Glossary (A-Z)
Ashes
Ashes are the remains of a body which has been cremated.
Ashes Casket
An ashes casket is a container for burying the ashes of someone who has been cremated.
Assets
Everything owned by the deceased, including property, personal possessions and savings.
Bereaved
The bereaved are people who are grieving for a person who has died, usually a member of their family or a close friend.
Bereavement
Bereavement is the experience of someone close to you passing away.
Bereavement Support Payment
A bereavement support payment is financial support from the government after the death of a spouse or civil partner. The amount consists of a one-off lump sum followed by monthly payments for a period of up to 18 months. The amount depends on whether the claimant is caring for dependent children.
Book of Remembrance
A book of remembrance is a book kept in a crematorium to record the names of people who were cremated there.
Burial
Burial is the act of placing a coffin or casket containing the body of someone who has died in a grave. Urns containing cremated ashes can also be buried.
Burial Fees
Burial fees are the cost of leasing a grave to bury the coffin or casket containing the body of someone who has died, or an urn containing their ashes.
Burial Plot
A burial plot is an area of a cemetery reserved and paid for in advance by a person or family, for burial when they die. Sometimes they are large enough to accommodate multiple burials.
Chattels
The personal possessions of a deceased person.
Cemetery
A cemetery is an area of land for traditional burials, usually attached to a Christian church or other religious sites, or owned by secular organisation such as a council or Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
Certificate for Burial or Cremation
A Certificate for Burial or Cremation is a certificate issued free of charge by the Registrar after someone's death has been registered, in addition to a death certificate. It is a legal requirement for this certificate to be issued before they can be buried or cremated.
Certified copies
Official copies of a formal document, such as a death certificate.
Chapel of Rest
A chapel of rest is a room in a funeral home where people can view the body of a loved one who has died.
Clinical Depression
A more severe form of depression which may need counselling or prescribed medications to overcome.
Committal Service
A committal service is a ceremony at a graveside where the coffin or casket containing someone who has died is buried. It can happen immediately after a funeral service or at a later date. Urns which contain ashes can also be buried at a committal service.
Coroner
A coroner is a local government official, usually a trained lawyer or doctor in England and Wales, who is responsible for investigating the circumstances of someone's death if the cause or identity of the person are unknown.
Cremation
Cremation is the process of burning a coffin containing someone who has died.
Crematorium
A crematorium is a building in which coffins containing someone who has died are burned. Cremations are usually preceded by funeral services attended by the family and friends of people who have died.
Death benefits
Money which is paid by the government to support the family of the deceased if they have a low income.
Death Certificate
A death certificate is a certificate issued by a doctor to confirm that someone has died when their death is registered at a registry office.
Death Notice
A death notice is an announcement placed in a local or national newspaper announcing someone’s death and details of their funeral.
Debts
Money owed to others.
Deceased
The deceased is the formal term given to someone who has died.
Department of Work and Pensions
A government department which oversees the payment of benefits. It is responsible for issuing Bereavement Support payments where appropriate.
Disbursements
Disbursements are bills paid by a funeral director to third parties, on behalf of a family arranging a funeral. These cover costs such as crematorium fees, flowers and possibly even hire fees of a venue for a wake.
Environment Agency
A government department responsible for ensuring that land and water in the UK is cared for appropriately.
Estate
An estate is everything owned by a person at the time of their death, including finances, money owed to them, shares, property and personal possessions.
Eulogy
A eulogy is a speech given at a funeral in honour of the person who has died. This can be delivered by a close family member, friend or celebrant.
Executor
An executor is someone named in a will as the person responsible for managing the estate of someone who has died. This is usually a family member or a close friend.
Fees
Amounts of money which need to be paid to register the death, pay for the funeral and people who officiate at the funeral service.
Form BD8
This is the Registration of Notification of Death for the Department of Work and Pensions.
Funeral
A funeral is a ceremony to commemorate someone's death, before they are buried or cremated. It can be either religious or non-religious, and can feature a eulogy, readings, poems and songs that reflect the person's life and identity.
Funeral Arranger
A funeral arranger is a person who works for a funeral director to arrange the funeral for someone who has died. Funeral directors can sometimes be described as arrangers.
Funeral Celebrant
A funeral celebrant is a person who leads a funeral service. Their duties generally include giving a eulogy in memory of the person who has died. They may be a cleric for a particular religion, or a civil or humanist celebrant.
Funeral Director
A funeral director is a person who arranges a funeral for someone who has died on behalf of a bereaved family. They can organise every detail of a funeral, including preparing the person who has died for cremation or burial, completing paperwork, liaising with churches, crematoria and celebrants, providing funeral transport and pallbearers and arranging funeral flowers, orders of service and music.
Funeral Home
A funeral home is the premises of a funeral director's business where they look after people who have died and arrange funerals. See
Funeral Hymn
A funeral hymn is a traditional religious song played at a funeral, such as The Day Thou Gavest, Abide with me or All Things Bright and Beautiful.
Funeral Plan
A funeral plan is a scheme by which someone can pay for their own funeral in advance of their death so that their family does not have to do so.
Funeral Service
The funeral service is a ceremony, led by a vicar, priest, Imam, celebrant etc, before the burial or cremation of someone who has died, in which tributes are given by their family and friends, including eulogies, readings, and music.
Garden of Remembrance
A garden of remembrance is an area of land attached to a crematorium where memorials, such as plaques, remembrance roses, and private gardens, are installed to commemorate someone who was cremated there after they died. Ashes can also be scattered in there.
Grant of Probate
Legal authority to dispose of a deceased person’s estate.
Grant of Representation
Legal permission given to a deceased person’s closest living relative and which allows them to deal with the estate.
Green Form
This is the alternative name for a certificate allowing burial or cremation to take place. In Northern Ireland, it is known as Form GR021.
