How to plan a funeral, step by step
Last checked September 2026 by Naomi Jackson
Short answer
Planning a UK funeral takes around one to three weeks. In the first 48 hours you only need to decide who will care for the person and roughly what kind of funeral it will be. Everything else, the date, the coffin, the service, the wake, comes after the death is registered and the certificate for burial or cremation is issued.
- Typical timescale
- One to three weeks from the death
- Urgent in 48 hours
- Who cares for the person, cremation or burial
- Provisional date
- Discuss early; confirm after registration
- Typical cost
- £1,628 direct cremation to £4,510 traditional
- Price lists
- Every UK funeral director must publish a standardised one
Planning a funeral is a short list of decisions in a particular order. Knowing which ones are urgent takes most of the pressure out of it.
What has to be decided in the first 48 hours
Only two things are genuinely urgent. First, who will care for the person: a funeral director, or the hospital or hospice mortuary until you choose one. There is no rush to sign anything, and you can ask a hospital to keep someone while you compare firms.
Second, a rough direction: burial, attended cremation, or direct cremation. That single choice drives most of the cost and the timetable. Everything after it can be decided over the following week.
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Get my checklistThe order the rest of it happens in
Contact a funeral director to discuss arrangements and a provisional date. The funeral can usually take place only after the death is registered and the necessary paperwork is available; a coroner's case may follow a different route. Confirm the date with the people handling the paperwork and the funeral.
- Register the death: five days from the medical examiner's notification in England and Wales, eight days from the death in Scotland, five days in Northern Ireland
- Confirm the funeral director and get the total in writing
- Agree a date with the crematorium, burial ground or place of worship
- Choose the coffin, the transport and whether you want limousines
- Choose who leads the service: minister, humanist or other celebrant, or a family member
- Write the order of service, choose music and readings, decide who speaks
- Arrange notices, flowers and the wake
- Settle the invoice, normally from the estate
Who does what
A funeral director handles collection and care of the person, the coffin, transport, liaison with the crematorium or burial ground, and the paperwork. You decide the type of service, the date within what is available, the content, and the spending.
You can also arrange a funeral without a funeral director, dealing with the crematorium or burial ground yourself. It is legal throughout the UK and natural burial grounds often support it.
Keeping the cost under control
Ask two or three firms for their standardised price list, which they are all required to publish since the CMA's Funerals Market Investigation Order 2021. Ask for the total in writing with the director's own fees separated from disbursements such as the crematorium fee. Ask about off-peak slots. Check for a pre-paid plan, life cover or a death-in-service benefit before paying anything yourself, and remember that whoever signs the contract is personally liable for the bill.
If a coroner or procurator fiscal is involved
The timetable pauses until they release the person, and no date can be confirmed before then. You can still choose a funeral director and talk through what you want; you simply cannot book it.
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Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to plan a funeral?
Most UK funerals happen one to three weeks after the death. The delay is usually waiting for registration and for an available slot at the crematorium or burial ground, not the planning itself.
How long do I have to arrange a funeral?
There is no legal deadline for the funeral itself, only for registering the death. Take the time you need; a direct cremation with a memorial later is a common way to remove the time pressure.
How do I plan a funeral for a parent?
Check first for a will, a pre-paid plan or written wishes, which often set out burial or cremation. Then follow the same order as any funeral: care of the person, type of funeral, registration, then date and detail.
Do I need a funeral director?
No. A family-led funeral is legal throughout the UK, and you can deal directly with the crematorium or burial ground. It needs transport, somewhere cool to keep the person and the paperwork, so most families still use a director.
What does planning a funeral cost?
A direct cremation averages £1,628, a simple attended funeral £3,828 and a traditional funeral £4,510, according to SunLife's Cost of Dying Report 2026, with the send-off adding around £1,312.
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Estimate the costMore guides in this series
Funeral options compared: costs and what's included
Direct cremation, simple, traditional, burial, natural burial and celebrations of life, with average UK costs and what each includes.
How to choose a funeral director
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Funeral costs UK: what a funeral costs in 2026
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The funeral process, step by step
From the death to the funeral: what happens at each stage, who does it, and how long it usually takes in each UK nation.
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