FUNERALS
What choices do you have
for the funeral?
How do you
arrange the
funeral?
A funeral can be either by burial or by cremation.
What are your rights under
the law?
There are many different types of funeral and it is useful to remember
that:
• ou can decide for yourself what form any ceremony you choose to
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have should take
• do not have to use a funeral director - though the vast majority
you
of people do
• ou can choose a religious, humanist or civil ceremony
y
• ou can choose a ceremony that reflects any religious beliefs or
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multicultural traditions
• our ceremony does not have to take place in a crematorium or
y
place of worship
• ou don’t have to hold the funeral ceremony in a licensed building y
it can be held in your home
• ou can be buried on private land, such as your own garden, as long
y
as there is nothing in the deeds restricting the use of the property –
please refer to the Natural Death Centre’s website,
www.naturaldeath.org.uk for further information, including any legal
aspects of which you must be aware.
The main legal requirements
in England and Wales are:
• he death has to be certified
t
by a doctor or coroner
• he death is registered by a
t
Registrar of births and deaths
• ou may keep the body of
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the person who has died at
home until the day of the
arranged funeral
• he body should either be
t
cremated or buried
• here is no legal requirement
t
to have any kind of funeral
ceremony at all.
You can organise it with or without the help of a funeral director and
personalise it as much as you wish. In some cases the deceased may
have planned their own funeral in advance.
Some simple ways in which you can personalise a funeral service:
• hink about the music - you may not want to use traditional organ
t
music. You might prefer a CD, ipod or live music. Discuss it with
relatives, your funeral director, the crematorium and the person you
have chosen to conduct the funeral ceremony
• hink about individual contributions – you might want to include a
t
tribute, a reading, a poem or a favourite story. Plan a running order
that will provide you with the kind of ceremony you want
• onsider using personal items as part of the ceremony. These will help
c
to reflect the person who has died and make the ceremony more
special. f