Farra is a death administration assistant for UK families. Get step-by-step guidance for registering a death, applying for probate, notifying banks, and managing bereavement admin. From essential documents to practical checklists, Farra simplifies estate paperwork and funeral-related tasks so you can focus on what matters.
Care home staff verify the death and notify the family. The attending practitioner completes the MCCD where they can; a medical examiner must scrutinise every non-coronial death in England and Wales before it can be registered. Where the Notification of Deaths Regulations 2019 apply, the death is notified to the coroner instead. The family chooses the funeral director, collects belongings, and registers the death once the registrar has the cause of death.
Scope of this guide:
This guide describes the process in England and Wales. The statutory medical examiner system introduced on 9 September 2024 applies in England and Wales only. Scotland has its own Death Certification Review Service and deaths are reported to the procurator fiscal rather than a coroner; Northern Ireland has a separate coroners service and no medical examiner system.
Important: Most care home deaths are from natural causes and proceed smoothly through registration to funeral. However, care homes are required to follow strict procedures to ensure proper oversight.
What the care home should do immediately after a death:
A registered nurse (in nursing homes) or doctor must verify that death has occurred. They check for signs of life and record the time of death. In residential homes without nurses, a doctor is called.
The care home should contact the next of kin immediately, usually by phone. They should inform you sensitively and offer the opportunity to come to the care home if you wish.
The resident's GP is contacted to attend and certify the death by issuing a Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCD), if appropriate.
The care home secures the deceased's personal belongings and valuables, creating an inventory for the family.
Staff prepare the body with dignity and respect, usually moving it to a designated quiet room. Religious or cultural practices should be respected.
How the death is certified depends on the circumstances:
If the resident was terminally ill or had known life-limiting conditions:
If death was unexpected or cause is unclear:
Regulation 3 of the Notification of Deaths Regulations 2019 sets out when a doctor must notify the senior coroner. There is no separate list for care homes, and no rule about deaths within 24 hours of admission or falls within a set number of days — those are hospital and care-provider conventions, not law.
What good care homes should do:
What you can expect and request as family:
There is no statutory right to view the body, but in practice care homes accommodate families who wish to spend private time with the person who has died, and CQC expects providers to treat people with dignity and respect. Ask the home what it can offer.
You're entitled to:
You choose the funeral director. Under the CMA's Funerals Market Investigation Order 2021, a funeral director must not make a payment or gift to a care home that could reasonably be understood to incentivise or require it to refer customers to them, and must not promote their services when collecting the body. The same Order requires funeral directors to display a Standardised Price List at their premises and on their website, so you can compare prices.
If you have concerns about the care provided or circumstances of death:
How death registration works after a care home death:
Since the 2024 reforms the MCCD is not handed to the family. It goes from the attending practitioner to the medical examiner, and the medical examiner (or the coroner, where one is involved) notifies the registrar of the cause of death directly. The care home or the medical examiner's office will tell you when the register office is ready for you.
Before registration:
Qualified informants for care home deaths:
Care homes may offer to register on your behalf, but most families prefer to register themselves.
The order of events is fixed, but the elapsed time is not, and no official statistic is published for it:
Certain care home deaths must be reported to the coroner:
Under regulation 3 of the Notification of Deaths Regulations 2019, a registered medical practitioner must notify the senior coroner where they suspect the death was due to:
The duty also arises where:
Anyone can report a death to the coroner, and a coroner has a duty to investigate where they have reason to suspect a violent or unnatural death, a death of unknown cause, or a death in custody or state detention. In practice a family who is concerned about unexplained injuries, restraint, or the quality of care can raise that with the medical examiner, who is required to give bereaved people an opportunity to ask questions and raise concerns, or contact the coroner's office directly.
Understanding your financial obligations:
What is owed after a death depends on the contract, and there is no single national rule or standard notice period. The Competition and Markets Authority has published consumer law advice for care home providers which covers charging after a resident dies; a term that is unfair may not be enforceable. Read the contract, and ask the home to point to the clause it is relying on.
Many homes manage residents' personal spending money. The home should provide a final account and return any balance to the estate. There is no statutory deadline for this — the contract will say what the home has agreed to.
Notify relevant parties about the death:
You will need to remove personal belongings by the date specified in the contract. There is no statutory period, so check what the contract says and whether storage charges apply.
If you're worried about the care your relative received:
If concerns aren't resolved:
For serious cases:
This guide gives information, not advice. If you are considering legal action, take advice from a solicitor about your own circumstances.
Good care homes recognise that death affects other residents:
Notification: Other residents should be told sensitively about the death, especially if the deceased was well-known in the home.
Memorial activities: Many homes hold small memorial events or moments of remembrance.
Bereavement support: Staff should monitor and support residents who may be grieving.
Deaths must be registered within 8 days of the death where possible, and deaths are reported to the procurator fiscal rather than a coroner. There is no medical examiner system: instead, some medical certificates are randomly selected for review by the Death Certification Review Service, which mygov.scot says can delay registration by up to 1 to 3 working days. Care homes are regulated by the Care Inspectorate.
Care Inspectorate Wales regulates care homes. The statutory medical examiner system and the Notification of Deaths Regulations 2019 apply in Wales as in England.
Care homes are regulated by the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA), and deaths are dealt with by the Coroners Service for Northern Ireland. The medical examiner system does not apply. A death should be registered within five days, and Tell Us Once is not available if the person was living in Northern Ireland when they died.
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