FAQs

The first thing that needs to happen when someone dies in the UK is for the death to be verified by a medical professional.

If someone dies at home, you will need to call their doctor. In a hospital or hospice, they will verify the death and will talk you through next steps.

If a death is unexpected or violent, it might be referred to the coroner. We will support and advise you if this is the case.

You can look after someone at home after they have died, or give us a call 0203 589 4726 so that we can bring them into our care whenever you are ready.

To recap:

• When someone dies, a medical professional needs to verify the death
• Once this has happened, they can be brought into the care of a funeral directors
• The medical professional will notify the medical examiner’s office about the death, who will then contact you to register the death
• You need to register the death within five days of being contacted by the medical examiner’s office
• You can call us at any time in this process to ask questions.

When someone dies, it can feel overwhelming, but you shouldn't feel rushed into making decisions. Whatever stage you are at in planning or arranging a funeral, Poppy’s is here to listen, answer your questions and start a conversation about how to support you. You can call us on 020 3589 4726 with any questions.

When someone dies at home, it’s become common practice for a funeral directors to collect someone from home shortly after. But many people don’t realise that in most cases, if it’s an expected death, you’re completely free to care for someone at home after they die.

You could do this for hours, days or even a week or more if that feels right. Once the death has been verified by a medical professional, the register office will contact you to register the death. As long as the death is registered within five days of being contacted by the register office, there isn’t any rush to decide what to do next.

When someone dies at home, the most important thing is to keep your person as cool as possible. There are a number of ways to do this:

• Turn off the heating of the room they’re in.
• Put freezer packs wrapped in a tea towel on their stomach.
• Turn an air conditioner on if you have one.

It might seem counter-intuitive, but we also recommend closing all the windows to keep nature out, even in winter.

For the same reason, it’s best to keep someone’s face covered with a sheet or piece of cloth when you're not in the room for a long period of time.

Overnight, you could lay a large bed sheet over their body, tucking it in under the edges of the mattress to keep them completely secure.

There aren’t any other special steps you need to take, just try to keep the person’s skin cool and dry.

For more details about what you might want to consider, read our guide: what to do when someone dies.

There is no set timing for how long after a death the funeral has to take place in the UK - lots of factors may affect it.

Some cultures or religious traditions require a burial or cremation within a specific timeframe, which can be only a day or two. However, a funeral cannot be arranged in the UK until the death has been registered and something called a ‘green form’ has been issued. If the coroner is involved, the funeral cannot take place until they have determined the cause of death. This can delay the funeral taking place by up to a couple of months.

After someone has died, the death needs to be verified by a medical professional. If the person died in a hospital or a hospice, they will verify the death and will talk you through next steps.

If someone dies at home, you will need to call their doctor. Once this is done, you will need to register their death within five days of being contacted by the medical examiner’s office.

When it comes to friends and family, you might put together a list of the people who you feel need to know about the death in the first one or two days.

This might include close family and friends and your person's employer, if relevant.

In due course, you may also need to notify government departments, the bank and other bodies. For government agencies, you can use Tell Us Once, a service that lets you report a death to most government organisations in one go.

Learn more here: How to share news of a death – Poppy's Blog – Poppy's Funerals

You can absolutely see your person before the funeral. People of all ages and backgrounds visit friends or family members in our care. Some funeral directors call this a viewing – we call this a visit. We have a peaceful Friends and Family Room (you may have heard such a room called a chapel of rest) where you can spend time with your person.

What you do with your time is entirely up to you. You can wash, dress or do the hair of the person who has died. We can help you with this if you would like. Food, drink, candles, creative projects and music are all welcome. Those who have chosen a cardboard coffin sometimes come to Poppy’s Friends and Family Room to decorate and personalise the coffin.

You may not want to have a full visit with your person; for some, just sitting in our quiet, peaceful Friends and Family Room, knowing that their person is just next door in our mortuary space, is enough for them.

You may have been told before that you can’t visit someone - maybe because of how they died or because they haven’t been embalmed. This is not the case at Poppy’s. We will never stand in your way if you want to visit your person, and we will prepare you gently for what to expect.

So, if you think you’d like to have a visit, give us a call, and we’ll talk you through your options.

Yes, you can choose not to have someone embalmed in most cases. There’s no legal or hygienic reason for embalming. The only time there’s a legal requirement to embalm is when someone who has died is being repatriated.

