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Community Services
Lewes District Council
Southover House
Southover Road
Lewes
East Sussex
BN7 1AB
Tel: 01273 484999
customer.services
@lewes.gov.uk
Minicom 01273 484488
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Funeral Service
Advice on what to do and how to arrange a funeral during this especially daunting and emotional time.
Registration Of Deaths
Deaths need to be registered within five days of the death. The medical certificate giving the cause of death must be taken to the register office. Sometimes the coroner needs to be involved and, if so, the registrar cannot register the death until the coroner has completed any investigation that he or she decides is necessary.
The General Register Office's has information on registering a death, how you find your local register office, obtaining death certificates and other details.
Repatriation Of Remains
If a British citizen or member of the British Armed Forces dies overseas, a death certificate is issued by the relevant authorities in the country concerned.
Additionally, the death can often be registered at the request of the deceased family, by the British Consul or High Commission in the country where it happened.
The death certificate will need to be taken to the Registrar of the district in which the burial or cremation will take place.
The Registrar will then issue a Certificate of no liability to register. This will then be given to the funeral director to allow the funeral to proceed.
The Overseas Section of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office has details over registering overseas deaths.
Exhumation
Exhumation of both buried and cremated remains generally requires a Home Office licence. However, if the remains are being removed from consecrated ground and are being re-interred in consecrated ground, only a Bishops Faculty is required.
If the remains are being removed from consecrated ground and are being re-interred in unconsecrated ground, a Bishops Faculty and a Home Office Licence are required.
Any enquiries regarding exhumation should be made to a Funeral Director, who will liaise with the local authority. The Funeral Director will obtain the necessary documents for the applicant to complete.
