You may be present when death occurs, or you may be called in after death occurs. In either case the deceased will later be removed to the hospital mortuary. You may be asked by staff if you have made a decision as to whether the funeral is to be a burial or a cremation. This is to allow staff to have the appropriate paperwork drawn up. A death certificate must be issued in every case, however, in the case of a cremation, two further doctors must agree on the cause of death and fill in and sign separate paperwork. We will liaise with the hospital on all of these aspects.

In either a nursing home or hospice, when death occurs, usually the attendant staff will contact the undertaker once the doctor has left. In many cases you may well have known in advance that the death was imminent and as such may have given some thought as to what should happen next. Most care facilities do not have a mortuary on site and will call us on your behalf. You may of course stay with your loved one until we arrive, or make your way to the facility to see them before we arrive, at which point we will liase with the care staff and exchange paperwork, before making the journey to our funeral home.