What to do when someone dies
Metropolitan Memorial Parks
14 October 2024
Here’s what to do.
After someone dies you will need to:
Contact authorities promptly. If someone has died at home, call 000 and report the death to police or ambulance. If the passing was in a hospital or a nursing home, staff will guide you through the necessary procedures.
A doctor will need to view the deceased to officially declare their passing and fill out the required paperwork.
Once the necessary people have been informed, a funeral director will assist in planning the service, including transportation, legal documentation, and coordination of the burial or cremation.
The deceased will be respectfully transported to the coroner or a mortuary while the family or carer begin to make the necessary arrangements.
If someone has expressed wishes to donate their organ and tissues, the hospital can check their status via the Australian Organ Donor Register.
Locate any important documents, such as a Will. They will guide will outline the appointed executor (acts on behalf of the deceased) and may provide specific information about their final wishes.
Choosing the final resting place can be challenging. Consider your loved one’s wishes and available options, including burial types or cremation, to make the best decision for your family.
It’s time to work with a funeral director to plan the service. They will help you organise the logistics, including the collection of the deceased, necessary paperwork, and arrangements for burial or cremation. Funeral directors assist with everything from selecting a venue, coffin, and flowers, to coordinating music, readings, and other personal touches.
Personalising the funeral service can create a meaningful tribute. Consider adding special touches such as:
- Floral arrangements that reflect favourite colours or scents
- Order of Service booklets, bookmarks, or photo cards for guests
- Music selections that hold significance or were loved by the deceased
- A photo gallery or slideshow accompanied by music
Your funeral director will guide you through selecting a coffin or casket that suits your loved one’s wishes and your budget. Options range from traditional timber coffins to more sustainable or personalised caskets. Each option ensures respectful transportation and presentation.
A viewing allows family and friends to pay their final respects in a private setting. It can be arranged in a family home, funeral home, chapel, or another venue. Open casket viewings or cremation witness rooms are available to honour cultural or personal traditions.
Funeral services and wakes provide an important space for friends and family to gather and remember their loved ones. You can hold these events in various settings, from our onsite cafés and function rooms to outdoor spaces, with a range of catering options to suit your needs.
Your funeral director will handle the process of obtaining a death certificate, which typically takes up to a few weeks, depending on how it’s submitted.
For any cremation services, you can collect ashes 48 hours after the service by booking an appointment. Our team can assist with finding a special urn, memorial site, or scattering location that holds personal meaning.
Contacting a funeral director
After you have informed the necessary people about someone’s death, it’s time to get in touch with a funeral director to help arrange a service. Select a reputable funeral director who not only respects your family and wishes but also honours someone’s memory by reflecting their personality and beliefs.
Funeral directors play an important role on the day of the service including providing safe transportation and handling all legal documentation. They can also assist families with the day's proceedings, accommodating any pre-arranged wishes and individual requests.
The funeral director will:
- organise collection of the deceased from the mortuary
- ensure necessary paperwork is supplied
- coordinate burial or cremation
- organise embalming if required
- arrange coffin, flowers, venue, priest or celebrant, hearse, orders of service, music
- manage death and funeral announcements
- make an appointment to purchase a gravesite if necessary
- organise death certificate.
They may request the following:
- clothing and personal items for deceased
- any cultural requirements for the service
- personal details of deceased such as their date of birth, place of birth, next of kin, parents names to facilitate registration of the death and death certificate
- music, poems, readings and eulogy for the service.
Deciding between burial or cremation
Planning for end-of-life can be an emotionally challenging time, whether you are preparing for yourself or someone you love.
Choosing between a burial or cremation can be a difficult choice especially if there hasn't been any prior planning or clear communication of someone’s wishes.
What is a burial?
A burial may refer to a number of different situations however, in all instances, it involves laying the deceased to rest within a coffin, casket or shroud. This is followed by the solemn process of interring the deceased's body in the earth, a crypt or vault (above ground burial) serving as its final resting place. Typically, this involves gently lowering a casket into the ground and respectfully covering it with soil or placing it within a permanent vault or crypt.
Choosing the right burial option
We offer a range of burial options to suit diverse cultural and religious preferences. Thoughtfully choosing the right burial location is essential as this determines the type of memorial.
If you are considering a burial, we encourage you to visit one of our memorial parks. Our team will show you around our grounds, explaining the available choices and locations in a way that is both comfortable and informative. We understand this is a significant, long-term decision, and it is important for you to feel confident in selecting the right burial style and peaceful place for honouring and remembrance.
For more information, please contact us or refer to our burial options.
What is a cremation?
Cremation offers an alternative for the final resting place of the body by utilising the process of combustion. Through exposure to intense heat and open flames, the deceased body is transformed into ashes. In contrast to burials, which rely on the natural decomposition of the body over time, cremation is a much quicker process, typically taking just a few hours.
Following cremation, the ashes are returned to the family to memorialise, keep or scatter. Alternatively, cremated remains can be interred into an existing burial site, with many graves offering the option to inter several urns of ashes.
