Funerals do not always have to be completed with a funeral director.

If you are a relative, close friend or executor named in a will, then you are able to arrange the funeral.

The Citizens Advice Bureau provides information on how to do this.

Many families feel overwhelmed by the idea of planning a funeral without help from a funeral director; a middle road is to find a funeral director who will provide as much or as little help as you need.

A funeral director helps organise the funeral by collecting and moving the body, arranging embalming (if needed), arranging the viewing of the deceased, providing a coffin, hearse and other tasks.

Providing these services takes care of hard and upsetting tasks, so the grieving family doesn't have to do them.

The funeral director works for profit and in charging for their services, funerals can be expensive. In addition, the funeral director imposes themselves on the arrangements to some extent.

Some parts of a funeral can be difficult due to:

• the pressure of time
• the lack of experience of looking after the body of someone who has died and;
• a lack of knowledge about the paperwork required.

Charter members such as Stafford Bereavement Services are able to help.

Please see our funeral expenses.

More Information

You can get a copy of The Natural Death Handbook, a complete manual for anyone considering organising a funeral without the services of a funeral director.