Dealing with a sudden death
If your loved one dies at home
If your loved one dies in hospital
You must register your loved one’s passing with the Registrar of Births, Marriages and Deaths in the district where the death occurred, and you will need to make an appointment within five days of death, unless it has been referred to the coroner. The registrar will then issue you with a death certificate and we recommend that you consider purchasing several copies of the death certificate, as many organisations will only accept original documents.
Along with the death certificate, you will be given a green form and it is important that you bring this to us as soon as possible, as we will be unable to complete funeral arrangements without it. This is important for example, if we are taking your loved one into our care from a hospital as we will need this document as our means of identification.
What the Registrar will ask you:
Cardiff Registrar Office – 029 20 871 680
You can start to make funeral arrangements before you register your loved one’s death or you can wait until after, if you prefer. However, to do this you will need to appoint a person who will act as the main point of contact for us as our client.
Please be aware that the client is contractually responsible for all arrangements and financial settlements and that all relevant documentation must be in place at least three working days before the funeral date.
We will guide you through the process of arranging the perfect funeral for your loved one – but if you would like to start thinking about the arrangements, we have a dedicated section on our website which you may find helpful…
Finding the money to pay for a funeral if you are on a low income or have high financial commitments can be extremely stressful. Particularly if your loved one’s death was unexpected or they didn’t make any provision for their funeral costs.
If you can’t cover the full cost of the funeral on your own you could be eligible for financial support from the UK government. However, if you are not eligible for this Funeral Expenses Payment, then all is not lost.
Here at Coles Funeral Directors we are dedicated to offering you as much support as possible at this difficult time, so we have partnered with a number of trusted and reputable companies that can help finance the funeral arrangements you would like to make for your loved one.
Depending on your individual circumstances, the following options could be helpful to you…
Funeral Safe
If there’s no estate and no provision made – paying for the funeral falls to the deceased family. However, to ease this financial burden, Funeral Safe is a specialist funeral loan provider, offering highstreet bank interest rates, no repayment penalties – and giving you complete control of the amount you borrow. Find out more >
Curtis Legal
If your loved one has left an estate and you contract Curtis Legal to manage the probate process for you – Curtis Legal will pay all funeral costs in full, pending probate. Their fixed professional fee, along with the funeral costs will then be deducted from the balance of the estate when it has been settled. Find out more >
Cardiff Coroner’s Office – 01443 281 101
Newport Coroner’s Office – 01633 235 510
St David’s Hospital Bereavement Office – 029 20 536 602
Marie Curie Hospice (Holme Tower) – 029 20 426 000
Royal Gwent Hospital – 01633 234 080
The Barry Hospital – 01446 704 000
The University Hospital of Wales Bereavement Office – 029 20 742 789
University Hospital Llandough Bereavement Office – 029 20 715 225
Velindre Cancer Centre Bereavement Office – 029 20 615 888