Although death is part of life, many people avoid planning ahead.
These questions help families prepare and reduce stress later.
Where the death occurred affects what happens next. If the death occurred at a hospital, staff manage preservation and initial procedures, although rules vary by institution. It is important to ask the hospital about their specific process. If the death occurred at home, the death must first be reported to the police before contacting the funeral home, as the funeral home can proceed only after police clearance. At the mortuary, care must be taken to ensure the body is properly identified and tagged, since errors can occur. In medico-legal cases, identification involves both relatives and the police.
Death at the Hospital
“Once the death occurs in hospital ward or casualty, the doctor (registered medical practitioner) who has attended the deceased in his last illness should issue the death certificate in a prescribed format issued by the government.
Ideally there should be 4 to 5 copies of death certificate for non-medicolegal case and medicolegal case respectively.
(a) for relative
(b) for medical record
(c) for municipal board for issue of formal death certificate
(d) for autopsy request if required
(e) for police, if M.L.C.
In AIIMS the death certificates are made in two copies for non-M.L.C. and in three copies for M.L.C.
One copy is given to the relatives.
One is retained by the hospital and forwarded to the municipal body.
The third copy for M.L.C. is given to police.
The doctor is legally bound to report all the medicolegal deaths to the nearest magistrate or police officer in the jurisdiction (S 29 Cr.P.C).
All bodies (M.L.C. and non-M.L.C.) are kept in the mortuary cold storage until handed over to the relatives or the police.
The doctor on duty or nurse on behalf of the doctor should inform the mortuary technician and send the body to the mortuary along with a copy of the death certificate.
The body should be transported by stretcher.
It should be covered by a shroud and then wrapped in a sheet.
A standard label must be fixed to the winding cloth over the upper part of the body so that head-first identification is easy when removed from cold storage.”
Tip the diener, the porters, and morgue technicians.
Millo, T., Agnihotri, A., Gupta, S., & Dogra, T. D.
Procedure for preservation and disposal of dead bodies in hospital.
Journal of the Academy of Hospital Administration, Vol. 13, No. 2 (2001-07 to 2001-12).
Retrieved from http://www.indmedica.com/journals.php?journalid=6&issueid=20&articleid=175&action=article
Feb 15, 2014.
If a person dies at home or at work as the result of a sudden illness or accident:
If there is a health care directive, call the person named as agent since that person has the legal right and responsibility to arrange for the disposition of the remains.
If there is no health care directive, call the emergency phone number in your area.
First responders will come to the scene to verify the death and inform the coroner.
If there is an existing DNR (“Do Not Resuscitate”) order, show it to the emergency medical personnel.
After the coroner’s examination, the body will either be transported to the morgue for autopsy if necessary, or to the funeral home of your choice, depending on the circumstances of death.
If the individual has died naturally after a period of declining health and no trauma or unusual circumstance was involved, there is no need for a caregiver to call 911 or the coroner’s office.
Instead, a mortuary can be contacted directly and they will send staff to pick up the body.
If the person was under the care of a hospice program, call the hospice organization as well.
If organ donations were desired, inform the mortuary.
Contact the deceased’s physician to pronounce death and sign the death certificate form.
If the death occurs after business hours for the doctor, leave a message with the doctor’s answering service and request a response.
Your loved one has died.
If this has not been decided beforehand, you must now decide.
Who is calling next of kin, close relatives, and friends.
What will you say.
Write out a script.
This avoids long conversations when many calls are required.
What medium will you use.
In person visits.
Telephone.
Email.
What will you say.
As calls are made, observe how people respond.
If a relative is not coping well, ask another relative to check on them.
Ask relatives not to post the news on social media until everyone on the list has been informed.
Otherwise, close relatives may learn of the death through social media.
The funeral home will transport the body.
The funeral home will help you select a casket, urn, and or grave marker.
The funeral home will help you arrange the funeral, memorial, and or burial service.
The funeral home will guide you in the preparation of the obituary, if one is desired.
The funeral home will advise you on preparation and embalming.
The funeral home will direct you to resources for grief counseling.
Be sure to ask about cost (don’t let the funeral home manipulate you into thinking that cost is not an issue).
Check the Last Will and Testament for funeral preferences.
Choose the location for burial or cremation.
Choose the coffin.
Choose the headstone or marker.
This can be done at a later stage, for example on a birthday or Mother’s Day.
What you will need to do in preparation for visitation/burial/cremation
Apply for death certificate.
Get several originals and keep them safe.
Certified death certificates are issued by the county where the death took place.
In some places, it usually takes five to ten days to get a death certificate when the deceased was attended by a physician.
It may take much longer if not, or if the cause of death appears questionable and there are medico-legal issues.
The funeral home will require the medical death certificate before the body can be released and services finalized.
Depending on what assets the deceased owned, you may need:
One original death certificate for each separate real property asset.
For example, a personal residence, rental house, apartment building, commercial property, and undeveloped lot require five originals.
One original certified death certificate for each life insurance policy or annuity.
Possibly one for each pension or retirement account.
Banks, brokerage firms, credit card companies, and other financial institutions may accept photocopies.
Some will require an original so get several originals.
Call the funeral home you have selected.
You may ask a friend, family member, or clergy for a local reference.
Set a time and date for the thanksgiving service.
Compose and submit the obituary to newspapers and or television.
Decide if you will have a wake or an after-funeral repast.
