When Someone Dies: The First 30 Days — A Plain-English, Step-by-Step Companion for England & Wales: Registering the Death, Tell Us Once, the Funeral, ... Notify, and What Not to Do. 2026/27 Edition.

Why does no one tell you this stuff?

Someone has died, and suddenly you are the one holding the forms, the phone calls, and a hundred small decisions no one prepared you for. This book is the calm, kind friend who has done this before - a plain-English companion for the practical side of a death in England and Wales, written in the order you will actually meet it.

Inside, in four time-based parts: what happens in the first 48 hours, wherever the person died; the new medical examiner step (in force since September 2024, and missing from older guides); when a coroner becomes involved; registering the death and buying the right number of certificates; the Tell Us Once service, explained properly; a notification ladder with word-for-word phone scripts; the funeral, with honest costs and the help you may be entitled to; Bereavement Support Payment and other money that may be yours; protecting the estate from fraud; your day-one rights at work; and a clear-eyed bridge chapter on whether you'll need probate.

Real tick-box checklists. "Say this" phone scripts. "Mistake to avoid" flags. Fill-in trackers. And a few pages that simply say the quiet, true parts out loud.

A practical companion, not legal advice - and never sentimental. Figures correct as of July 2026.