Urgent burials - guidance for medical and/or bereavement staff
Emailing the MCCD:
Make sure that you include the words ‘URGENT FAITH DEATH’ in the subject line when emailing the MCCD to the Register Office, otherwise it may not be picked up quickly. A ‘faith death’ is where the burial needs to take place within 24 hours of death for religious reasons.
Please check the MCCD is correct, with no errors or omissions that may render the certificate unusable.
The MCCD must not be given to the family. It should be emailed to the Register Office and then kept securely on site for a period of one month (in case it needs to be emailed again) before being confidentially destroyed.
The Coroner and referrals:
If you have spoken to the Coroner about the case, but the Coroner does not want a referral to be made, please do not circle 4 on the MCCD, or initial the reverse: this will then require the registrar to get written confirmation from the Coroner that no further investigation will be taking place, and this will delay the issue of the burial authorisation.
If a Coroner’s referral has been made, please circle 4 on the MCCD and initial the reverse.
Advice for families:
Please help us to manage the expectations of families in terms of what may be possible. For instance, a MCCD emailed to the Register Office at 3pm during the week may not be picked up until the following day, and so the family may not receive a call the same day.
Families should not be advised to come to the Register Office to collect the burial authority in person. They should email registeroffice@manchester.gov.uk