What you need to do when someone dies

Let the authorities know

If the person:

• was in care when they died or the death was expected, call their doctor or nurse
• died unexpectedly or in an accident, call 111.

Depending on how the person died, a doctor, nurse or coroner will examine the body and decide what happened.

Time off work

If you’ve been at your job for at least 6 months, you can take 3 paid days off after the death of a close family member, or one day after the death of someone else close to you.

Bereavement leave

See if you can get financial help

You might be able to get help with the cost of the funeral, burial or cremation. In some circumstances, you might be entitled to help with living expenses or childcare.

Financial help if someone dies

Organise the funeral and burial or cremation

If you want to hold a funeral, you can use a funeral director or organise it yourself.

Before a body is buried or cremated, you need:

• a medical certificate signed by a doctor or nurse, or
• a coroner to authorise the release of the body.

There are rules about where and how you can bury or cremate someone, and where you can scatter ashes.

Before burial or cremation (PDF 298KB)

Register the death

If you’re using a funeral director, they’ll register the death for you.

Registering a death

Sort out their finances and execute the will

If you’re managing someone’s estate, you’ll need to do some things like:

• cancel any benefits or pensions
• let Inland Revenue know the person has died and do a final tax return
• cancel their passport and driver licence.

Probate and executing a will

Get a death certificate

You can let government agencies know someone has died and cancel their passport at the same time using the service myTrove Notify.

myTrove Notify