What to Do When Someone Dies in Sunderland

Losing someone is one of the hardest things any of us go through, and it can be difficult to know what needs doing first. There is no right way to grieve and very little that has to happen immediately. This is a plain, practical guide to the steps that usually follow a death in Sunderland, with the local details you will need: where the register office is, how the city's crematorium and cemeteries work, and who can help. Take it at your own pace.

In the first few days

What happens first depends on where the person died.

• At home or elsewhere in the community. Call the person's GP surgery, or NHS 111 out of hours. A doctor confirms the death and starts the paperwork. If a death is sudden, unexpected or the emergency services are involved, ring 999.
• In hospital or a care home. Staff at Sunderland Royal Hospital on Kayll Road, or at the care home, will guide you through the immediate steps and tell you when the paperwork is ready.

Since the national changes of 2024, every death that is not referred to the coroner is reviewed by an independent medical examiner before the doctor's certificate (the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death) is sent on. In Sunderland the certificate is now sent electronically to the register office, so you no longer collect it yourself. The medical examiner's office or the hospital will tell you when that has happened and that you can book your registration appointment.

If the death has been referred to the coroner (based at City Hall, and reachable on coroner@sunderland.gov.uk), the coroner's office will contact you, send its own paperwork to the register office, and tell you when you are able to register. You do not need to chase it yourself.

Once a death has been confirmed, you can contact a funeral director whenever you feel ready. They can bring the person into their care at any hour, and there is no obligation to arrange everything at once.

Registering the death

A death in the city is registered at Sunderland Register Office, inside City Hall on Plater Way, SR1 3AA, a short walk from Sunderland station and Keel Square. Registration is by appointment only, and a death should normally be registered within five days of the register office receiving the medical certificate, unless the coroner is involved. Appointments run Monday to Thursday from 9am to 4.30pm and Friday from 9am to 4pm, and since November 2026 you can choose a telephone appointment or a face-to-face one at City Hall.

Book online through Sunderland City Council's registration pages or by calling the register office on 0191 520 5553. The registrar will tell you what to bring, and it helps to have the person's full name, date and place of birth, last address, occupation and, if relevant, details of their spouse or civil partner.

At the appointment you can buy certified copies of the death certificate, paid for by card. It is worth asking for several, as banks, insurers, pension providers and the probate process often each need an original. The registrar also gives you:

• a reference number for the government's Tell Us Once service, which reports the death to HMRC, DWP, the Passport Office, DVLA and the council in one step;
• details of Settld, a partner service the council uses to help notify banks, utilities and other companies that Tell Us Once does not cover;
• the green form (certificate for burial or cremation), which the register office can send directly to Sunderland's Bereavement Services if the funeral is taking place at a council cemetery or the crematorium.

For the national picture, GOV.UK's "What to do when someone dies" walks through each step in order.

Arranging the funeral

Choosing a funeral director is a personal decision, and it is always fine to phone more than one to compare what they offer and ask for a written estimate. All funeral directors must now display a standardised price list, so it is easy to compare a simple attended funeral with a fuller service. Sunderland has a good choice of local firms, and our Bereavement hub lists them all. Three with chapels of rest in the west of the city are:

• Alan Duckworth Funeral Directors at 200 Chester Road, which has served Sunderland families since 1950 and has a multi-faith chapel of rest, with support available around the clock
• John G Hogg Funeral Directors on Martin Terrace in Pallion, an established Sunderland firm with private chapels of rest and a phone line answered 24 hours a day
• Co-op Funeralcare at Chatsworth House, 221 Chester Road, the Co-op's branch a short walk from the crematorium gates, again with calls answered day and night

A good funeral director will talk you through burial or cremation, the kind of service, and the costs, at your pace. If money is a worry, ask early about a simple or direct funeral and about the government's Funeral Expenses Payment, which may help if you receive certain benefits.

Sunderland Crematorium and the city's cemeteries

Sunderland City Council runs the city's crematorium and ten cemeteries. Sunderland Crematorium stands within Bishopwearmouth Cemetery on Chester Road, SR4 7RS. It was completed in 1951 and has a single chapel seating 78, with standing room for about 30 more. Services run Monday to Friday between 9am and 5pm at half-hour intervals, which your funeral director will book on your behalf. The grounds include a Garden of Remembrance, a Hall of Remembrance and a Book of Remembrance in which a memorial entry can be made, and the council holds Remembrance Open Days on the first Sunday of each month from noon until 3pm.

The council's cemeteries include Bishopwearmouth (the largest, off Chester Road), Mere Knolls at Seaburn, Southwick, Castletown, Ryhope, and the cemeteries at Washington, Houghton and Hetton. The council's Bereavement Services team, on 0191 520 5553, handles grave purchases, interments and memorial permits, and can tell you which cemeteries still have new graves available.

Funeral flowers and memorials

Local florists can prepare wreaths, sprays and sympathy tributes and will work with your funeral director on timings. In Sunderland, Bethany's Florist on Kayll Road, close to the Chester Road funeral homes, makes a dedicated range of funeral tributes, and Flower Angels on Sea Road in Fulwell delivers tributes across the north of the city and the seafront.

There is no hurry to arrange a headstone: many families wait several months for a new grave to settle. When you are ready, a memorial mason will guide you on styles, materials and the council's cemetery regulations, and can clean or add an inscription to an existing memorial. Scott Memorials, a family mason with a showroom at 217 Hylton Road, makes headstones and carries out inscriptions, renovation and fixing in the city's cemeteries. Our Bereavement hub lists local florists and memorial masons.

Support for you

Grief comes in waves, and looking after yourself matters just as much as the paperwork. You do not have to cope alone. These organisations offer free, confidential support:

• Cruse Bereavement Support, the UK's leading bereavement charity, with a helpline and local groups.
• Samaritans, call 116 123, any time of day or night, if you are struggling to cope.
• Marie Curie, a support line for anyone affected by death, dying and bereavement.

Your GP can also help and can refer you to local counselling. Be gentle with yourself; there is no timetable for grief.

Our Bereavement in Sunderland hub brings together local funeral directors, florists, memorial masons and support services.