices, we will be pleased to offer any advice.