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.
Under section 1(2) of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 a coroner must investigate where they have reason to suspect that the person died a violent or unnatural death, that the cause of death is unknown, or that they died in custody or otherwise in state detention. Separately, the Notification of Deaths Regulations 2019 require a doctor to report a death in a wider set of circumstances — including suspected poisoning, violence, trauma, self-harm, neglect, death following a medical treatment or procedure, an injury or disease attributable to the person's employment, or where the doctor cannot establish the cause. Most reported deaths do not end in an inquest: 24% did in 2025.
The coroner's officer will contact you to explain the process and gather information about the deceased's medical history and circumstances of death.
May be required to determine the cause of death. Regulation 11 of the Coroners (Investigations) Regulations 2013 requires the coroner to ask for it to be made "as soon as reasonably practicable"; no average turnaround is published. Post-mortems were ordered in 51% of deaths reported to coroners in 2025.
Regulation 20 requires the coroner to release the body for burial or cremation as soon as is reasonably practicable, and to tell the next of kin the reason for the delay if they cannot release it within 28 days. No average is published. The coroner issues the order for burial (Form 3) or, for cremation, a coroner's certificate (Cremation 6).
Opened in 24% of deaths reported to coroners in 2025. A public hearing to establish who died and how, when and where they came by their death. Section 10(2) of the 2009 Act forbids the coroner or jury from framing the outcome so as to appear to determine criminal liability on the part of a named person, or any civil liability.
No official figure is published for how long these take. The coroner's officer dealing with the death is the only source of a timescale.
The Ministry of Justice puts the 2025 average at 31.3 weeks from the report of the death to the conclusion of the inquest — 29% finished in under 3 months, 19% took over a year. An interim death certificate is available meanwhile.
What you cannot do is object to the post-mortem itself. GOV.UK is explicit: "You cannot object to a coroner's post-mortem — but if you've asked the coroner must tell you (and the person's GP) when and where the examination will take place."
Allows you to notify banks, employers, and deal with the estate while investigation continues.
Since 9 September 2024 a coroner's certificate is required to enable cremation only where a coroner has begun an investigation. The doctors' cremation certificates it used to sit alongside — forms Cremation 4 and Cremation 11 — were abolished on the same date, when the medical examiner's scrutiny replaced them.
If the coroner discontinues the investigation, they record the cause of death and send a certificate to the registrar, and the five days for registering run from the date of discontinuance. If there is an inquest, the coroner sends the registrar a certificate at the end of it and the registrar registers the death from that — you then buy the death certificate copies from the registrar in the usual way.
In 2025, 147,814 deaths were reported to coroners in England and Wales — 26% of all registered deaths, down from 31% in 2024 after the statutory medical examiner system began. Section 1(2) of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 requires an investigation where the coroner has reason to suspect a violent or unnatural death, an unknown cause of death, or a death in custody or otherwise in state detention. The Notification of Deaths Regulations 2019 set out separately when a doctor must report a death.
The only published figure covers inquests: the Ministry of Justice puts the average at 31.3 weeks in 2025, measured from the report of the death to the conclusion of the inquest, with 29% finishing in under 3 months and 19% taking over a year. No official figure is published for cases that end without an inquest, which is three quarters of them.
Yes. Regulation 20 of the Coroners (Investigations) Regulations 2013 requires the coroner to release the body as soon as is reasonably practicable, and to explain the reason for any delay beyond 28 days to the next of kin. No average release time is published. You do not have to wait for the investigation or inquest to finish.
No, coroner services are completely free. You never have to pay for the investigation, post-mortem examination, or inquest. The coroner's officer will guide you through the process and answer your questions at no cost.
A post-mortem is an examination to establish the medical cause of death. GOV.UK says you cannot object to a coroner's post-mortem, but that if you have asked, the coroner must tell you and the person's GP when and where it will take place — and regulation 13(4) entitles you to be represented there by a medical practitioner. If material is retained afterwards, regulation 14(5) requires the coroner to tell the next of kin what is being kept and for how long.
No. Inquests were opened in 24% of deaths reported to coroners in 2025 — 35,989 out of 147,814. GOV.UK says a coroner must hold an inquest if the cause of death is still unknown, the person might have died a violent or unnatural death, or they might have died in prison or police custody.