Case Study - COVID-19 Questions
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I have received the following questions from a Local Authority in response to the earlier news article published on Covid-19 and my appearence on a webinar hosted by the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health. The questios relate to changes to the law during the pandemic, the answers I supplied are below:
Questions:
1. Your website refers to new legislation that was being considered which allowed changes to the way in which deaths are registered. Has this legislation all been finalised now and will these changes remain in place or are they only temporary due to the current situation? i.e funeral directors being able to register deaths, registrars allowing electronic copies of documents etc?
2. Cremation vs burial. I seem to recall you mentioning in the webinar that we don’t have to take the deceased persons wishes into consideration any more. Is that correct and where can I find reference to this?
3. We have a section in our procedure relating to inheritance of money. I think it’s probably out of date as there have been various changes since it was written including same sex marriages, people living together but not married. Where can I find a link to inheritance rules to put into the procedure.
4. Are local authority officers still conducting searches of properties? If not, what happens if we arrange a funeral and then a relative comes on the scene?
Answers:
1: In respect of timelines, I believe that the changes are in place and will last all the time the pandemic legislation is in force. Registrations can be done on the telephone and they are definitely accepting electronic documents. The following was issued by the GRO:
https://www.publichealthfunerals.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/GRO-Circular-5-2020.pdf
Registration of Death - Guidance for medical professionals was issued as follows:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/guidance-notes-for-completing-a-medical-certificate-of-cause-of-death and guidance to Funeral Directors has been revised here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/funeral-directors-guidance-on-cremation-regulations-and-forms
Information for the public can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-guidance-for-managing-a-funeral-during-the-coronavirus-pandemic
2: Cremation vs Burial - This is covered in Sec 5 (P23) of the guidance below:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-local-death-management
3: Inheritance rules - as far as I am aware there have been no recent changes to this, one of the better guides I have found is from Citizens Advice:https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/family/death-and-wills/who-can-inherit-if-there-is-no-will-the-rules-of-intestacy/
4: Property Searches - It's a mixed bag, some authorities are, some arent. You'll need to be aware of social distancing guidelines etc. I would say that if you have sufficient PPE and that the property has been untouched for over 72 hours you should be able to safely carry out a search of the property.[/restrict]
Case Study - Care Homes
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Question - I work in Environmental Health at a district council and we have arranged various public health funerals over the years. However, I have never had to arrange one for someone who has passed away in a care home.
If a person dies in a care home and they have no next of kin/funds for a funeral and their care is funded by Social Services (at the County Council) or the NHS then who is responsible for organising/paying for the funeral?
The district council or County Council/NHS (depending on who is paying for the care)
Answer - Ultimately the responsibility falls on the authority with the statutory duty to provide a funeral under Sec 46 of the Public Health (Control of Diseases) Act 1984, so it would look like you have the responsibility of providing the funeral if the person died in your area.
However, if finances are managed by the Care Home then they can make arrangements (if they wish), provided they hold sufficient funds to pay for the funeral. This will include registering the death as well.
If the finances are managed by a Deputyship Team in a County/Unitary authority, then they will sometimes take responsibility for their client, though they have no legal obligation. They may have already purchased a pre-paid funeral plan for the client (so always worth checking) as this is often seen as good practice. Again, the same would also apply to a solicitor who may have been acting under an LPA or Deputyship. Yes, their responsibility technically ends if a client dies but they make take on responsibility to ensure loose ends are tied up. [/restrict]
Case Study D
[restrict]Female in her 70’s died at her home.
Due to hoarding at property difficult to establish eligible heirs/NOK.
Large estate of over £300,000. Referred to Finders to trace eligible heirs. Next of kin found in New Zealand. Also found that deceased had a very famous grandfather and a fascinating family history. Solicitors traced who found a Will. Matter passed onto Solicitors.
Benefit/Outcome – Minimal work for NBC and no financial costs. Estate was divided as per the deceased’s wishes. [/restrict]
Case Study C
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Male in his 60’s in private rented accommodation.
Estate value of up to £30,000.00
No next of kin details available, so referral made to Finders to trace NoK.
Brother was traced – he then took on responsibility of arranging his brothers funeral and then administering the estate.
Benefit/Outcome to Council – Minimal work and no financial cost. [/restrict]
Case Study B
[restrict]Widower in his 80’s died in local hospice.
No children or other relative known Estate to the value of approximately £12,000.
Referred to Finders to trace eligible heirs. Brother found plus nieces and nephews. Finders dealt with heirs and paperwork, then passed to Solicitor.
Benefit/Outcome – Minimal time for NBC & ease of recovering funeral costs. [/restrict]
Case Study A
[restrict] A man in his 70’s died in social housing.
Only Post Office account and DWP letter with NI number found.
Referred to Finders to trace family – Cash in PO account covered funeral costs.
Despite a thorough search and trying different variations of name of deceased on this occasion Finders were unable to find any birth or adoption record of the deceased – therefore making tracing any next of kin impossible.
Benefit/Outcome – Had there not been any money in estate could have applied to Finders for their Funeral Fund.[/restrict]
Registering the death and arranging the funeral
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The case was referred to us by a local Council who had been dealing with the lady’s finances, but knew of no family who could deal with the estate and the funeral arrangements.
Although the deceased had lived in the area for many years, she was originally from Lancashire and this is where the majority of her family had remained. A widow, with no issue or siblings, we quickly got in touch with her 9 remaining cousins and cousins once-removed, including one in Australia and one in America. Within a few weeks, one of her cousins had agreed to act as Administrator and appointed a firm recommended by Finders in their area.
As the beneficiaries had not been in touch with the Deceased for many years and were miles from where she had passed away, they did not feel able to take on the potential complications and responsibility of arranging a funeral in an unknown area. Our recommended solicitors however, being well versed in dealing with cases of this type, were able to register the death by declaration and instructed a funeral director to arrange the burial. We were also able to notify the rest of the family members, so that they were given the opportunity to attend. This meant that the beneficiaries had a solicitor local to them and, yet the funeral could be dealt with promptly and efficiently, with the family’s involvement.[/restrict]