Bury Council Bereavement Handbook

Contents

Welcome

Registering a death Information you need to bring

Once a death is registered What to do next

Letting organisations know

Organising an estate Cancelling council services

Registering a still birth

Local crematorium and Graveyards

Sources of help - Local

Sources of help - National

How to find us

Welcome ….

Bury Council provides a quality, caring and sensitive service for people at a difficult period in their lives. When a family member or someone close to you dies, we know it's a very difficult and challenging time. That's why we've produced this information. It will help by telling you some of the things you need to do.

This bereavement brochure introduces the Bury Register Office and Cemeteries and provides details of where to seek further information and advice.

Bury Council Bereavement Handbook

Dealing with the loss of a loved one is a very difficult, and challenging time. Sadly, it is also a time when important decisions and arrangements have to be made. That's why we've produced this bereavement brochure. It will help by telling you some of the things you need to do.

Registering the death: When someone dies you need to register the death, within five days, with the registrar in the area where the death took place. Please contact the register office to make an appointment to see a registrar. Your local hospital or doctor may assist you with this task.

Bury Register Office, Town Hall, Manchester Road, Bury BL9 OSW Tel: 0161-253-6026 for an appointment.

You will need to take the medical cause of death certificate with you. You will get this from the doctor or the bereavement officer at the hospital. If there has been a post mortem, the coroner (telephone number 01706 924815) will issue the document you require to register the death, the doctor or hospital may assist in these circumstances.

Information you need to bring with you The Registrar will ask what relation you are to the person who died, for example, son, daughter, widow, widower, surviving civil partner, grandson, grand-daughter, niece, nephew and you will need to give your full name and address.

You will need to know or bring with you the following information to be able to register the death: • The date and place of death • The full name of the person who

has died (this should be the name they were using when they died)

• Any other names they may have been known by. For example, they may have changed their name by deed poll

• Their date and place of birth (town and county if possible). It would be helpful if you could bring their birth certificate, marriage/civil partnership certificate, NHS medical card

• What their job was and whether they were retired.

• Their usual address

If the person who died was married or in a civil partnership or widowed, you will also need to know: • What her surname was before

she was first married • The full name and occupation of

the wife, husband or civil partner


Guidance and Advice for the Bereaved

You will also be able to purchase death certificates. These are certified copies of the original register entry. You will need these certificates when you are sorting out the finances of the person who has died. For example, banks and insurance companies will probably need a copy of the death certificate to allow access to accounts and funds.

The Registrar can also give you advice and contact details of the other organisations that may need to be informed.

What you will need to do next: Organising the funeral: • Check to see if the person who died

had a prepaid funeral plan.

• Contact a funeral director to arrange the funeral. They should give you the costs in writing.

• If the person who died doesn't have the money in their estate (this is their property and possessions) to cover the cost of the funeral, the person who organises it will have to pay. If you need advice regarding funeral costs the registrar will be able to give you details of a council department who may be able to assist.


Extra information you will be asked This information is for government statistics and is kept confidential. You will be asked the following: • Was the person who died married

or in a civil partnership? • Is their husband or wife or civil

partner still alive? If they are, what is their date of birth?

• How long did they stay in hospital or other establishment, for example a hospice?

• Was the person under 75? If yes, what industry did they work in?

• Did they get a pension paid from government funds? This includes the civil service, teachers, armed forces and war widows. This does not include the state pension or pension credits. You will be asked this so that the registrar can let the relevant department know that this person has died.

• Have you found a medical card showing the person's NHS number?

Once the death is registered: Once you have completed the registration, the registrar will give you: • A form to give to the funeral

director; unless the Coroner has already issued this form, and

• A form that you can send off with any benefit or pension details to the Department for Work and Pensions.

Letting organisations know When you sort out the affairs of someone who has died, you need to deal with a lot of organisations. Different people have different circumstances and the people you need to contact will vary. We've listed some of the main areas you need to think about below.

