Funeral costs worry many people, however there are various ways you can keep costs down and sources of funding you can explore to get the help you need.
Ways to pay for a funeral:
from a financial scheme the person had, for example a pre-paid funeral plan or insurance policy
by you, or other family members or friends
with money from the person’s estate (savings, for example) – getting access to this is called applying for a ‘grant of representation’ (sometimes called ‘applying for probate’)
Help with funeral costs
There is support available if you need help with the cost of a funeral or need to access bereavement benefits.
If you are struggling to pay for a funeral and your only source of funding is the Funeral Expenses Payment, you are advised to tell the funeral director before committing to any arrangements.
You may be eligible for a government funeral expenses payment (if you receive certain benefits or tax credits) that can provide financial assistance to support family or friends with some of the costs:
burial fees for a particular plot
cremation fees, including the cost of the doctor’s certificate
travel to arrange or go to the funeral
the cost of moving the body within the UK, if it’s being moved more than 50 miles
death certificates or other documents
You can also get up to £1,000 for any other funeral expenses, such as funeral director’s fees, flowers or the coffin
The payment will not usually cover all of the costs of the funeral.
Child funeral charity assists families financially in England and Wales who have to arrange a funeral for a baby or child aged 16 or under.
Turn2Us
Turn2Us provides a range of financial support, including that related to bereavement.
Public health or public dignity funerals
The Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984 (‘the Act’) places a legal duty on local authorities to arrange for a burial or cremation where no suitable alternative arrangements are being made.
This is called a public health funeral and is designed to protect public health and ensure that all individuals are treated with dignity and respect. In Hackney, we also call these public dignity funerals.
Circumstances in which a public health funeral will be offered
We provide public health funerals, or public dignity funerals, for people who have passed away and either:
their next of kin, relatives or friends can’t pay for a funeral
they haven’t got any next of kin, relatives or friends
Where there is no next of kin, we’ll work with the executor of the estate to recoup the funeral costs from the estate of the person who has passed away.
If the person died outside of the council boundary, the funeral arrangements will be the responsibility of the local authority where they died.
If the person died in hospital, speak to the bereavement officer there first.
Locating next of kin
The council will do everything in its power to try and locate living relatives or friends of the deceased and pass the responsibility for the funeral on to them.
If next of kin is known but cannot be located the deceased person (their name, date of birth, previous address) will be referred to a probate genealogist.
In rare circumstances, when no information about the deceased is available, the local authority may need to enter the deceased’s property or residence to carry out a property search and will liaise with the property owner/landlord.
Executors of a will
Where the deceased left a will and the executor is traced then the executor would be expected to take on arrangements for the funeral.
Important points about public health or public dignity funerals
By opting for a public health funeral, the next of kin relinquishes any responsibility for, and therefore control of, the funeral to the local authority.
The local authority has alegal right to recover, from the estate of the deceased person, the expenses incurred (or however much is available toward them) in the provision of a public health funeral.
Standard practice for public health or public dignity funerals
Referrals
Cases are referred from the coroner’s office, hospices, social services, housing offices, care homes, private landlords and other people.
The steps taken will then vary depending on the referral route and specifics of the case.
Arrangements
Once the council has accepted a case, we will deal with all aspects of the organisation of a funeral, including registering the death, dealing with the funeral directors to make the arrangements, and paying for the funeral.
The council’s contracted funeral directors will provide everything necessary for a simple but dignified service, including a coffin, transport of the deceased to the crematorium or cemetery in a hearse, and sufficient bearers to transfer the coffin to the chapel.
The funeral director may also arrange for a minister of religion or a representative of the faith of the deceased to lead the service.
If a non-religious service is appropriate, a civil funeral celebrant will be used. Family and friends may attend the funeral service, but will have no choice as to where and when it is held.
Cremation and burial
A cremation service will normally be held, unless it is established that the deceased would have chosen burial for religious, cultural or personal reasons, or if a check of the council’s burial records reveals that the deceased owned a grave and there is room for them to be buried in it.
If a burial is required and the deceased did not own a grave, burial will take place in an unmarked shared public grave.
Shared graves have three interments, a headstone with the names of the deceased is put in place once the grave is full.
Cremated remains can be collected from the crematorium by a family member or friend. There is no charge for this.
Local authorities have a legal duty not to cremate a body where they have reason to believe that cremation would be contrary to the wishes of the deceased.
Death in a hospital
Homerton University Hospital Trust has its own policy for deaths occurring within the hospital.
The trust takes financial responsibility for any deaths of patients admitted to the hospital where no next of kin can be located.
Where a death occurs in A&E and no next of kin can be found, the Trust will make a referral to Hackney bereavement services to initiate a public health funeral process.