What should I do when a death occurs?

 

Contact your Funeral Directors and they will ask you some initial questions which they require to ascertain the next appropriate steps.

These Questions might include:

  • Has the death taken place at home or in the hospital or nursing home?

  • Has the doctor been in attendance and is he/she willing to sign the medical certificate?

  • Would the deceased be reposing in the hospital or at home.

  • Who is the next of kin?

  • Is / Was the family's / deceased's preference for burial or cremation?

Who is required to register a death?

 

By law, all deaths that take place in Ireland must be registered in the appropriate registrars office. The legislation places an onus on certain persons known as Qualified Informants to give the relevant district registrar the required information to the best of their knowledge and within three months of the death.

The persons qualified to give information depend on where the death occurred. In the case of a death occurring in a house, the following persons shall be qualified:

  • The nearest relatives of the deceased present at the death, or in attendance during the last illness, or in default of these;

  • Every other relative of the deceased living or being in the same district as the deceased, and in default of any relatives;

  • Each person present to the death, and the occupier of the house in which, to his knowledge, the death occurred, and in default of all the above mentioned;

  • Each inmate of the house in which the death occurred and the person causing the body to be buried.

 

The Qualified Informants are to be taken in the order in which they are placed in the above list.

What is required to register a death?

 

A qualified Informant must bring to the appropriate District Registrar's Office a copy of the Death Notification Form. In addition, the Informant must provide certain information required for registration.

The following are required to register a death:

  • Date and place of death;

  • Name and surname of deceased;

  • Gender of deceased;

  • Age of deceased at last birthday;

  • Rank, profession, or occupation of deceased;

  • Certified cause of death and duration of illness;

  • Signature, qualification, and residence of qualified Informant

What is a death notification form?

 

In the case of a death of any person who has been attended during his/her last illness by a registered Medical Practitioner, it is the duty of that Medical Practitioner to complete and sign a Death Notification Form which will state the cause of Death. The Medical Practitioner is obliged to give this Form to the person acting as the Informant of the death. In turn, the Informant uses the Death Notification Form when registering the death with the Registrar.

 

A Doctor (Medical Practitioner) will normally issue a Death Notification Form when:

  • He / she is a registered Medical Practitioner.

  • He / she has been in attendance during the last illness, the relevant timeframe being within the last 28 days before death.

  • He / she knows the cause of death.

  • He / she does not consider it a case which requires referral to the Coroner.

 

If the doctor has not been in attendance within the 28 days preceding death, the Coroner must be notified. However, if the Doctor in this situation was in attendance after death, is satisfied as to the cause of death and has satisfied the coroner as to the cause of death, he/she can issue, with the agreement of the Coroner, a Death Notification Form which will state the cause Death

What is the difference between a death notification form and a death Certificate?

 

Quite often, people confuse the Death Notification Form with the Death Certificate. The two certificates are different and serve different purposes.

 

The Death Notification Form is signed by an appropriately registered Medical Practitioner when that Doctor can testify that the cause of death was natural illness or disease for which the deceased had been seen and treated by him/herself in the 28 days preceding death. When the cause of death is something different from natural illness or disease that had been seen and was being treated, the case would be referred to the Coroner who would establish the cause of death.

 

A Death Certificate is evidence that the death has taken place and has been properly registered with the relevant authorities. A Death Certificate would be issued only subsequent to the cause of death having been established and recorded in either a Death Notification Form or a Coroner's Certificate.

When should a death be reported to a coroner?

 

Under the provisions of Section 18(40) of the Coroner's Act, 1962, certain persons may have a statutory duty under specific condition to notify the Coroner.

 

The following is the list of persons assuming this statutory duty:

  • Medical Practitioner (Doctor);

  • Registrar of Deaths;

  • Funeral Director;

  • Every occupier of a house or mobile dwelling; or

  • Every person in charge of any institution or premises in which a deceased person was residing at the time of death.

 

Anybody who has reason to believe that the deceased person died, either directly or indirectly, as a result of causes that are notifiable to the Coroner must immediately notify the Coroner of the facts and circumstances relating to the death. The relevant Coroner is that, within whose district the body of the deceased person is.


Causes of death that are notifiable to the Coroner are deaths as a result of any of the following

  • Violence or misadventure by unfair means.

  • Negligence or misconduct or malpractice on the part of others;

  • Any cause other than natural illness or disease for which the deceased had been seen and treated by a registered medical practitioner in the 28 days preceding death.

 

In addition, a hospital must notify the Coroner if a person dies some time after being hospitalised as a result of an accident or fall, even where the death is not directly as a result of the earlier accident.


Where a death is reported to the Coroner and is the subject of a post-mortem examination or inquest, the death will be registered when the Coroner issues his Coroner's Certificate directly to the relevant District Registrar's Office.

What is Embalming and why is it done?

 

Our embalming facility which is equipped to the highest possible standard. Our embalmer Ian, is registered with the Professional Embalmers Association of Ireland (PEAI). Dignity, care and respect is shown at all times to the deceased, from our staff who take such pride in their professional skills and the important work that they do.

As part of our commitment to the care of the deceased and striving to achieve the highest quality funeral for everyone, we recommend embalming and hygienic treatment. Modern embalming and Hygienic Treatment involves the injection of a treated arterial solution into the vascular system, which sanitises and partially preserves the body, enabling an optimal presentation of the deceased for their family, on being true to how the deceased person liked to appear.

 

 

 

 

 

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