Arrange a Funeral FAQs

As soon as you feel able, contact the funeral director who will advise you on the next steps for getting started with funeral arrangements and can also answer any immediate questions you may have about the process.

In Scotland, any death must be registered within 8 days of the death occurring, and a funeral cannot take place without the death being registered. When you contact the funeral director they will give you all the instructions on how to register the death over the phone with the registry office.

We bring your loved one into our care as soon as we are able to. The family (or person arranging the funeral) can choose for their loved one to be taken to our Chapel of rest, or if they prefer the deceased can remain at rest in the home, until such time as the funeral takes place.

Family are welcome to come to Mansewood private chapel at any time to see their loved one. Simply make an appointment with the funeral director to let them know when you would like to come so that a member of staff can be there to meet you.

The deceased’s own clothing is preferred because we feel it is personal to them and can give comfort to the family to know how the deceased has been prepared for their final journey. However, if this is not possible, there are alternatives which can be discussed with the funeral director.

During funeral arrangements, the funeral director will meet with the family or person arranging the funeral to discuss all aspects of the funeral. This can take place either in our offices or the funeral director can come to you. This is when you will decide things like whether you want a burial or a cremation, where and when the funeral will be and who you would like to take the service as well as where the death and funeral arrangements should be announced. This is also when you can start to tailor the service to be more personal to the deceased and their family; deciding details such as:

-Any flowers the family would like
-Will the family need transport to the funeral?
-Should donations be collected on leaving the service?
-Music to be played during the service and if you would like a photo tribute
-Will funeral teas be offered?
-Will any family members speak at the service?

The above and any other details the family would like to include can be discussed with your funeral director who will do their best to accommodate all the family’s wishes.

Once the death has been registered we can then start to liaise with the council or crematorium to arrange a date and time for the funeral. This will usually be between 4 and 10 days after registering the death, however the funeral director will do their best to accommodate the family in any way they can.

A public funeral will be intimated with all the details available, so any person who wishes to can attend the funeral. For a private funeral, the funeral director will not share any details about where and when the funeral will take place. This allows the family to invite the people who they wish to attend the funeral for a more private service. In this case, intimations can still be placed, however it will not contain any details of the funeral, it simply informs people of the death.

A direct or unattended cremation means the family or person arranging the funeral will know where and when the cremation will take place but no one can attend the cremation service. An attended cremation allows the family and friends to attend a service at the crematorium with their choice of minister or celebrant and any music or other details they wish to include.

We will often suggest limiting the amount of flowers ordered for a cremation service, perhaps offering donations to charity in lieu of flowers. After the service, the flowers can be brought back for the family to collect in the days after the funeral or they can be left at the crematorium. One option is to bring the flowers back from the crematorium to be placed on the grave of a relative.

After the service, a period of two or three weeks is allowed for the family to decide what they wish to do with the cremated remains. The funeral director will collect these from the crematorium on the family’s behalf and they can then be stored at our chapel of rest until the family have come to a decision.

A funeral account will be posted to the person who arranged the funeral approximately two or three weeks after the funeral has taken place. If the account is to be sent to a solicitor please let the funeral director know.

At John McNeil Funeral Directors we understand that arranging a funeral can often be an unexpected financial cost and everyone’s circumstances are different. Please let the funeral director know the situation when arrangements are being made and they will help you to tailor the funeral to suit your budget and will be able to advise you on any support you may be entitled to that will help with costs. Whether this includes a funeral support payment offered by the government, or various other avenues for assistance depending on a person’s career history for example, we are pleased to guide families towards the best support for them.

There is no set time to wait until arranging a memorial; a headstone can be erected as soon as the family feel they are ready to discuss it.

The time taken to get a memorial finished depends on each situation. For example, if it is a new headstone, this may depend on whether the stone has to be crafted especially or is already in stock. If there is an existing headstone which needs words added this may take less time. As a rough guideline we would suggest most memorial work will be completed between four and six weeks after it is confirmed with the funeral director.