Funeral guides & advice

Practical, plain-English guidance on registering a death, choosing a funeral director, understanding funeral costs and the help available to pay for a funeral. Written for families in the London Borough of Bexley.

• What to do when someone dies

  Practical steps · 9 min read

  The practical order of the first few days — who to call, how the medical examiner process works, registering the death within five days, and what genuinely can wait.

• Registering a death in Bexley

  Practical steps · 8 min read

  You have five days, one appointment, and a short list of documents. Here is exactly how it works in Bexley, what to bring, and the one decision at the appointment that people regret getting wrong.

• Medical examiners and the new death certification system

  Practical steps · 7 min read

  The reform almost nobody was told about — and the most common reason a funeral date now moves. What the medical examiner actually does, and what you can ask them.

• How to choose a funeral director

  Practical steps · 12 min read

  Most families ring one firm and accept the first quote. Here's how to compare properly, what the law says they must tell you, and the 21 questions that reveal a good firm from a bad one.

• What a Standardised Price List is, and how to use it

  Costs & options · 9 min read

  The document that makes shopping around possible — what the law forces every funeral director to publish, what it deliberately leaves out, and the four lines where quotes stop being comparable.

• Burial or cremation: how to choose

  Costs & options · 11 min read

  The decision most families find hardest. A plain comparison of cost, practicality, faith, and what each option means years later — plus real Bexley figures.

• Eltham Crematorium: a practical guide

  Local information · 8 min read

  The crematorium nearly every Bexley cremation passes through — what it charges, how the slots work, what happens on the day, and the booking choice that saves £328 for exactly the same service.

• Bexley burial and cemetery fees

  Local information · 8 min read

  Burial is the most expensive choice most families make, and the funeral director is not where the money goes. Here is how Bexley Council's grave leases, interment fees and non-resident rates actually add up.

• Direct cremation explained

  Costs & options · 10 min read

  The lowest-cost way to arrange a cremation — what you get, what you give up, what it really costs in 2026, and the questions that separate a good provider from a bad one.

• Help with funeral costs

  Money & benefits · 12 min read

  If you cannot afford a funeral, there is real help available — but almost all of it has deadlines and conditions. Here's who qualifies, how much you get, and what to do first.

• Pre-paid funeral plans: what you're actually buying

  Costs & options · 9 min read

  They can be a genuinely good idea or an expensive mistake, and the difference is in the small print. What's guaranteed, what isn't, and the questions that separate the two.

• Planning your own funeral in advance

  Planning ahead · 11 min read

  Writing down your wishes takes twenty minutes and spares your family the hardest decisions. Whether to prepay is a separate question — here's how to judge it.