Select a photograph to be displayed on the casket during the Thanksgiving Service.
Choose floral arrangements from the family.
Select a memorial register which is placed at the entrance of the venue of the funeral so that sympatizers can sign.
Select pallbearers.
Select a family member or a friend to deliver the eulogy. Put a time cap to keep the proceedings on schedule. (Usually 15 minutes)
If Catholic, confirm with the priest.
Select a family member or friend to read scripture or literature or tributes. Put a time cap to keep the proceedings on schedule. (Usually 5 minutes per tribute)
Prepare a list of programme participants.
Include telephone, email, and mailing address.
Provide it to the person overseeing the service.
Select someone to remove tags from floral arrangements after the funeral.
Write a programme with details of the service.
Decide the programme format.
Fold.
Bi fold.
Trifold.
Gatefold.
Four page graduated fold.
Decide colour.
Full colour print.
Two colour print.
Black and white.
Decide paper stock.
Heavy stock.
Twenty pound paper.
Textured.
Plain.
Decide lamination.
Laminate a few copies.
These can be used as fans and keepsakes.
Select scriptures or literature to be read.
Decide who will read each item.
Print a draft programme.
Show the draft to the priest.
Decide how many copies are needed.
Take the final version to the printer.
Funeral hearse.
Tell the funeral home how long you will need the hearse.
Funeral Home to Church to Final Resting Place?
Choose method of transportation on the day of the funeral.
Will anyone travel in the hearse.
Special taxis as follows.
Determine who is paying.
You will get discounts by using one taxi service.
Choose the method of disposition.
If burial or entombment is chosen.
If cremation is chosen.
Prepare an obituary and decide newspapers or TV stations in which you want it to appear.
Here is a guide regarding what to include for you or the person writing the obituary.
Check with the newspaper you are going to publish in to see if they have any length restrictions and what the cost of insertion will be.
Make sure you place the obituary a few days before the funeral.
Write the full name of the deceased person.
Write the date and place, if desired, of death.
Write down when and where the funeral will take place.
Remember not to name the funeral home if you plan to have a private viewing.
Detail the main life events beginning with the date and place of birth.
Include pertinent information relating to education, universities attended, and notable employment.
Write down any hobbies and involvement with community, charities, or other organizations.
Include any major achievements.
Write down the names of those surviving, including partners, parents, and children.
You can also mention siblings, grandparents, and those who have died before the deceased.
Mention where flowers and contributions should be sent.
Give the funeral director’s name if relevant.
Catholics do not eulogize so check with your Priest.
As family member you may be asked to give a tribute or eulogy at the funeral.
This is your opportunity to say a very personal goodbye and reflect what you and others thought of them.
It can be quite difficult to write something that is so emotional, here are some guidelines.
As a starting point think about what you loved about that person, how you met them, how your relationship developed and what you will miss about them.
Remember this is your personal goodbye and should come from the heart.
Not everyone may agree with every sentiment, but they will appreciate that you have taken the time to write and deliver something at a very hard time.
You don’t have to deliver the most amazing piece of perfect prose.
It is a tribute to someone you love, and you can expect to cry when you speak the words.
No one will think badly of you for this.
Use the people around you to collect information, anecdotes and stories to include.
Be honest.
It may be a tribute but make sure you speak of someone you all knew, not an idealized version.
However, remember this isn’t the time to voice disagreements or vent anger.
Make sure you write down the eulogy or tribute.
You won’t remember it on the day.
Writing an obituary or eulogy for someone can be your final gift to them.
A way to remember them through your eyes and a gift for everyone else who has suffered the same loss.
Have a private viewing at the funeral home.
Do not put the name of the funeral home in the death announcement to avoid people turning up at the funeral home.
If you don’t do this, you will not have any private time with your loved one.
Your personal and private viewing should take place away from public eyes.
This means only family and close friends whom you tell orally should be at the funeral home with you.
Identify someone to oversee routine chores for the elderly and children among you.
Death certificate.
You will be called upon to present it at the crematorium.
Identify someone to take the memorial register and pick it up after the funeral.
Identify someone to collect the cards from the wreaths and funeral arrangements.
Will you have a repast.
Decide who will deal with sympathy calls and messages.
Decide who will speak to family and friends.
If your loved one was receiving National Insurance benefits, notify your local NIS office of the death, since these benefits will stop.
Overpayments will result in a difficult process of repayment.
Also, check on benefits that minor children may be entitled to receive.
Contact the health insurance company or employer regarding terminating coverage for the deceased while continuing coverage for others covered through the policy.
Contact the insurance company for all life insurance policies.
You will need to provide the policy number and a certified copy of the death certificate and fill out a claim form.
If the deceased is listed as the beneficiary on any other policy, arrange to have the name removed.
If the deceased was working, contact the employer for information on pension plans, credit unions and union death benefits.
You will need a certified copy of the death certificate for each claim.
Return credit cards of the deceased with a certified copy of the death certificate, or notify the credit card company if you, as the survivor, want to retain use of the card.
Seek the advice of an accountant or tax advisor about filing the deceased’s tax return for the year of the death.
Keep monthly bank statements on all individual and joint accounts that show the account balance on the day of death, since you will need this information for the estate tax return.
Arrange to change any joint bank accounts into your name.
If the deceased’s estate is in trust, check with the Trust Department or Customer Service at the bank.
Make sure that important bills, such as mortgage payments, continue to be paid.
Documents you may need to complete the tasks
