You may find yourself with the responsibility of arranging a funeral for a loved one or for yourself. Alongside the many decisions and considerations involved with arranging a funeral, it is important to be aware of your legal rights and responsibilities throughout the process.

Most people in the UK aren’t aware that there are legal obligations and protections for both the person who has died and their loved ones. These include the legal requirements involving possession of and caring for the body after death, burial rights, and the right to bereavement leave.

In this guide we will cover:

• Rights of the deceased.

• Responsibilities of the family/next of kin.

• Rights and responsibilities when arranging a funeral.

• Right to bereavement leave.

• Burial and cremation rights and regulations.

1. According to the law, nobody owns a dead body. However, a person may take possession of a body if their aim is to arrange for the body to be buried, cremated, or otherwise disposed of.

2. You have the right to take possession of a body at the moment of death. You do not need a medical or green certificate to take a body home from the hospital or morgue.

3. Hospitals and/or coroners reserve the right to hold on to a body if they need to determine cause of death, or if the person died from a serious or infectious disease.

4. It is illegal to sell a body for purposes of dissection, detain a body due to unpaid debts, conspire to prevent a lawful and decent burial, refuse to deliver a body for burial or cremation, expose a body in a public place.

5. Dead bodies pose no risk of infection, except for highly unusual circumstances where there may be a risk to living persons for some time after death.

6. Once a body has been buried it can only be moved or disturbed with permission from the authorities.

7. A body can be exhumed by a coroner if they need to examine it.

8. Bodies may be moved and reinterred in accordance with the Disused Burial Grounds (Amendment) Act 1981.

9. If a dead body remains unclaimed and nobody takes possession of it, the State or local authority will take responsibility for lawfully disposing of it. The local authority will also arrange a “public health funeral” for the person who has died.

10. Embalming is not a legal requirement in the UK, unless the body will be transported internationally.

What are the rights and responsibilities of the Executor or personal representative of the person who has died?

1. The death must be registered within 5 days in the UK, and within 8 days in Scotland. Failure to do so is punishable by a fine.
2. You are not legally obligated to organise a funeral or dispose of the body of someone who has died. You reserve the right to refuse responsibility of a body if, for example, you cannot afford to pay for funeral or burial costs.
3. If you take possession of a body you are not obligated to dispose of it.
4. If a person has died at home, the family has the right to care for the body at home.
5. A parent has a duty under common law to bury or cremate their child, if they can afford to do so.
6. If named in a Will, the Executor or personal representative has the immediate and prior right to take possession of the body. The Executor can overrule other family members.
7. If the person who dies did not have a Will or appoint an Executor, you can find out who the rightful personal representative is by consulting the Non-Contentious Probate Rules, rule 22.
8. A coroner or hospital can detain a body if they need to examine the body or if the body may be infectious.
9. Adoptive parents of a child who has been adopted have a better right to possession of the body than the natural parents. In the case of a foster child, the natural parents have a better right to possession than the foster parents.
10. Hospitals have a duty as “householders in law” to arrange and pay for funerals of patients whose bodies have not been claimed by anyone.
11. Local authorities have a duty to arrange burial or cremation who dies in “residential accommodation for persons aged eighteen or over who by reason of age, illness, disability or any other circumstances are in need of care and attention which is not otherwise available to them; and residential accommodation for expectant and nursing mothers who are in need of care and attention which is not otherwise available to them.” (National Assistance Act 1948 PIII, S21)

What are your rights and responsibilities when arranging a funeral?

1. Under UK law there is no legal requirement to have a funeral. The law requires only that a body be disposed of by burial, cremation or any other means (section 41 of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953).
2. You are not required by law to use a funeral director. Using a funeral director is completely up to you and you can undertake all funeral arrangements yourself if you wish to do so.
3. You can sign a contract with a funeral director to provide the necessary goods and services, and to protect the privacy, dignity, security and care of the person who has died.
4. If you use a funeral director, you will be protected under consumer protection laws. However, the funeral industry is not regulated in England, Wales or Northern Ireland.
5. A family member or executor may seek a legal injunction to prevent a cremation or burial from taking place if they do not approve of it. This could result in going to court to settle the dispute.
6. The person who hires and makes arrangements with the funeral director is the one responsible for paying the bill.
7. If you have signed a contract with a funeral director they have the right to answer to you directly and to no one else.
8. You may pay for the funeral from the estate or bank account of the person who has died.
9. An executor or personal representative can be replaced if deemed necessary by a court of law, under special circumstances.
10. Funeral wishes in Wills are not legally binding, and a personal representative may carry out funeral and burial arrangements as they see fit.

What are burial and cremation rights and regulations in the UK?

1. It is legal to bury a person on your own land, as long as it is owned outright. The burial location should also be in accordance with Environment Agency rules.
2. Neighbours may object to you burying a person on your land.
3. Covenants or byelaws on the land may prohibit burial.
4. Planning permission may be required if more than two burials are to take place.
5. You may opt for other legal forms of disposal of a body such as water cremation or resomation.
6. Open-air pyres for cremation are not considered illegal in the UK.
7. You may only be able to exhume cremated remains with permission from authorities. According to the Burial Act 1857: “it shall not be lawful to remove any body, or the remains of any body, which may have been interred in any place of burial, without licence.”
8. You must fill out an application form to cremate a body in order to rule out foul play, in accordance with the Cremation Regulations 2008 as amended by Cremation (England and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2022.
9. Cremated remains have no legal definition in the UK.
10. The person who applied for the cremation usually has the right to take custody of the cremated remains.
11. If the person who died has a Will, the Executor has the right to take custody of the cremated remains and has a moral duty to dispose of them.
12. There are legal alternatives to the immediate disposal (burial or cremation) of a body. These include: Donation of the body to medical science, cryonic preservation, plastination, or long-term preservation of the body. The person who died must have made a provision in their Will for one of these options to be available to them after death.

What are bereavement leave rights in the UK?

In the UK there is no statutory right to bereavement leave. Bereaved persons do not have a legal right to take time off when a loved one dies, to arrange a funeral, or to attend a funeral.

Statutory parental leave is available to employees if a child dies under the age of 18, or if a child is stillborn after 24 weeks of pregnancy.

Employees will not be granted automatic leave if their loved one has died. Some companies offer bereavement leave in their employment contracts, or employees can request for leave from their employer. This is often called “compassionate leave”. Employers do not have to agree to your request for leave.

According to the Employment Rights Act 1966 57A: “An employee is entitled to be permitted by his employer to take a reasonable amount of time off during the employee’s working hours in order to take action which is necessary … (c) in consequence of the death of a dependant.”

The Importance of Knowing Your Legal Rights and Responsibilities When Arranging a Funeral

Staying informed about your rights and responsibilities when someone dies and when arranging a funeral can help you navigate a difficult time with confidence.

With a clear knowledge of your legal rights and requirements in the UK, you can avoid family disputes, protect yourself from unethical funeral directors and avoid unnecessary procedures like embalming. If you are acting as an Executor, you will also be able to take care of legal documentation and handle funeral and burial arrangements with peace of mind. It’s important to know what options are legally available to you, so you can truly have the right funeral that fits your wishes.

Further suggested reading

Support for bereaved families to be extended

Coping With Family Fighting After a Death

Questions to Think About When Arranging a Funeral

What are the different types of funeral?

How to Plan a Funeral with Dignity