Public health funerals

Under the Public Health (Control of Diseases) Act 1984, we have a statutory duty to make arrangements for the funeral of any person who has died or is found dead in the Wakefield District, where it appears that no suitable funeral arrangements have been made, or are being made.

Before arranging a person’s funeral we will make enquiries as to the existence of a will, any relatives who are able to deal with the arrangements, or funds to pay for the funeral. In some cases this will include making a search of the deceased’ s house.

In cases where we have arranged the funeral of a person whose finances we have managed, and there is no will, no known next of kin and there are funds remaining in the deceased person’s estate following payment of funeral expenses, the estate will be referred to The Treasury Solicitor who administers the estates of persons who die intestate without next of kin.

The Treasury Solicitor then administers the estate of the deceased person and publishes such cases on their website. All information that may be disclosed by the council pursuant to a request made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOI) in relation to a deceased person is available from the Treasury Solicitor’ s website https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/bona-vacantia