Inquest

An inquest is a public hearing, led by a coroner, to establish how, when and where someone died. It is held when a death was violent or unnatural, when the cause is still unknown after a post-mortem, or when someone died in prison or police custody, and while it is open the coroner can give the family an interim death certificate. Scotland has no inquests: the procurator fiscal investigates and may ask for a Fatal Accident Inquiry.

When an inquest is held

Unnatural here covers an accident, a suicide or an overdose, and a suspicious death leads to one too. Most deaths reported to the coroner never reach this stage, because a post-mortem examination finds a natural cause and the death is registered as usual. Relatives have no legal right to insist that an inquest is held.

What happens at the hearing

The coroner opens the inquest soon after the death, then adjourns it while evidence is gathered. The aim is a full hearing within six months of the death being reported; in 2024 the average was just over seven months. It is not a trial, and it does not decide blame. The family can attend, put questions to the witnesses and be represented, and free or low-cost legal advice may be available. The Coroners’ Courts Support Service helps any family through the process at no cost. At the end the coroner records a conclusion: natural causes, accident, suicide, an open conclusion, or a short narrative.

What it means for the funeral

An inquest does not hold up the funeral. The coroner releases your loved one and gives the family an interim death certificate to use meanwhile. The final death certificate follows the conclusion and carries the cause the inquest found.

If the death was abroad

When someone who died abroad is brought home to England or Wales and the death was violent or unnatural, the coroner may hold an inquest here. Coroners in Northern Ireland have no power to investigate a death that happened abroad.