If someone dies within Bath and North East Somerset and no one is willing or able to make suitable funeral arrangements, we may arrange a public health funeral.
We will thoroughly investigate each case to find out the financial circumstances of the deceased and their next of kin before we decide if a public health funeral is necessary. We may instruct a research company to help find their next of kin.
We will decide whether to make funeral arrangements once a death is referred to us. We will conduct a search of the deceased person’s property to find a will or other documents that provide information about their financial situation, relatives and funeral preferences.
If we find family and friends, we will tell them about the death and ask if they wish to make the funeral arrangements. If we find a will, we will ask the executor to make funeral arrangements for the deceased.
If a person was living in one of our care homes immediately before their death and no one is able to make funeral arrangements for them, we are responsible for their burial or cremation.
Expenses
If we arrange a public health funeral, we have the right to claim expenses to cover the funeral arrangement costs.
These expenses will be claimed from the deceased’s estate, or from the person who was liable to maintain the deceased's estate before the person’s death. We will not administer the deceased's estate.
If there is a surplus of over £500 once all funeral arrangements costs have been reimbursed, we will refer the case to the Treasury Solicitor, except when there is a known family. In these circumstances, we will hold any personal items retrieved during a search of the deceased's property until a legally entitled person holds letters of administration.
We are unable to release next of kin details to any other professional body, including banks. Money that remains in a deceased person's bank account will be the responsibility of the person empowered to administer the estate, not the council.
Legal responsibilities for funeral arrangements
Select a topic below to find out more about legal responsibilities for funeral arrangements:
If a person dies in hospital, then funeral arrangements are the responsibility of the Clinical Commissioning Group.
You should contact The Hospital Patient Affairs Department or The Bereavement and Medical Examiners Office at the hospital in which the person died.
You should contact our Bereavement Services Team to make funeral arrangements if a person dies in:
- their own home
- the street
- a private residential home
- a nursing home
You can contact the Bereavement Services Team by phone on 01225 396 020.
If a person dies in another local authority area, you should contact that local authority, as they will be responsible for the deceased.
Public health funeral procedures
Select a topic below to find out more about public health funeral procedures:
Officers from our Bereavement Services Team will conduct a search of the deceased person’s property. The search will focus on finding a will or any other documents that provide information about the deceased’s financial situation, relatives, religious beliefs or funeral preferences.
If we find details about family and friends, they will be told about the death and asked if they wish to make the funeral arrangements. In some cases, a Funeral Expenses Payment from the government may be available to help pay for the funeral for those meeting the criteria or receiving certain benefits.
If a will is found, we will ask the executor to make the funeral arrangements in line with the wishes of the deceased. We will then take no further action.
If no will is found and there are no relatives or friends able or willing to undertake the funeral arrangements, our Bereavement Services Team will arrange a public health funeral.
Only the following people can register a death:
- A relative of the deceased who was present at the death.
- A relative of the deceased, in attendance during the last illness.
- A relative of the deceased, residing or being in the sub-district where the death occurred.
- A person present at the death.
- The occupier (such as a governor or chief resident officer of a care home) if they knew of the death.
- The person causing the disposal of the body.
All deaths must be registered within five calendar days of the date of death unless the Coroner is investigating the circumstances surrounding the death.
If the person died within Bath and North East Somerset, please call The Register Office on 01225 477 234 to arrange an appointment at one of our Register Offices. The Register Office will tell you what you need to do and what you will need to bring with you when you contact them.
Once the doctor has certified the death, you should contact us if there is no known next of kin or person willing to make funeral arrangements.
During office hours (Monday to Friday 9am until 4pm)
Contact the Council Bereavement Services Team on 01225 396 020.
They will ask appropriate questions about the person who has died and will advise the caller of the name of the funeral director who conducts public health funerals.
Outside of office hours
Call the on-call funeral director Clarkson’s Independent Funeral Directors on 01225 426 822. If they are not the on-call funeral director there will be a message advising the alternative on-call funeral director’s number to ring.
We will not reimburse the cost of collection of the deceased to any private company until it is confirmed that a public health funeral will be arranged. The care home, supported living environment or person making the funeral arrangements will be liable for the charge.
Funeral costs and recovery of expenses
When arranging a public health funeral, we will recover expenses from the estate of the deceased to limit the cost to the taxpayer.
If we arrange the funeral, we have first claim on any funds in the estate. During a search of the deceased’s property, officers from the Bereavement Services Team will remove personal goods, financial paperwork and money.
If there is a next of kin but they are not willing to arrange or pay for the funeral (for example, if there isn’t enough money in the deceased person’s estate to cover the costs), then we will undertake funeral arrangements once the next of kin has signed a declaration to confirm that they do not wish to do so.
We will seek to recover any costs incurred from making funeral arrangements. These costs will be obtained from the deceased’s estate.
The following charges will be included in our funeral invoice:
- Public Health funeral arrangements: £2,200 to include the cost of the funeral director services, officiant, and funeral administration
- Local authority cremation or burial fee
Type of burial or cremation
Unless we know that the deceased would have wanted a burial, cremation arrangements will be made with our chosen funeral director.
If the deceased has left paperwork or told family or friends that they wanted to be buried, suitable arrangements will be made. An appropriate religious or non-religious ceremony will be arranged depending on the deceased’s beliefs.
All public health funeral services are carried out at Haycombe Crematorium, Bath, with a chapel service. If possible, the minister or celebrant conducting the service will have an opportunity to speak to the family or friends before the funeral so that they can make the service a personal one. A wide selection of music, including hymns, is available from the Obitus music system at the crematorium.
If a deceased person was under our deputyship
If we were acting as the property and affairs deputy for the deceased person through a court order deputyship, our legal authority to act for that person ceases upon their death.
Select a topic below to find out more about funeral arrangements and the estate of the deceased in these circumstances:
Management of the deceased’s finances becomes the responsibility of the person dealing with the client’s estate or the executor of their will.
Money held by our Deputyship team at the time of death will be paid into the client's deputyship account.
Our Deputyship Officer will tell any known executor or next of kin how to close the deceased's deputyship account. The bank will speak with the executor or next of kin to obtain the necessary legal documentation to close the account and release any credit balance due to the estate.
Where there is no known next of kin and the death is referred to our Bereavement Services Team, any documents that provide information about the deceased’s financial situation will be used to enable recovery of any costs involved with making funeral arrangements.
The Deputyship Officer has no legal authority to collect or store personal items. These are part of the deceased's estate and are the responsibility of the executor or next of kin.
Funeral arrangements are the responsibility of the next of kin or executor. If no one can make the arrangements, you should contact the relevant team, as shown in the Legal responsibilities for funeral arrangements section above.
If there is a known funeral plan in place at the time of death, our Deputyship Officer will advise the informant of the funeral plan and will also inform the funeral director designated in the plan.
Our deputyship officer cannot sign the funeral plan documents or cremation paperwork.
The person who is disposing of the body is responsible for signing the cremation paperwork.
If there is no next of kin or executor willing to make funeral arrangements, anyone can assume responsibility as long as they state their reason for making funeral arrangements on the cremation paperwork.