When a death is reported to a coroner
A doctor may report the death to a coroner if the
- Cause of death is unknown
- Death was violent or unnatural
- Death was sudden and unexplained
- Person who died was not visited by a medical practitioner during their final illness
- Medical certificate isn’t available
- Person who died wasn’t seen by the doctor who signed the medical certificate within 14 days before death or after they died
- Death occurred during an operation or before the person came out of anesthetic
- Medical certificate suggests the death may have been caused by an industrial disease or industrial poisoning
The coroner may decide that the cause of death is clear. In this case:
- The doctor signs the medical certificate
- You take the medical certificate to the registrar
- The coroner issues a certificate to the registrar stating a post-mortem isn’t needed.
Post-Mortems
The coroner may decide a post-mortem is needed to find out how the person died. This can be done either in a hospital or a mortuary.
You can’t 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.
After the post-mortem
The coroner will release the body for a funeral once they have completed the post-mortem examinations and no further examinations are needed.
If the body is released with no inquest, the coroner will send a form (‘Pink Form 100B’) to the registrar stating the cause of death.
The coroner will also send a ‘Certificate of Coroner – form Cremation 6’ if the body is to be cremated.
If the coroner decides to hold an inquest
A coroner must hold an inquest if:
- the cause of death is still unknown
- the person might have died a violent or unnatural death
- the person might have died in prison or police custody
You will need to get an interim death certificate during the inquest, so you can notify the registrar of the death. Once the inquest is over, you can get the final death certificate from the registrar.
Get an interim death certificate during the inquest
If you need proof of the death while you wait for the inquest to finish, ask the coroner for an interim death certificate.
Use the interim death certificate to notify a registrar of the death while the inquest is still taking place.
You can use the interim death certificate to apply for probate.
To report a death to more than one government organisation at once:
- Ask the coroner for the interim death certificate.
- Find a registrar.
- The registrar will either help you report the death or give you a unique reference number. Use this number to report the death using the Tell Us Once service.
Get a death certificate
After the inquest, the corner will confirm the cause of death to the registrar.
The registrar will register the death.
You can ask the registrar for a death certificate.
This process can become stressful. Work with one of our operatives to get this done.
Or you can get free, independent support from The Coroners’ Courts Support Service.