Green Funeral
A green funeral is a funeral that uses environmentally-friendly practices and materials, such as natural burial and biodegradable coffins. It is sometimes referred to as green burial, natural burial or woodland burial.
Grief
Grief is the emotional and physical experience of loss and pain experienced by a bereaved person after someone close to them has died.
Grief Counsellor
A grief counsellor is a therapist who specialises in supporting people who are grieving after a bereavement.
Grief Therapy
Grief therapy is a psychological treatment to help people cope with grief after a loved one has died. This can range from talking therapy, such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, to alternative practices such as art therapy, provided by a bereavement support organisation or private practitioner.
Headstone
A headstone is a memorial made from hard material, such as granite, marble, sandstone or slate erected above the grave of someone who has died, with details of their life and an inscription, such as a line of poetry or verse from the Bible.
Humanist Funeral
A humanist funeral is a secular funeral based on humanist beliefs that focuses on the life and personality of the person who has died. It is usually led by a Humanist celebrant.
Inheritance Tax
Inheritance tax is a levy paid on someone's estate after they die if the value of their total assets is above a certain threshold.
Inquest
An inquest is an investigation by a coroner in England, Wales and other countries with similar legal systems, such as the USA, Canada and Australia, if the cause of someone's death, or their identity, is unclear.
Intestate
Intestate is the status of a person who has died without leaving a valid Will.
Interment
The act of burying a person or ashes.
Joint Tenants
Owning a property with another person in equal shares.
Lasting Powers of Attorney
Official status which gives someone the legal right to make decisions about Property and Financial Affairs or Health and Welfare of an individual.
Legacies
Specific gifts or money left to someone in a Will.
Letters of administration
Letters of administration is the legal authorisation to act as the administrator of the estate of someone who has died.
Letters of Wishes (Memorandum of Wishes)
A legal document, usually kept with a Will, which states the deceased person’s specific wishes – for example, about their funeral or legacies.
Liability
The debt owed by a deceased person’s estate.
Living Will
A living will, officially called an advance directive, is a document recording someone's advance wishes for end-of-life care, if they become unable to state their own wishes at the time.
Medical Certificate of Cause of Death
A Medical Certificate of Cause of Death is a certificate issued by a doctor confirming the cause of someone's death, which must be presented to register someone's death
Memorial Book
A book often offered by the family at a wake in which mourners can write their memories of the deceased.
Memorial Service
A memorial service is a ceremony to commemorate the death of someone in addition to a funeral, such as the anniversary of their death, or in place of one.
Natural Burial
Natural burial is a type of burial that requires strict conditions to protect the environment, such as not embalming the body of the person who has died, using biodegradable coffins and memorials made of natural materials, including wood or slate.
Natural Burial Ground
Sometimes called woodland burial grounds, a natural burial ground is a burial ground that only permits natural burials. Many woodland burial grounds are private, but some are managed by churches or councils.
Next-of-Kin
The next-of-kin is a person designated as someone's closest living relative, who has responsibility for making decisions for them if they become incapacitated or die.
Obituary
An obituary is an announcement in a newspaper or website, announcing someone’s death. Often it will describe their life and how much they meant to their family. It may also include details of when and where the funeral is happening.
Office of the Public Guardian
A government department responsible for issuing Lasting Powers of Attorney.
Order of Service
An order of service is a sheet of paper with information about a funeral for people attending it, including a brief obituary for the person who has died, a photograph of them and words for prayers, readings and hymns.
Organ donation
Organ donation is the act of having organs and other body parts, such as heart, lungs, kidneys, or retinas, transplanted from the deceased into another person as soon as possible after death.
Post-mortem Examinations
A post-mortem examination is a medical investigation of the body of a person who has died, ordered by a coroner or procurator fiscal and carried out by a pathologist, to discover the cause of their death.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
A mental health disorder resulting from a particularly traumatic event.
Pre-planned/Pre-arranged Funeral
A pre-planned or pre-arranged funeral is a funeral organised in advance of a person’s death, often by the person themselves, and sometimes pre-paid with a funeral plan.
Probate
Probate is the legal authority to manage someone’s estate after they die.
Prolonged Grief
Grief which is more intense and lasting for a very long time.
Public Health Funeral
A public health funeral is a funeral arranged by a local authority for someone whose family is not known, or who have renounced responsibility for them.
Reception
Sometimes called a wake, a reception is a gathering after a funeral, which is usually less formal than the service, where mourners can meet to share their memories about the person who has died and support each other. Food and drink is usually served.
Registration of death
After someone has died, the death has to be formally registered with the Registrar or Births, Marriages and Deaths.
Rehoming Scheme
A service offered by animal charities which rehomes pets belonging to someone who has died.
Repatriation
Repatriation is the process of bringing a loved one back to their home country if they died abroad.
Scattering
Scattering is the act of distributing the ashes of someone who has died, usually in a place that was important to the person and their loved ones.
Settlement status
The legal right to stay in the UK
Tell Us Once
A service offered by the government which allows you to notify most government departments of the death all at once rather than having to notify each one individually.
Urn
An urn is a container for keeping the ashes of someone who has died, available in many different materials, shapes and styles.
Viewing
A viewing is the act of seeing the body of a person after they have died, in a mortuary or chapel of rest.
Wake
Sometimes called a reception, a wake is a gathering after a funeral, which is usually less formal than the service, where mourners can meet to share their memories about the person who has died and support each other. Food and drink is usually served.
Widow(er)
A widow is a woman whose husband has died. Men whose wives have died are called widowers.
Will
A Will is a legally valid document explaining how a person who has died would like their money and property to be distributed amongst family and friends. It must be signed by the person who has made the Will and witnessed by people who are not going to receive anything from it.