Pensions • Contact the Department for Work

and Pensions to get any pension payments stopped Dept of Works and Pensions The Pensions Service PO. Box 7, Preston PR11 2BW

• Talk to the person's employer They may be able to tell you if the person's pension can be passed on to another family member

• Tell any personal pension providers they used

Health Services • Tell the person's doctor. • Return any equipment you borrowed

from a hospital or Social Services • Cancel any Social Services

they used, such as meals on wheels, transport or help at home. The various departments can be contacted via Bury Town Hall, Knowsley St, Bury BL9 0SW Tel: 0161-253-5000

• Tell your local hospital, dentist and other health services used

Money These organisations may need to see the death certificate. • Inland Revenue - there may be

an Income Tax refund (9-11 Minden Parade, Bury) Tel: 0161-705-4400

• Banks, Building Societies or credit card companies that the person used. If they had premium bonds you'll need to let National Savings and Investments know

• Insurance Companies

Houses and household bills • Ask the Post Office to redirect

any mail • Depending on the person’s

circumstances, you may need to speak to a housing department, mortgage company or private landlord

• Tell the utility companies that provide services like gas, electricity and water

• Cancel deliveries of heating oil • Tell the company that provides

the household insurance • Tell the companies that provide

the home phone line and any mobile phone contracts

• Cancel newspapers • Cancel milk deliveries


Transport and travel • Tell the car insurance company

Please note that anyone who is a named driver on the person's car insurance will no longer be insured to drive the vehicle. This is because the person who took out the insurance policy isn't alive to give their permission for someone else to drive the car

• You should send their driving licence back to the DVLA.

• You will need to cancel any travel passes they had

• If they had a passport you will need to return it to the passport agency

Personal items • You should return library books and

cancel their membership • Send back any membership cards to

clubs or associations, and claim any refunds due

A useful Helpline telephone number is 0845 3020900 or the Website address is : www.courtservice.gov.uk You can pay a solicitor to sort out the estate for you. You may already have a solicitor your family uses. If not, you will need to choose one. Ask friends if they can recommend one and, when you contact them ask about their charges.

The registrar who is registering the death of a Bury resident will inform certain departments that this person has died. These departments include the Council Tax department and the Electoral Registrar. Other council departments will also need to be told of the death. If you like, the registrar can pass on the details of the death to these departments. This will save you having to contact them all individually. If the person who died was a Bury council tenant, the Registrar can also tell the housing office. The registrar will pass on the information by emailing or posting a copy of the information contained on the death certificate. That council department will NOT give this information to any other organisations.


Helping you to Cancel Council services in Bury

Sorting out their estate When a person dies somebody has to sort out his or her estate, their estate includes money, property and the possessions they’ve left. The person sorting out their estate collects in all the money and pays any debts and shares out the estate to those people entitled to it. To sort out someone’s estate, you need to apply for probate. The Probate Office will give you a ‘Grant of probate’ if the person left a Will or ‘Grant Letters of Administration’ if there isn’t a Will. Your local Probate Registry can send you the forms you need with notes and guidance on what you have to do.

Registering a still-birth

How is a still-birth defined? A still-born child is legally defined as a child born after the 24th week of pregnancy who did not, at any time after being born, breathe or show any other signs of life.

What do you need to do to register a still-birth in Bury? When a child is still-born, a doctor or midwife will issue a medical certificate of still-birth. The person who registers the still-birth must take this certificate to the registrar. Every still-birth in England or Wales must be registered in the district in which it takes place. A still-birth may not be registered more than three months after it occurred. To make an appointment to register a still-birth which occurred in Bury please telephone 0161-253-6026.

Information needed to register a still-birth for the child: • Date and place of still-birth • The forename(s) and surname, if

the parents wish to name the still-born child

• Sex of the child for the father: (where this information is to be entered in the register)

• Forename(s) and surname • Date and place of birth • Occupation at the time of the

still-birth or, if not employed at that time, the last occupation

• Usual address at the time of the still-birth

for the mother : • Forename(s) and surname • Maiden surname if the mother is,

or has been, married • Date and place of birth • Occupation at the time of the

still-birth or, if not employed at that time, the last occupation

• Usual address at the date of the still-birth

• Date of marriage, if married to the still-born child's father at the time of the still-birth

Who can register a still-birth? Parents married to each other If the parents of the child were married to each other at the time of the still-birth (or conception), either parent may register.

Parents not married to each other If the parents were not married to each other at the time of the stillbirth (or conception), information about the father may be entered in the register only in the following circumstances :

• If the mother and father go to the register office and sign the still birth register together, or

• Where the father is unable to go to the register office with the mother, the father makes a statutory declaration acknowledging his paternity which the mother must produce to the registrar (this form can be obtained from any register office in England or Wales), or


• Where the mother is unable to go to the register office with the father, the mother makes a statutory declaration acknowledging the father's paternity which the father must produce to the registrar (this form may be obtained from any register office in England or Wales),

If the parents of the child cannot register the still-birth the following are qualified to do so : • The occupier of the house or

hospital where the child was still born

• A person who was present at the still-birth

• A person who is responsible for the still-born child

• The person who found the still born child (where the date/ location are unknown)

What certificates will be issued? Certificate of registration A certificate of registration will be issued, free of charge, to the person who registers the still-birth Still-birth certificate After a still-birth has been registered, one or more certificates may be purchased at the time of registration or at any time afterwards by the mother or the father. (The father's details would need to be recorded

in the register entry for him to be able to obtain a certificate) Any application for a certificate from someone who is not the mother or father should be sent to the General Register Office, PO Box 2, Southport PR8 2JD, giving full details of the purpose for which the certificate is required.

