When a loved one passes away at home

Where a death occurs at home, you must report the death by calling a doctor. This could be either your family doctor or your neighbourhood doctor (he/she must be willing to make a house call).

If the doctor is able to certify the death, he/she will issue do so online and the death will be automatically registered.

Note that the doctor can only certify a death if there is a valid clinical report (from the hospital or clinic the patient has been visiting or receiving treatments from) that could help the doctor identify that the death may have occurred based on existing medical conditions.

If you are unable to contact a doctor, you must report the death by calling the police.

The police will proceed immediately to the reported location of the deceased. He/she will, to his/her best ability, investigate the cause of and circumstances of the deceased’s death.

According to sections 10(3) and 11 of the Coroner’s Act, any police officer who has seen the body may:

• Have the body removed to any place he may direct; or
• Secure and preserve the scene where the body was found, for further investigations. In this case, the police will have to report the death of the deceased to the Coroner as soon as possible. He/she will have to inform the Coroner of any information (connected to the deceased’s death) found in current and subsequent investigations.

The body of the deceased will then be sent to the mortuary at Health Sciences Authority (HSA) for a pathologist to determine the cause of death.

You will need to bring to the mortuary:

• All medical documents relating to the deceased
• All medicine consumed by the deceased
• Identification papers of the deceased and yourself (E.g. NRIC, passport, Certificate of Registration of Birth, or FIN Card)

It might take up to 1 day before the police calls you down to identify the body in the presence of a Coroner. If an autopsy is needed (see below), the Coroner will inform you of this.