Choosing the right cremation memorial options
All of our cremations take place within the park grounds, ensuring that ashes are handled respectfully. For information on our cremation memorial options, contact us or refer to our cremation memorial options.
Is it essential to have a funeral service?
No, it is not essential. While many choose to have a service for a loved one, others may choose alternatives such as a ‘no service, no attendance’ or direct cremation.
Find a monumental mason
If you need a headstone or monument for a grave, our valued monumental masons specialise in crafting, installing, inscribing and repairing such structures. They will guide you on the most appropriate materials and designs based on your requirements.
For a list of registered stonemasons, or to confirm your chosen stonemason is permitted to work within the cemetery, find a stonemason near you page.
Choosing a coffin or casket and arranging transportation
When it comes to transportation, it is essential to follow legal requirements by using an enclosed receptacle, such as a coffin or casket.
There are many options available, and your funeral director will assist in selecting a coffin or casket to suit your needs and budget. Some options include a traditional timber casket, wicker caskets, sustainable caskets and personalised caskets.
Additional touches
Flowers – Our onsite florists can help in selecting a floral arrangement to complement the colour and finish of the chosen coffin or casket. Flowers are a heartfelt way to personalise the service, allowing you to choose specific blooms, colours or even a scent that hold special memories.
Order of service – This printed guide outlines the sequence of the funeral service. You can organise to have the order of service designed and printed or you may wish to do this yourself. Often your funeral director can assist with this process as well. As an alternative, you may also wish to consider designing a bookmark or photo card for the guests to keep.
Music – Music is a beautiful way to personalise a service. You may like to think about the music that was especially enjoyed, songs that hold deep meaning, or hymns that have a special significance. Your funeral director can assist with choosing and playing the right music during the service.
Photo tribute – Many families find comfort in displaying a gallery of selected photos that help capture a life. This touching tribute is often accompanied by meaningful music which you can put this together yourself or have a funeral director assist. There are also specialist companies that you can use.
You can discuss any additional ideas with your funeral director. They’ll work with you to ensure every detail contributes to creating a meaningful service that honours your loved one’s memory.
Arranging a viewing
Funeral viewing services are often held at the family home, funeral homes, churches or chapels, or dedicated facilities. Funeral directors play a compassionate role in preparing the deceased for viewing, ensuring they are respectfully presented.
We offer the option for an open casket or coffin viewing, providing a space where family and friends can pay their final respects with the support of your funeral director.
Additionally, in select locations, we offer cremation witness viewing rooms, providing a more intimate setting to cater for traditions and cultures that may wish to witness the casket being inserted into the cremator.
Wakes and memorial services
Funeral services and ceremonies provide an important opportunity to honour and celebrate a life lived. As with all significant life events, this is a time to gather with family and friends, coming together in unity and solidarity to remember and farewell someone who has passed.
These ceremonies, along with new and old traditions, allow us to properly grieve and reflect on our pain, our gratitude, and our memories. They allow us to express our grief and to begin healing through support and connection.
To assist you during this time, we provide a range of services across several of our locations to host a wake or memorial service. Our onsite cafes, function rooms, and florists are available to help you organise your wake or memorial service. They offer a variety of rooms and catering options tailored to suit your needs.
When will I receive the death certificate?
Processing a death certificate begins when NSW Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages has received a complete and correct application.
Organising the death certificate is typically handled by the funeral director who is responsible for these arrangements.
Processing times for a certificate request
Certificate request |
Standard service |
Priority Service |
Death within the last 2 months |
up to 1 week
|
Not available
|
Correction to a certificate |
up to 2 weeks
|
Not available
|
Online application |
up to 2 weeks
|
up to 1 week
|
Submitted by post |
up to 4 weeks |
up to 1 week |
Registry agent (Service NSW) |
up to 3 weeks |
up to 1 weeks |
For more information and most current processing times, please refer to the New South Wales Government website by clicking here.
When can I collect the ashes?
Collecting ashes can be emotionally challenging, and we want to help make the process as smooth as possible. Ashes can be collected from the memorial park 48 hours after the service by booking an appointment, and our compassionate Customer Service team is here to assist you.
Whether it's finding a special place to memorialise your loved one, choosing a beautiful urn, or scattering the ashes in a meaningful way.
Bereavement services
Grief is a natural response to losing someone special in our lives. Unfortunately, it is not well understood in our society, and many people tend to avoid, deny, postpone, or even ignore this important process in life.
For the individual experiencing loss, there are significant adjustments ahead. This will often bring a mix of emotions, including shock, anger, fear, sadness, depression, uncertainty, and sometimes even relief. Routines may be disrupted, moods can fluctuate, and change will manifest in various ways.
It's important to recognise that all of these experiences are a natural part of the grieving process.
A death can also present challenges for those around you who may struggle to find the right words or know how to offer support during such a difficult time.
If you have lost someone, or know someone who has, you are not alone. There are many organisations that offer support, grief counselling and valuable resources to help you navigate through this difficult time.