Certificates for burial or cremation The registrar will issue a certificate for the burial or cremation of the stillborn child. The certificate is normally passed to the funeral director who is making the arrangements. A funeral cannot take place until this certificate is given to the burial authority or the crematorium. If there is a delay to the registration, it is possible for a certificate for the burial to be issued before the registration provided the still-birth does not need to be reported to the coroner. A certificate for cremation cannot be issued before the registration.


Accrington Crematorium 01254 232933

Agecroft 0161 736 2512 / 0161 736 6384 Agecroft (Jewish) 0161 736 5552 All Saints, Stand, Whitefield 0161 766 2619

Blackley 0161 740 5359 Bolton (Overdale) 01204 334499 Burnley Crematorium 01282 664615 Bury 0161 253 6510

Central Synagogue 0161 740 4830 Crumpsall 0161 740 3717

East Lancashire Crematorium, Radcliffe 0161 724 6349 Eccles Crematorium 0161 789 1901

Local Crematoriums and Graveyards

Failsworth 0161 681 1497 Failsworth (Jewish) 0161 740 1634

Gorton 0161 740 5359 / 0161 223 0368 Greenacres, Oldham 0161 624 2294

Hollinwood, Oldham 0161 681 1312 Holy Law Burial Board 0161 740 1289 Hyndburn, Accrington 01254 233695

Manchester Crematorium 0161 881 5269 Manchester Southern 0161 881 2208 Middleton 0161 643 4321 Moston / St Josephs 0161 681 1582

Oldham / Hollinwood 0161 681 1312 Overdale / Bolton 01204 334 499

Philips Park 0161 740 5359

Radcliffe Cemetery 0161 253 6510 Radcliffe Crematorium 0161 724 6349 Rainsough 0161 773 2641 Ramsbottom 01706 823258 Rochdale 01706 645219

All Saints, Stand Whitefield 0161 766 2619 St. Margarets, Prestwich 0161 773 2698 St Mary, Prestwich 0161 773 2912 St Mary's C of E, Radcliffe 0161 723 2460 Southern Cemetery 0161 881 2208

Whitworth Cemetery, Rochdale 01706 852352


Sources of help for the Bereaved Local support Age Concern Working with the elderly Bury - 0161 761 5895 Rochdale – 01706 712515 Oldham - 0161 633 0213 North Manchester - 0161 833 3944 Helpline - 0800 009 966 www.ageconcern.org.uk Bereavement Services Rochdale – 0161 627 2902 Oldham – 0161 627 2902 Middleton – 0161 654 7806 Manchester – 0161 371 8860 National - 0845 833 1153 www.bsauk.org Bereavement Advice Centre Tel: 0800 634 9494 Web: www.bereavementadvice.org Hospital Social Worker Bury – 0161 778 3582/3590 Rochdale – 01706 754175 Oldham – 0161 627 8650 North Manchester - 0161 795 4567 Macmillan Child Bereavement Counsellor Bury and Rochdale - 07973 227475


Macmillan Nurses Bury – 0161 778 2679 Rochdale – 01706 651967 Oldham – 0161 778 5918 North Manchester - 0161 720 2814 Community Office – 0161 861 2527 Papyrus - Tony Cox (can help people deal with suicide) Tel: 01282 432555 The Samaritans Bury - 0161 764 0055 Rochdale - 01706 868686 North Manchester & Oldham - 0161 236 8000 The Gaddum Centre - Children and families bereavement service. Referrals accepted only from Manchester and Salford Tel: 0161 834 6069 Care Concern Bereavement and Loss Counselling Service A Jewish organisation willing to help anyone who contacts them Tel: 0161 796 0807 Yusuf Hussain - Counsellor (Asian counselling service) Jinnah Day Care Centre Alfred Street, Bury. BL9 7HE Tel: 0161 763 3637 or 0161 764 0023

