What to do when someone dies at home

When someone dies at home unexpectedly, the police and the coroner (in Scotland, the procurator fiscal) may need to find out who the person was and how they died before anything else happens. What follows depends on the nation.

England and Wales

A death can be reported to a coroner when the cause is not known. The coroner holds an inquest if the cause is still unknown after investigation, if the death may have been violent or unnatural, or if it happened in prison or police custody. A person being found some time after they died is not, by itself, a sign of a crime.

The police may investigate the circumstances for the coroner. Essex Police, for example, describes gathering evidence to identify the person and asking relatives about their medical history and when they last saw them. An investigating officer is appointed where more investigation is needed; a family liaison officer is appointed only in some cases.

The Ministry of Justice guide says the coroner’s office should explain the process to you and tell you who your contact is, and in a long investigation should update you at least every three months. You can ask for the post-mortem report; it can contain distressing medical detail.

Scotland

The procurator fiscal (the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, COPFS) investigates sudden, suspicious and unexplained deaths, and may ask the police to make enquiries. COPFS says a death being reported to it does not necessarily mean the death is suspicious, and that it will keep families informed.

Northern Ireland

nidirect says to dial 999 if someone dies unexpectedly at home. The police are told, report the death to the coroner and arrange for the person to be moved on the coroner’s behalf so the cause of death can be found.

What “unattended death” means

Cleaning firms and some families use “unattended death” for a death where the person was alone and was not found for some time. It describes how the person was found, not how they died. The Office for National Statistics counted 166,576 deaths in private homes in England and Wales in 2020, but its figures do not show how many people were found late or how many homes needed specialist cleaning.

England and Wales: arrangements for taking the person away are local. North Wales Police, for example, uses local funeral directors on a rota and takes coroner cases to a hospital mortuary. The coroner releases the body for the funeral once the necessary examinations are complete, and the funeral can take place before an inquest has finished.

Scotland: ask Police Scotland or the procurator fiscal’s office where the person has been taken. In some cases COPFS can issue an interim death certificate so the funeral can go ahead while further tests continue.

Northern Ireland: the police arrange for the person to be moved on behalf of the coroner.

If no one else is making suitable arrangements, the council must arrange a funeral (England and Wales, section 46 of the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984). Scottish councils have a corresponding duty under section 87 of the Burial and Cremation (Scotland) Act 2016.

We found no national rule giving a set time before family can go back in, or saying who receives the keys. Essex Police says a visit to the place of death should be discussed with the investigating officer, that arrangements can take days, and asks families not to touch anything that could help identify the person until officers say they may.

The release of the body is not the release of the home. The coroner’s decision to release the person for the funeral concerns the body. Ask the police or the coroner’s office separately whether they have finished with the home. In Scotland, an interim death certificate is not permission to enter or clean either.

If the police hold the keys or belongings, ask what proof they need. Being next of kin is not always enough: Merseyside Police in England, for example, asks for evidence of entitlement such as probate or letters of administration. That is one force’s policy; we found no national rule. In Scotland, COPFS says it returns belongings on request if they are not needed for the investigation.

The police finishing with the home does not mean it is clean. HSE guidance says dried blood is not automatically harmless, and we found no official guidance giving a time after which a home is free of contamination. You can ask a cleaning firm to look for documents and keepsakes from a list you give them, so that you do not have to go in yourself.

The police and coroner guidance we checked describes investigation and releasing the body; it does not describe them cleaning homes. Ask who has authority: usually the executor or administrator (in Scotland, the executor), and for a rented home the landlord (and anyone who takes over the tenancy). Being next of kin does not by itself give that authority.

Do not clean blood or other body fluids yourself. HSE says contact should be avoided where possible and left to people with appropriate training, and warns that bleach can release chlorine gas when it meets acids or acidic fluids such as urine.

Who pays depends on the home, the insurance and the estate. The person’s debts are generally paid from their estate, not by family, but whoever signs a cleaning contract may be liable for it. Our who pays tool sets out the routes to check, and cleaning after a death explains what the work involves. If the home only needs clearing, not specialist cleaning, our sister site houseclearancecost.co.uk covers house clearance.

If you think someone may have died in a neighbouring home and no one knows, call 999. Do not go in, even if the home is open: a neighbour, or even a relative, has no authority to enter just because of that relationship.

England and Wales: report flies, vermin or the condition of the home to the council’s environmental health team. Councils can act on premises that are filthy or verminous to a degree that harms health (Public Health Act 1936, section 83), including privately owned homes, and some councils arrange the cleaning through contractors and recover the cost. In England, the government’s guidance on smell complaints excludes smells from homes, so describe the flies, vermin and condition, not only the smell. A report does not guarantee a response time or a free clean.

Scotland and Northern Ireland: contact the council’s environmental health team and ask what it can do. We did not find a published procedure for these nations to quote here.

If the home is rented, tell the landlord or letting agent; if it is a council or housing association home, tell the housing office. Questions worth asking the council: can it inspect for flies or vermin, and can it pass your report to whoever is responsible for the home? More on what happens next is in cleaning after a death.

• Government: in England, Wales and Scotland, Tell Us Once reports the death to several government services at once. It normally has to be used within 28 days of getting its reference number. GOV.UK gives a separate route for Northern Ireland.
• Everyone else: banks, insurers, utility companies and other private organisations still need to be told separately.
• The home insurer: tell it before anything is cleaned or thrown away, and ask what evidence it needs. Policies can have conditions for homes left empty.
• The landlord: in England, telling the landlord about the death does not by itself end the tenancy; the executor or administrator can give notice or agree to end it. The rules differ elsewhere: in Wales an occupation contract usually ends one month after a sole contract-holder’s death, and in Scotland a private residential tenancy ends when the sole tenant dies, unless someone takes it over.
• Council tax: in England and Wales an empty home can be exempt after the liable person’s death, until probate or letters of administration and for up to six months after, if the conditions are met. Scotland has a similar exemption linked to confirmation. Northern Ireland uses domestic rates, where the personal representative can apply to Land & Property Services for an empty-property exclusion.

If you want to talk to someone, whether or not you were close to the person:

• Cruse Bereavement Support: free helpline on 0808 808 1677. Check the opening hours before you call.
• Samaritans: 116 123, free from UK landlines and mobiles, 24 hours a day.
• If the person may have taken their own life: the Support After Suicide Partnership lists support services and publishes Help is at Hand. The partnership is a directory, not a helpline, and the practical parts of Help is at Hand are written for England.