When a loved one passes away, it is an understandably difficult time. It can be even more stressful trying to remember all of the details that must be taken care of. If you are in charge of handling the affairs of the decedent (the person who passed away) this guide contains a comprehensive checklist of the information that must be provided and the tasks that must be performed when someone passes away. The staff of the Heritage Cremation & Burial Society will perform many of these tasks while others will be the responsibility of the family or other designated party. The most important thing to remember is that your Heritage Cremation & Burial Society professional is available to help you 24-hours a day – 365 days a year. Please feel free to call us anytime at (330) 875-5770.

What Do I Do When a Loved One Dies at Home?

When a loved one dies at home there are several different courses of action that may be taken.

Hospice CareSudden Death

If your loved one was under hospice care please call Heritage Cremation & Burial Society to notify our staff of the death at (330) 875-5770. This first call puts our staff on notice and lets them know to prepare vehicles and equipment for transporting your loved one to our facilities.

Call the hospice staff and notify them of the death. A hospice nurse will immediately be sent to the home to verify and establish the time of death.

While you wait for the hospice nurse, you may invite family or friends to the home for a final goodbye. This time is yours so take as much time as you need.

Once the hospice nurse has come to the home and you are ready, call Heritage Cremation & Burial Society and our first call staff will come to the home and transfer your loved one to our local facility.

If the deceased party passes away at home and is not under hospice care, call 911 and notify the local authorities. They will send emergency medical staff to the home to determine the best course of action. Depending on a number of different factors they will release the deceased party to our staff, transfer the deceased party to a local hospital for pronouncing or refer the death to the local medical examiner/coroners office for review.

Once a decision has been made, call Heritage Cremation & Burial Society and our first call staff will come to the appropriate location and transfer your loved one to our local facility. This can be a very stressful event so please call us if you are confused or have any questions.

What do I do when a loved one dies at a Nursing Home or Medical Facility?

If the deceased party passes away at a nursing home, hospital or other medical facility notify the staff that you select Heritage Cremation & Burial Society to handle the arrangements. If the deceased party is at a nursing home, the staff will often let you take as much time as you would like for family to gather for a final goodbye. When the time is right, they will call us and our first call staff will come to the facility and transfer your loved one to our local facility. If the death came as a result of an accident or considered a wrongful death, the coroner’s office will automatically be contacted.

What do I do when a loved one is referred to the Coroner’s Office?

If the deceased party dies as a result of an accident, suicide, wrongful death or under unusual circumstances, they are often referred to the coroner’s office for review. Other conditions that result in a coroner’s case include death at home when the deceased isn’t under hospice care or when there is no recent medical history; death at a nursing home following an accident, trauma or the breaking of a limb; occupational deaths; sudden deaths; therapeutic deaths; or any death involving allegations of suspicious medical malpractice or possibly poor medical/surgical care.

Depending on the nature and circumstances surrounding the death, the coroner’s office will immediately release the body to us from the place of death, have the deceased transferred to the coroner’s office for a basic review and then released to us or following an autopsy, have the body released to us. In most cases involving a coroner’s case, our office will prepare and deliver the death certificate to the coroner for signing. The main difference with a coroner signing the death certificate versus a family physician is that the coroner will typically sign the certificate and note the cause of death as “Pending”. The family physician will note the primary cause of death and list any other issues that might have been a contributor. The coroner will eventually issue what their office calls a “Supplementary Medical Certificate” which will include the actual cause of death as determined. The Supplementary Certificate could take weeks, months or even longer to be issued depending on a variety of issues.

Should you have questions submit them here, or call your local office.