Guidance

Guide to coroner services

The 'Guide to coroner services' is intended for bereaved people and others who may be affected by a coroner investigation or are attending a coroner鈥檚 inquest.

Documents

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Details

As part of the government鈥檚 work to make inquests more sympathetic to the needs of bereaved people we have refreshed the information in the 鈥楪uide to coroners services鈥� so that it is more tailored to their needs. The refreshed guide can be found in the document section of this page.

The guide provides bereaved people with an explanation of the coroner investigation and inquest process as well as links to other organisations that may also provide help and advice. Whilst the guide is focused on bereaved people, it will also be useful for others, including other interested persons and witnesses as well as members of the public who want to understand coroner processes.

The guide includes a protocol of key principles which applies when a government department has interested person status in an inquest. The protocol aims to ensure that the department recognises the need for bereaved people to be involved throughout the inquest process.

The guide is not intended as a statement of the law and does not cover every situation that might arise.

Coroners and burials statistics

What to do after someone dies

Updates to this page

Published 24 February 2014
Last updated 28 January 2020 show all updates
  1. Guide updated.

  2. First published.

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