However, many funeral directors treat it as the default option. At Poppy’s we prefer a natural approach to death care and don’t routinely recommend embalming - find out more here.

There’s no wrong or right choice when it comes to embalming - but we do believe that everyone should have the information they need to make the decision that is right for them.

No, you do not have a have a funeral service if that's not right for you. One option is to have what is known as a direct, or unattended cremation, without a service attached.

People choose direct cremations for lots of reasons - including to honour the wishes of the person who has died, or because they wish to have a separate ashes-scattering ceremony or memorial later on. You can read more about direct cremations here. Poppy's also offers direct burials - give us a call if you'd like to know more about direct burials at Poppy's.

There are many decisions that go into organising a funeral - but it’s important to know that once the death has been certified by a doctor, there is no rush to do anything immediately after someone dies.

The first decision to make when organising a funeral is whether the funeral will be a burial or cremation. You will also need to think about whether you would like an attended funeral or an unattended funeral (often known as a direct cremation). You can see more about the differences between these options here.

Then, you might consider your choices, including:

• Funeral vehicles/hearse.
• Funeral venue, if you are having a service.
• Flowers for the coffin or decorations for the venue.
• Musical choices.
• Orders of Service.

Any good funeral directors will be happy to talk you through your options, no matter what stage in the planning process you are at. Give Poppy’s a call on 020 3589 4726 and we’ll be happy to offer you advice, whether you go on to choose us or not.

There is no specified person or relation that ‘should’ arrange the funeral when someone dies. You do not need to be the executor of a will, if the person has one, to arrange their funeral.

While next of kin will often arrange a funeral this is not a requirement; friends or partners can also organise a funeral, and often do. Various factors may affect this decision, including who feels most able to make practical arrangements, geographical proximity and who knew the person who has died best.

However, it's worth knowing that whoever appoints the funeral director will be considered the client, and all arrangements will go through that person.

Choosing between burial and cremation is entirely up to you and the wishes of the person who has died, if you know them. There is no wrong or right choice.

In the UK, more people choose to get cremated than buried - in 2024, 85% of funerals involved a cremation (source: SunLife Cost of Dying Report 2026).

It’s worth knowing that burials are more expensive than a cremation - according to SunLife, the average cost of a simple attended funeral with a burial in 2025 was £4,758, whereas a simple attended cremation was £3,518. This is because the cost of a burial includes the lease of a burial plot, and the digging and filling of the grave. The cost of burial plots varies widely.

Another choice if you’re interested in having a burial is a natural burial ground. You can learn more about natural burials here.

Many people don’t realise that you don’t have to choose your nearest, high street funeral directors! We encourage you to talk to more than one funeral director and ask the questions that matter most to you.

That might include:

• How the funeral directors will care for your person
• Their prices and availability, or
• Whether they can accommodate the funeral service date you have in mind.

It can be helpful to get recommendations on funeral directors from friends or family. You might also check a funeral directors’ online reviews.

Our top tip - don’t just look for the five star reviews or the overall number of reviews. These are important, but you should also check whether the same things matter to the reviewer as matter to you, whether that’s customer service, choice, location or something else.

And finally, it's really important to remember that you can change your mind! If you are not happy with the funeral directors you have chosen, you can change your mind, even if they have already taken your person into their care. You are the client, so you should never feel pressured into a choice that you are not happy with.

Learn more here: How to choose a funeral director – Poppy's Blog – Poppy's Funerals

Yes, you can arrange a funeral without a funeral directors – it is not a legal requirement to use a funeral director.

The right funeral director can help to take care of the arrangements involved with planning a funeral, reducing stress at what is often a difficult time. However, you should never feel pressured to appoint a particular funeral directors, or to choose services that you feel you don’t want or need.

This is why we encourage everyone to shop around and find the funeral directors that feel right for you.

There a lots of ways to plan a more eco-friendly funeral. You might choose a natural burial, or opt for a coffin made from environmentally friendly, biodegradable materials - from cardboard to wicker to mushroom! A lot of flowers are air-freighted to the UK, so you can choose locally-grown flowers to reduce the environmental impact. Tell your funeral director that natural, eco-friendly choices are important to you, and they will help you explore your options. Find more advice here.

No matter your age or personal circumstances, planning your own funeral can be empowering and comforting. It can also help the people who will be responsible for arranging your funeral by giving them a clear idea of your wishes.

