Under all circumstances the Council’s Medical Referee is required to complete a form allowing cremation to take place. These forms are a statutory requirement therefore they need to be filled in completely and accurately. The Medical Referee’s cremation authorisation can only be completed providing supporting documentation is properly completed and submitted prior to the cremation taking place.
Death Certificate
Unless the death has been referred to the Procurator Fiscal, a death certificate must be provided by the doctor in attendance at the time of death. The cause of death must be the same as that stated on the cremation forms. The death should be registered by the relatives as soon as possible prior to the cremation. Without a Certificate of Death issued by the Registrar, the cremation cannot proceed.
Required Documentation
In most cases there are four forms which need to be completed before a cremation may take place
Form A
Is the request from the relative or executor asking for cremation. Details are required of the applicant, such as home full name, address, relationship to deceased. Details are also required of the deceased, such as address at time of death, full name, age etc.
Form B
This the main medical certificate. The doctor completing this must have fulfilled three conditions
The doctor must also confirm certain facts e.g. when he/she saw the patient before death, given as a number of days r hours e.g. 12 hours before death, when he/she saw the deceased after death, given in minutes or hours e.g. 5 hours after death , the cause of death, the cause of death etc.
Form C
Is the confirmatory medical certificate, completed by a second doctor. In other words, the doctor completing it is confirming the facts in Form B. This doctor must
- Have been fully registered for at least five years in the United Kingdom
- Have seen the body and performed an external examination
- Have spoken to the doctor who signed Form B
Form F
Is the Final authority to cremate and is signed by the Council’s medical referee. He/she has the responsibility of ensuring that the forms have been correctly completed and that everything is in order. He/she has the full legal right to refuse authorisation for a cremation to take place. Refusal is rare but does occur on occasions.
A death may also be referred to the Procurator Fiscal to determine the cause of death and in almost all cases this will require a post-mortem to be carried out. Common causes of cases being referred to the Procurator Fiscal are where the deceased has died unexpectedly, where suicide or foul play is suspected or where the deceased’s medical history gave no indication that death was likely. In cases such as these, the Procurator Fiscal will issue a Form E1 which permits the Council’s Medical Referee to authorise the cremation without the need to have Forms B and C completed.
