When someone dies in hospital or a care home

If someone dies in hospital or a care home, the staff who have been caring for the person will know what to do. They will provide you with emotional and practical support after the death.

After a death

The person who has died will need to be formally identified by the person named by them as the next of kin. The next of kin may also need to give permission for a hospital post-mortem examination if the cause of the death has to be confirmed. However, a coroner's post-mortem examination may be carried out without consent.

The body will then be laid out and kept in the hospital mortuary until you arrange for the funeral directors, family or whoever you chose to collect it. If you choose, funeral directors will take the body to their chapel of rest until the funeral takes place.

Staff in the hospital or care home will keep safe any  belongings that the person who has died had in hospital until the person administering the estate arranges for them to be collected. They'll issue a receipt when the belongings are collected.