Next of kin

The next of kin is the closest living relative of the person who has died: a spouse or civil partner, then children, parents and siblings. It is a practical role rather than a legal one in the UK, and hospitals, the coroner and the register office will look to that person for decisions in the first days.

What the next of kin is asked to do

1. Decide the arrangements: whether there will be a burial, a cremation or a repatriation, which funeral director to use and where the funeral will be. If your loved one left wishes, in a will or in conversation, these are followed where they can be.
2. Give consent: a hospital may ask the next of kin about organ donation or a hospital post-mortem. A coroner's post-mortem does not need consent.
3. Register the death: at the register office, usually within five days in England and Wales, with the medical certificate of cause of death. The next of kin is the usual informant, though another relative or the person arranging the funeral can do it.
4. Deal with the estate: the will, the bank accounts, the pensions and the property. This can wait until after the funeral.

For a repatriation

On a repatriation, the next of kin is the person we take instructions from and the person who signs the one form the family signs. Everything else, the consulate, the coroner's notice, the certificates, the transport and the handover to the funeral director in the home country, we do. The next of kin's job is to tell us where your loved one is, where they are going home to, and who in the family should be kept informed. If the next of kin lives abroad, that is fine: the whole arrangement can be made by phone, email or WhatsApp.

Read next

The next of kin's first week is set out in what to do when someone dies in the UK, step by step and who to notify when someone dies. If there is no will, read what happens when someone dies without a will.

Related terms: Registering a death and Belongings and property. Every term, explained.