When it comes time to organise the funeral of a loved one, we hope everything goes according to plan and that you'll able to say your final goodbyes in a way and at a time that suits you, your family and your friends.

There are many external factors that can impact on how long it takes to hold a funeral service.

In the quickest examples, where plans have already been put in place, a funeral service can be held within 48 hours of the person’s passing. But, where no plans have been agreed, if there are scheduling difficulties or if a coroner is required to report, it can take a month and sometimes longer, to organise a funeral.

Time to plan

The average time required to organise a personal funeral for a family member, partner or friend, in the United Kingdom was reported in parliament as around 15 days in 2016.

This near two-week period is seen to give the family and friends of the deceased time to make plans while mourning, but not forcing them to live in the shadow of the funeral for too long. The two-week average also allows sufficient time to complete the formal procedures required, including registering the death, contacting a funeral director and arranging the funeral service for an appropriate, and available, time slot.

Although generally there's no time restriction for families and friends to hold funerals for the deceased in the United Kingdom, some religions do have specific time frames within which the funeral should be held. For example, if the deceased is a practising member of the Jewish or Muslim faiths, the funeral service should be held as soon after the death as possible.

Other religious traditions, Catholicism, Protestant faiths, Quakers and Hinduism, don’t require the funeral to take place within any specific space of time.

‘Official’ funerals, held for royalty and other prominent figures are typically held within a week of the dignitary passing. Given the scale of these occasions this seems very quick, but the plans have generally been made far in advance of the death.

Funeral timeline

When someone dies, the first thing that needs to be done is for a medical certificate to be obtained from a qualified medical professional, either the person’s GP or someone of authority at a hospital, hospice or care home where they were in attendance.

This certificate will confirm the deceased’s name, personal details and cause of death. In most cases the certificate will be issued as soon as possible after the person’s death. It should only be delayed if a coroner’s inquest is required and, if this is the case, the certificate will be issued once the coroner has confirmed the cause of death.

When the cause of death is unclear, a coroner’s inquest or investigation will take place. This generally happens when someone has died unexpectedly or due to an illness for which they were not treated by their own doctor.

Coroner’s inquests are one of the biggest reasons for delaying a funeral. An inquest can take several months; the cause of death must be determined before the appropriate death and medical certificates can be issue and the body released. The coroner’s office can issue paperwork to allow a funeral service to take place, but without the body.

Finding a funeral director

Although the funeral can’t take place without the correct paperwork, a funeral director can be found and contacted before all the official paperwork has been completed. Once you have contacted your funeral director, they can arrange to move the body of the deceased to the funeral home in advance of the funeral, so that it can be kept safely and correctly.

Finding a funeral director that is right for you, and nearby, can be one of the trickiest parts of organising a funeral. localfuneral.co.uk can help you to find the most suitable funeral directors in your area quickly and easily, leaving you with more time to think about the specifics of the funeral service itself.

With localfuneral.co.uk, finding a funeral director that suits you is a simple three step process:

  • Enter your town or postcode

  • Click through to see more information on the funeral directors local to you, including prices

  • Choose the most suitable and give them a call or send them an email

The site will also put you in touch with your nearest funeral director, 24/7, if you need help urgently.

Find a funeral director

Registering the death

Although you can begin organising the funeral with your funeral director almost immediately following a death, you must obtain the appropriate death and burial or cremation certificates before the funeral can be held.

To get the death certificate you must register the death with the relevant registrar office. This must be done within five days of the death in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, or within eight days in Scotland. The time it takes to register a death can be dependent on the appointment times at the registrar, with 49% of families in 2016 waiting at least three days for an appointment and 15% waiting more than five days.

Making an appointment with your local registrar as soon as possible after a person’s death will help reduce the potential for delays to the funeral service.

It's free to register a death, but you'll have to purchase copies of the death certificate, which will also be required when dealing with banks and utility companies. In England and Wales, a death certificate will cost £11 whilst they cost £15 in Northern Ireland, with it being cheaper to buy multiple copies in advance to help you deal with multiple companies at once. In Scotland, a copy of a death certificate costs £12.

Burial or cremation?

The next step is to notify your funeral director whether the deceased will be buried or cremated, in-line with their personal wishes if they left instructions before their death and according to the family if not.

Your funeral director can help complete the required paperwork, but you'll need both medical and death certificates. You will also need the certificate for burial or cremation which gives permission for burial or cremation.

Waiting times for cremation range from 10-13 days, but as pressure on crematoriums increases it can take up to three weeks to get an appropriate slot. This is also the typical waiting time for a burial.

Choosing a celebrant

Choosing an officiant or celebrant can also impact the time it takes to hold a funeral. Although, unlike with a marriage, anyone can conduct a funeral service in the UK, most people choose to have the funeral service led by individuals with experience in conducting religious, humanist or civil services. This means considering their schedule and matching their availability with times available at the cemetery or crematorium.

The availability of facilities such as the crematorium or graveyard for a burial can also lead to delays, with waiting times in some areas being up to three weeks. The length of time required to book a crematorium slot is particularly dependent on location; the number of crematoriums in your local area can vary and in areas with less capacity, waiting times are longer.

The time of year can also have an impact, with public holidays causing delays.

Friends and family

The final factor determining the timing of a funeral is the availability of the family and friends of the deceased. In some cases, time needs to be allowed for travel, often overseas, and to give people the opportunity to arrange time off work. It can help to let people know a rough date as soon as possible, even if an official date is still be arranged, to allow loved ones to begin their own planning.

Taking all the factors involved in organising a funeral, from getting official documentation to scheduling time for officials and facilities, the average funeral is held between 13 and 16 days after a death.

One of the best ways to save time when organising a funeral is to plan ahead. Although the exact time of any death is never known, having a funeral director in place and a clear understanding of the deceased’s final wishes can simplify and speed up the organisation.

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