Welfare funerals

We provide the Welfare Funeral Service for people who don't have any next of kin or whose relatives don't have enough money to arrange the funeral.

By law, we must provide a funeral for any person who has died or been found dead in South Derbyshire, where the deceased has no relatives and it appears that there are no suitable funeral arrangements (Public Health (Control of Diseases) Act 1984).

If the person has died in hospital, the hospital patient affairs officer makes the funeral arrangements.

We can only assist where the funeral hasn’t already taken place

Before we can arrange the funeral, the death must be registered, preferably by the next of kin or person present at the death.

The home of the deceased is searched for a will, to look for details of any interested parties and money to pay for the funeral. If details of friends and relatives are found, they will be informed of the funeral arrangements.

For further information, contact us.

Funeral payment

If a relative receives certain Benefits, they may be entitled to a one-off payment towards the cost of a funeral.  

The Department of Work and Pensions and GOV.UK websites have information on who is eligible for these payments and how to claim them.