A family member has died
The death of a relative generates feelings of sadness and insecurities that are increased by the overwhelming list of procedures to be carried out. We want to help you.
Organ donation: a decision that can save lives
It is possible that, in these first moments, a health professional addresses the relatives. We understand your grief, but pay attention to it and decide. Keep in mind that transplantation is for many people the only way to continue living. Without donation there is no transplant.
Main documents and procedures
If the death has been in a hospital of the Madrid Health Service, relatives receive a "Bereavement Guide" including:
- Medical Death Certificate
- List of funeral companies
- List of funeral homes
- Indications of the hospital center with clarification of where you should go.
If it has been at home and was foreseeable, the usual family doctor will certify the death. If the death was not foreseeable or occurs outside the home, contact the Emergency Services.
If the death has occurred in a hospital of the Madrid Health Service, may perform the registration in the Civil Registry in the hospital itself.
In another case, with the death certificate previously obtained, the legitimized relatives may register in the Civil Registry of the municipality where the death occurred, or in his case in the Justice of the Peace.
If you want, you can consult all the procedures and procedures to be carried out in the Civil Registry
Final destination: burial, cremation or donation.
Once the first procedures have been carried out, it is necessary to decide on the final destination of the mortal remains of the deceasedalright cremation, burial or donation for scientific purposes. La funeral company that has been chosen will be responsible for carrying out the appropriate procedures for compliance with legal regulations.
- The burial license: it is necessary to have already made the registration in the Civil Registry. Family members can request it, although funeral companies usually take care of it.
Expenses
In these difficult situations, ill-considered decisions can be made that involve excessive spending. The commercials of Death insurance or funeral companies They ask questions such as, for example, the material of the coffin, the characteristics of the urn for ashes, the use or not of flowers, the number of hearses...
Being informed is key to not falling into mistakes.
If a person dies without having an insurance policy that covers the expenses of the funeral and the direct relatives, for different reasons, do not want to take charge, know that, although at first either the social services, or another person take charge of these, they can legally require the payment of these expenses by the inheritance of the deceased, if there were goods, and if not, to the closest relatives, in the order established by the legislation, with the exclusions contemplated in it.
If the family cannot afford the expense and deceased lived in the city of Madrid, If the required conditions are met, you can go to the Municipal Company of Funeral Services and Cemeteries of Madrid and request the provision of free or social services.
More information at the electronic headquarters of the Madrid City Council>
If the deceased person had burial insurance, the services included in the policy will be covered. However, it is possible that they offer you a product not included in it, which will mean an extra cost.
In this circumstance, we advise you to:
- Please read carefully all details of the policy that your family member had and ask for an exact list of what would be included.
- Check whether the funeral coverage was included in any other insurance that your deceased relative had contracted (for example, one of life). If this is the case, know that you have the right to return the capital covered by the insurance that you do not use.
- If you decide to add something or change the category of any of the products included, Ask for a budget of the extra expense broken down by concepts. Although it is difficult at such a delicate moment, it is important not to rush.
- The company must guarantee freedom of choice of the provider of the different services included in the policy, within the limits and conditions established in the contract, offering several service providers, except in the event that a single provider has been agreed in the contract.
- You do not have to hire all the services offered (for example, if you don't want reminders to be printed, or use a room in a funeral home).
- Find out about the expiration of niche and grave rentals and if, after that time, you must pay another amount of money to continue keeping the remains of your family member in that place.
- If required move the body from one locality to another, even if it is within the Community of Madrid, the usual thing is that they charge that concept separately. Find out how much the cost per mileage is and demand that it be included in the budget.
- Once the funeral is over, call or go to the insurance company to carry out the correct settlement of the policy, and that refund the amounts contributed for the services not provided by the insurer for reasons beyond their control, force majeure, or because the service has been performed through other means than those offered by the insurer (for example, if they decide to watch over the body of the deceased at home, or the wake room of a hospital, instead of using a room in a funeral home).
- Request the invoice for all services to the insurance company.
If the deceased did not have any type of insurance that covers these expenses:
His relatives must assume all the bureaucratic procedures and expenses that entails burial, contracting the services of a funeral company, or contracting the services one by one, in a particular way.
Procedures for the following weeks
Some time after the death, and with more calm, there are some procedures that must be carried out and it is possible to request aid to alleviate the economic situation that may arise from the loss.
The will or declaration of heirs
When a person dies there is a set of assets, rights and obligations that form their inheritance and that pass to their successors (heirs or legatees).
Legal issues should be discussed with a notary, whether there is a will or not, in which case the declaration of heirs.
inheritances carry taxes. Consult here the information on the Inheritance Tax in the Community of Madrid >
How to know if the deceased had contracted life insurance?
consulting in the Registration of insurance contracts of the Ministry of Justice.
Pensions and aid
It is an economic benefit that consists of a Life penssion granted to those who have had marital bond or was a de facto partner of the deceased person.
pension granted the children of the deceased person and those contributed by their spouse.
Pension in favor of relatives:
It is a pension that is granted to relatives who have lived together and depended economically of the deceased.
Economic benefit of temporary character.
Economic aid granted by Social Security, by burial expenses.
When a family member who received this type of pension dies, It must be communicated within the following 30 days, providing the death certificate. In the event that the two spouses were receiving the aforementioned pension, if one dies, the other's pension may experience an increase, having to be reviewed by the corresponding department.
In the event that a family member, recipient of this financial aid, dies, the relatives must communicate the fact to the corresponding department of the Ministry of Social Policies and Family within 10 business days. In the event that you want to make a change of ownership of the aid, the interested family member must contact the municipal social services, so that in the corresponding case, proceed to its processing.