To plan your own funeral, we suggest starting small - jot down a few of the details that matter to you, and don't worry too much about the things you don't really care about. If you want a starting point, you might consider whether you would like to be buried or cremated. Or, start with the funeral service itself and consider if you have a favourite piece of music or poetry that you'd like included in the ceremony.

At Poppy’s, we’ve found that people often value the opportunity to think and talk about their funeral wishes and to ask questions about what is possible. That's why we offer free funeral wishes consultations. This free consultation for planning your own funeral could include discussing how much different options might cost but doesn’t involve any payment. Find out more about planning your own funeral.

Yes, you can still choose Poppy’s as your funeral director if you’re based outside of London!

We arrange lots of funerals outside of London from our offices in Tooting and our shop in East Sheen. We can collect your person from anywhere in the UK. For collections or funerals beyond the M25 there is an additional cost – give us a call on 020 3589 4726 and we will talk this through with you and answer your questions.

In the UK, generally a cremation service is the service that takes place prior to the cremation of a coffin. A memorial, on the other hand, is a service that takes place without the coffin present, often at a later date. As a result, funeral directors are not usually involved in memorial services, but rather they are organised directly by the friends and/or family of the person who has died.

What happens at a cremation service or memorial varies widely – it all depends on what is right for the people organising it, and the person who has died. At Poppy’s, we support clients to understand their options and choices so they can have the funeral that is right for them.

After the funeral service, the coffin is 'committed' which means it goes through doors or is lowered from the service stage to the cremation room, where it goes into a cremator.

Once the cremation is finished, it takes about an hour for the ashes to cool down enough for a technician to collect. There is usually bone left behind which goes into the cremulator - a kind of specialised machine to turn bone into ash.

At this point, the ashes are gathered for family and friends to pick up. If you’d rather not collect ashes, they can be scattered at the crematorium instead, usually in a garden or other area set aside specifically for this. Read more about your options for keeping or scattering ashes.

Yes, you can have a cremation without a service - this is called a direct or unattended cremation, and it's an increasingly popular choice. Find out more about direct cremations.

If you would like to arrange a religious funeral service, all you need to do is let your funeral director know your wishes. Any good funeral director will support you to ensure that you can have the service that you want.

Yes, you can absolutely have a non-religious or humanist funeral. You funeral director can help you to find a non-religious venue, and perhaps a funeral celebrant to help you create a funeral service that reflects the world view of the person who has died. This could be a humanist celebrant, who can help you arrange an entirely non-religious service. Or perhaps you want to draw on a range of influences in the ceremony - some spiritual and some secular. It's also entirely possible to arrange a funeral like this, with a celebrant that will honour what is important to you.

There is no set timing for a funeral in the UK – lots of factors may affect it.

For instance, some cultures or religious traditions require a burial or cremation within a specific timeframe, which can be only a couple of days.

On the other hand, if the coroner is involved, the funeral cannot take place until they have determined the cause of death. this can delay the funeral taking place by up to a couple of months.

A funeral cannot be arranged until the death has been registered and something called a ‘green form’ has been issued.

When you get in touch with us, we will talk you through your need and help you to understand your options.

There are so many choices available for music and readings for a funeral, so it can feel overwhelming. Our advice is to think of things which remind you of the person who has died. Don't worry if it's not a 'standard' funeral choice - if it's right for you and reflects the person who has died, it's a good choice. To get you started on thinking about music choices, read our blog on the topic. We also have a selection of 30 classical songs for funerals, and a selection of 8 contemporary non-religious poems for funerals.

At Poppy’s, we can work with clients to explore less expensive, but still high quality, options if that’s what they want.

For instance, many people don’t know that you don’t have to have funeral flowers at all - many people choose to bring flowers from their garden, or decorate the coffin with meaningful items instead, like a favourite hat and scarf or tools of the person's trade.

There is also the option of a direct cremation, where someone is cremated with care and respect, but without a ceremony. This is a less costly option. Many people who choose a direct cremation to hold a ceremony later. Read more about direct cremation.

If the person who died does not have funds to pay for a funeral, or there isn’t anyone to organise a funeral for them, they will have a council-organised funeral, also known as a public health funeral. You can learn more about this here.

In London, the average cost of a funeral is £4,897, according to SunLife’s Cost of Dying Report 2026. The equivalent cost for a simple funeral with Poppy's is £2,995.

To learn more, read our blog 'how much does a funeral cost?'