Losing a loved one is something very difficult to prepare for. That first call can be the hardest you have to make but we are here to take your call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, whenever you need us. To help you during this difficult time we have put together some guidance.
The next of kin will be contacted and once the Medical Certificate of Death is made available, registration of the death and funeral arrangements can go ahead. A relative or person present should register the death at the local Register Office and this is when you contact us as your Funeral Directors (01234 843222).
Call 111 immediately if the death is unexpected. They will then guide you through what to do next.
If the death was expected call the General Practitioner (G.P.) of the deceased immediately.
The G.P. will then give permission for registration of the death and for A L & G Abbott as your Funeral Directors, to be contacted and for the deceased to be brought to our Chapel of Rest in Kempston.
If death is unexpected, the G.P. will inform the Coroner who will in turn contact the next of kin to authorise registration of the death and release of the body, at which point A L & G Abbott, as your Funeral Directors, should be contacted.
Every death should be registered in the area where it happened, but it can be arranged to register it in another area if necessary.
The registrar will give you:
Copies of the ‘entry of death’ (also known as the death certificate) can be bought from the registrar. This is required for official purposes such as pension schemes and closing bank accounts.
The placing of press notices is one of the tasks we can fulfil as your funeral director. However, if you would like to take care of this the notice should be written/typed out and taken to the newspaper office together with a copy of the death certificate. Alternatively, an email can be sent with the death certificate attached. Newspapers will not accept an obituary given over the telephone and will also contact the Funeral Director.
If you would like the information more accessible to a wider audience you might like to consider placing the obituary in one of the national broadsheet newspapers. Also, if they were a member of a professional society or club with a journal, then the editor may be interested in publishing the obituary.
'Tell us Once' is a service that lets you report a death to most government organisations in one go. These include:
The registrar will give you a unique reference number to access this service online or by phone.
Please note: not all register offices offer this service.
People you may also need to contact include:
When we lose someone we love through death we often experience feelings of bereavement. All aspects of our lives and our emotional, physical and spiritual being may be affected. The most prevailing emotion is one of intense pain or grief. "There is not a typical response to loss as there is no typical loss. Our grieving is as individual as our lives." Kubler Ross 2004. We are here to help, every step of the way.
For that is what grief is all about, living in and with, the "new normal". There are no hard and fast rules about grieving, it’s all about love that now has nowhere to go.
The new bereavement listening service at Abbotts has been set up because we care and understand how difficult this time can be. By offering this entirely free service to our families we hope that with small steps and the benefit of a very experienced practitioner you will find comfort and solace as you journey through this challenging time.
Appointments will take place at: A L & G Abbott, 150 Bedford Road, Kempston, MK42 8BH.
Like all of us, children need to understand that death is a natural part of life, just as birth is and there are a few charities specially set up to help children, parents and families through the grieving process with professional carers, helpful publications and activities.
Specially aimed at children, it helps to explain death through the analogy of the waterbug’s short life under water and their emergence as dragonflies as the human’s life after death.
Cruse is a national charity providing advice and support to anyone who has been bereaved. The service is provided by trained and experienced volunteers.
The website contains articles and advice for the bereaved covering many different circumstances.
Whatever you are going through the Samaritans are there to help, 24 hours a day.
CHUMS was created to meet the needs of children and their families following the death of someone close.
The child bereavement charity supports families when a child dies and when a child is bereaved
The Road Victims Trust is a charity dedicated to supporting people who have been affected by the grief and trauma of a road traffic accident.
We serve Kempston and the surrounding areas. If you need any advice then please do get in touch and we we will be happy to help you.