Information on the work of HM Coroner for Warwickshire
A doctor may report a death to a coroner if the:
- cause of death is unknown
- death was violent or unnatural
- death was sudden and unexplained
- person who died was not attended to by the medical practitioner concerned
- medical certificate is not available
- death occurred during an operation or before the person came out of the anaesthetic
- medical certificate suggests the death may have been caused by an industrial disease or industrial poisoning.
More information on the work of HM Coroners can be found via:
- GOV.UK - Guide to Coroner Services for Bereaved People (PDF, 416 KB)
- Coroner investigations: A short guide (PDF, 137 KB)
- The Coroners and Justice Act 2009
Decisions
The coroner may decide that the cause of death is clear. In this case:
- The doctor signs a medical certificate.
- You take the medical certificate to the registrar.
- The coroner issues a certificate to the registrar stating a post-mortem is not needed.
Post-mortems
The coroner may decide a post-mortem is needed to find out how the person died. This will take place in a hospital or mortuary.
You cannot object to a coroner’s post-mortem, but if you ask, the coroner must tell you (and the person’s GP) when and where the examination will take place.
After the post-mortem
The coroner will release the body for a funeral when the post-mortem examination is complete and no further examination is needed.
If the body is released with no inquest, the coroner will send a form (‘Pink Form - form 100B’) to the registrar stating the cause of death.
The coroner will also send a ‘Certificate of Coroner - form Cremation 6’ if the body is to be cremated.
If the coroner decides to hold an inquest
A coroner must hold an inquest if the cause of death is still unknown, or if the person:
- possibly died a violent or unnatural death
- died in prison or police custody.
You cannot register the death until after the inquest. The coroner is responsible for sending the relevant paperwork to the registrar.
The coroner can give you an interim death certificate to prove the person is dead. You can use this to let organisations know of the death and apply for probate.
When the inquest is over the coroner will tell the registrar what to put in the register.