If the cause of death is not clear, the doctor or other people who helped to look after the person must report it to the coroner. The coroner looks into deaths that might be violent or unnatural, or that happened in custody, or where the cause of death is not known.
The coroner may decide that they need to investigate the death, which may include a post-mortem and an inquest.
If the coroner investigates the death
In these cases, the coroner may be the only person who can confirm the cause of death. The doctor will write on the formal notice that they have reported the death to the coroner.
If you want advice or information about a death that you have reported to the coroner, contact the coroner’s office. You can get the contact details online, from a police station, your local library or the hospital where the person died.
Post-mortems
A post-mortem examination is a medical examination of the body after a death meant to find out more about the cause of death. It should not normally delay the funeral.
The coroner may arrange for a post-mortem. If you’re a relative of the person who has died, they do not need your permission to do this. But you are entitled to have a doctor represent you at the post-mortem. If you ask for this, the coroner will tell you when and where the post-mortem will be.
If the person dies in hospital, you may ask the coroner to arrange for the post-mortem to be carried out by a pathologist not employed at or connected to that hospital.
The coroner will usually pay to have the person’s body taken from where they died to the mortuary for the post-mortem. They will choose a funeral director to do this. The coroner must tell you (if you are the person’s next of kin) if any organs or tissue need to be kept after the post-mortem has been done. The coroner will ask you what to do about the organs or tissue when the tests are finished.
When the coroner has finished the post-mortem you can choose a funeral director to carry out the funeral.
If the post-mortem shows that a person has died from natural causes, the coroner may issue a notice known as ‘pink form B’ (form 100B). This form shows the cause of death so that the death can be registered.
Burial or cremation may also be authorised at this stage (if a burial has not already been authorised). For cremations the coroner will give you the certificate for cremation which will allow you to arrange for the body to be cremated (see page 18).
If the investigation will take some time, you may ask the coroner to give you a ‘certificate of the fact of death’ or a letter confirming the person’s death. You can use this certificate or letter for benefits and National Insurance purposes. You can use the ‘certificate of the fact of death’ to use the Tell Us Once service. Banks and other financial organisations should usually accept this certificate as evidence of the death. When the body does not need to be examined any more the coroner may give you an ‘order for burial’ or a ‘certificate for cremation’. This means that you can arrange the funeral.
Investigations and inquests
The purpose of an investigation is to find out who the deceased person was and how, when and where they died.
An inquest is the formal part of the process carried out towards the end of an investigation. Here, evidence about the circumstances of a death are considered.
The inquest hearing is held in public, sometimes with a jury. It is up to the coroner to decide how to organise the inquest in a way which is best for everyone, including the relatives of the person who died.
The coroner will hold an investigation if they believe:
- the person died a violent or unnatural death
- the cause of death is unknown, or
- the person died in custody or in state detention.
Coroners hold investigations in these circumstances even if the person died outside England or Wales, if the body is brought back here.
If an inquest is held, the coroner must tell these people (if the coroner knows their name and address):
- the husband, wife, civil partner or partner of the person who died, or
- a near relative, and
- the person’s personal representative or executor, and
- other people who the coroner thinks are closely involved.
You can go to an inquest and ask the witnesses questions, but only about the medical cause and circumstances of the person’s death, if you are:
- a parent, child, husband, wife, partner, or personal representative of the person who died
- someone who will be paid under the insurance of the person who died the insurer who issued the policy
- a person whose act or failure to act may have caused or contributed to the death
- a person appointed by the trade union of the person who died, if they may have died from an industrial injury or disease
- a person appointed by an enforcing authority or government department, or
- the chief police officer.
The coroner may decide to allow other people not listed here to ask questions.
Normally you don’t need to be legally represented at an inquest. The inquest is not a trial so there is no prosecution or defence. Witnesses are not expected to present legal arguments and an inquest cannot blame anyone for the death. The coroner makes sure that the inquest is impartial and thorough. He or she is expected to help families and make sure that their questions are answered.
If there is an inquest, when it finishes the coroner will send a certificate to the Registrar of Births and Deaths, giving the cause of death. This means that the Registrar can register the death.
Go to www.gov.uk/government/publications/guide-to-coroner-services-and-coroner-investigations-a-short-guide to see the ‘Guide to coroner services’. This booklet has lots of information about a coroner’s investigation and inquest and the standards of service you can expect. You can get a copy from your local coroner’s office.