National Support for the Bereaved

CRUSE Bereavement Care A national organisation for bereavement care Tel: 0870 167 1677 Young Persons : Freephone 0808 808 1677 www.crusebereavementcare.org.uk Provides an independent free legal and advice service for bereaved families on the inquest system Tel: 020 7263 1111 www.inquest.org.uk

National Association of Bereavement Services Has a national directory of bereavement and loss services and can direct people to their nearest appropriate source of support Tel: 020 7709 9090

National Association Funeral Directors (NADF) Tel: 0845 230 1343 www.nadf.org.uk

National Society of Allied & Independent Funeral Directors Tel: 0845 230 6777 www. Saif.org.uk

Royal British Legion Helpline: 0845 772 5725 www.britishlegion.org.uk

Bury Council Bereavement Handbook SSAFA Forces Help The national charity helping serving and ex servicemen, women and their families in need Tel: 0800 731 4880 www.ssafa.org.uk The War Widows Association of Great Britain Gives advice, help and support for war widows and dependants Tel: 0870 241 1305 www.warwidowassociation.org.uk The National Association of Widows Offers telephone help and support for widows and their families Tel: 0845 838 2261 www.nawidows.org.uk WAY Foundation Offers support and friendship for men and women up to 50 who have lost a partner Tel: 0870 011 3450 www.wayfoundation.org.uk Survivors of Bereavement by Suicide (SOBS) Helpline: 0844 561 6855 www.uk-sobs.org.uk Child Death Helpline Tel: 0800 282 986 www.childdeathhelpline.org.uk

National Support for the Bereaved Continued Compassionate Friends Shadow of Suicide Group (SOS) Tel: 08451 232 304 www.tcf.org.uk The Compassionate Friends Support in bereavement for brothers & sisters (SIBBS) A national self- help organisation for bereaved parents and their families Tel: 08451 232 304 www.tcf.org.uk The Cremation Society of Great Britain Memorials by Artists Tel: 01728 688 934 www.cremation.org.uk The Foundation for Sudden Infant Deaths (FSID) Support for parents whose baby has died suddenly or unexpectedly Helpline: 0870 787 0554 www.sids.org.uk/fsid The Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths (Cot Death Research and Support) For parents of a baby who has died suddenly and unexpectedly Helpline: 020 7233 2090 (24hours) The Still Birth & Neonatal Death Society (SANDS) Support for parents whose baby has died before, during or within a month or so of birth. Helpline: 0207 436 5881 www.uk-sands.org

The Miscarriage Association Offers support and information on all aspects of pregnancy loss Tel: 01924 200799 www.miscarrageassociation.org.uk The Samaritans Tel: 0845 790 9090 www.samaritans.org.uk The British Association of Cancer United Patients (BACUP) Provides a cancer information service giving practical advice and emotional support to patients, their families and friends and others bereaved by the illness Tel: 08088 001 1234 www.cancerbacup.org.uk/home Lesbian and Gay Bereavement Project Offers support and advice to lesbians and gay men bereaved by the death of a same sex life partner Helpline: 020 7403 5969 The Terrence Higgins Trust A charity providing practical support, help counselling and advice for anyone with or concerned about, AIDS or HIV infection Tel: 0845 122 1200 www.tht.org.uk


Winston's Wish Family Line Support for children and young people who have experienced death in their family Helpline : Tel: 0845 203 0405 www.winstonswish.org.uk

Location and Contact Details

Bury Register Office, Town Hall, Manchester Road, Bury BL9 OSW Tel:0161-253-6026 Email: [email protected] Web: www.bury.gov.uk


Victim Support Tel: 0161 797 3043

J RAWSON & SONS

Established 1857 Monumental Masons & Sculptors

Artistic memorials in granite, marble and stone Inscriptions in ANY language

Renovations • Cleaning

We are a family firm with a caring attitude to all our clients. Please ring for a free brochure, advice or an estimate: Also open 6 days, Sunday by appointment, home visits available.

0161 764 4391


www.rawsons-memorials.co.uk 250 Market Street, Bury





Bury Register Office, Town Hall, Manchester Road, Bury, BL9 0SW

Tel: 0161 - 253 - 6026 Email: [email protected]

Web: www.bury.gov.uk

Published by Brochures UK, 40 Rockburgh Crescent, Preston, PR4 5RD Tel: 01772 498366

The Distributor does not endorse or support any of the products or services advertised in this Publication and is in no way liable or responsible for any such products and services.

'Life for a Life' is a charity that offers you the chance to Celebrate or Commemorate your loved ones by planting memorial trees in one of forty woodland locations across the United Kingdom. For your free info pack contact:

Documents

Bury Council Bereavement Handbook