The average cost of a funeral according to the SunLife 2022 report is £4056.00

But we believe a funeral can be as simple or as extravagant as you wish it to be for your loved one, and our prices will reflect this. Many people are unaware that independent funeral directors also offer the low-cost direct cremations, where prices start from only £995.00

The following people can register a death:

• Any relative of the person who has died
• Any person present at the death
• A person who lives in the house where the person died
• The person arranging the funeral (This cannot be a funeral director)

Probate is the legal right to deal with a person’s property, money and possessions (their estate), when they pass away. You must apply for probate and, before you apply, you must check that it is necessary and that you are eligible to apply.

Please see the link to the .Gov website to help you with this.

There are usually lots of people that need to be notified about a person passing away, which we know can give you an overwhelming feeling of worry and stress at an already upsetting time. We would firstly advise you tell all family and friends, and if you can make them aware of the funeral arrangements.

We would then suggest using the Tell Us Once service, which will let you report a death to most government organisations in one go. The registrar will help you do this, or they will provide you with a reference number so that you can use the service yourself online or by phone.

In some cases, you will need to contact the company directly to inform them that the person has died. However, there are services that can help to prevent the amount of people you will need to contact directly.

The Tell Us Once service will contact:

• HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) – to deal with personal tax and to cancel benefits and credits, for example Child Benefit and tax credits (you need to contact HMRC separately for business taxes, like VAT)
• Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) – to cancel benefits and entitlements, for example Universal Credit or State Pension
• Passport Office – to cancel a British passport
• Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) – to cancel a licence, remove the person as the keeper of up to 5 vehicles and end the vehicle tax (you must contact DVLA separately if you either sell the vehicle or keep it and tax it in your own name)
• the local council – to cancel Housing Benefit, Council Tax Reduction (sometimes called Council Tax Support), a Blue Badge, inform council housing services and remove the person from the electoral register
• Veterans UK – to cancel or update Armed Forces Compensation Scheme payments
• Social Security Scotland – to cancel benefits and entitlements from the Scottish Government, for example Scottish Child Payment

Tell Us Once will also contact some public sector pension schemes so that they cancel future pension payments. They’ll notify:

• My Civil Service Pension
• NHS Pensions for NHS staff in England and Wales
• Armed Forces Pension Scheme
• Scottish Public Pension Agency schemes for NHS staff, teachers, police and firefighters in Scotland
• Local Government Pension Schemes (LGPS)

The Bereavement Advice Centre, also offer a free ‘junk mail suppression service’, to help reduce the amount of unwanted mail.

You can you use the Tell Us Once service to notify the HM Passport Office and the DVLA when someone passes away. The Tell Us Once service will notify these organisations, along with many others on your behalf.

If you decide not to you the Tell Us Once service:

Passport

You will need to complete a simple form for HM Passport Office, with the details of the person who has passed and your details as the person who is cancelling the passport. Its is important to cut the top right hand of the passport before sending it to the passport office for security.

Driving License

You will need to write to the DVLA to them that the person has passed away. In the letter you will need to include your relationship to the person that has passed away, the date that they passed away and their name, address, and date of birth. Please also send the driving licence with your letter if you have it. You do not need to send a copy of the death certificate.

Tell Us Once, is a government service that lets you report the passing of a loved one to multiple government organisation in one go. If you are to use this service, Tell Us Once will notify the following organisations on your behalf:

• HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC)
• Department for Work and
• Pensions (DWP)
• Passport Office
• DVLA
• The local council
• Veterans UK

Another free service that is available to you is the ‘Death Notification Service’. This organisation with let you notify a number of banks and building societies of the passing of your loved one at the same time. Here is a list of the financial institutes that use this service:

• Barclays PLC
• HSBC UK
• RBS Group: Natwest
• Santander UK
• Lloyds Banking Group: Bank of Scotland, Halifax, Lloyds Bank, Scottish Widows, Clerical Medical Nationwide
• Building Society: The Mortgage Works, UCB Home Loans Ltd and The Mutual

Here is a list of general organisations that will need notifying:

• Current and Savings Accounts
• Join Accounts
• Council Tax
• DWP
• Driving Licence
• Passport
• Post
• Utility Bills
• Social Media Accounts
• TV, Phone and Internet
• Subscriptions
• Insurance

Embalming is a common funeral practice used around the world to preserve the body of a loved one. Although embalming is not legally required in most cases, it is often a common choice for open casket funerals or if family wish to spend time with their loved one. We will always encourage embalming in these instances.

In most cases there isnt a legal requirement to embalm a loved one’s body. The main exception would be if you want your loved one taken abroad (repatriation), or if they passed away due to an infectious disease.