When a person dies and no one else is able to organise the funeral, the council has a duty, under the Burials and Cremation (Scotland) Act 2016, to arrange a burial or cremation of the remains.
If we are contacted to arrange a funeral (for whatever reason), we are required to:
- Search the person’s last abode for valuables, family contacts, banking documents and wills;
- arrange a basic funeral to be conducted by an official including the casket and flowers
- keep family and/or friends involved with the arrangements so that they are aware of times and dates. Family and/or friends are entitled to attend the funeral,
- reclaim our costs from the estate.
The funeral will be a cremation unless it is believed that the deceased would have wanted a burial. The burial will be in an unmarked communal grave.
We will endeavour to return the cremated remains to the family where possible.
You can download listings of all assisted funerals carried out by Fife Council under the Burial and Cremation (Scotland) Act 2016 and previously under the National Assistance Act 1948 from the publications section below (this information is updated monthly).
If you need to contact us, please use the details below:
Duty Officer
Tel: 01592 583488
Email: Duty.OfficerPPT@fife.gov.uk
Funeral Support Payment
The Scottish Government also offer a Funeral Support Payment, which could help to pay for funeral costs if you live in Scotland.
There are certain criteria to be eligible for the Funeral Support Payment, which includes:
- you or your partner are getting certain benefits or tax credits
- the person who died lived in the UK and the funeral is being held in the UK
- you are applying after the person has died, until 6 months after the date of their funeral
- you or your partner are responsible for the funeral, or it is reasonable for you or your partner to accept responsibility for the funeral costs
For more information, visit their Funeral Support Payment pages.