When a death occurs in a hospital, the medical team takes care of the immediate medical and legal steps. What families need to do is fairly short, and hospital staff will help.
What the hospital does
- Pronounces the death and records the time.
- Notifies the attending physician, who is normally responsible for certifying the cause of death.
- Contacts the organ and tissue donation organization. Hospitals are required to refer deaths to the regional donation organization, which may speak with the family about donation, especially if the person was a registered donor.
- Reports the death to the medical examiner when the circumstances require it, for example after an accident or injury. In those cases the medical examiner may need to release the person before a funeral home can take them into its care.
What the family needs to do
- Choose a funeral home and give its name to the nurse, social worker or patient-relations staff. The hospital will release your loved one to that funeral home once the required paperwork is complete. If there was a pre-need contract, use the funeral home named in it.
- Decide who will make decisions. Florida law gives the right to direct final arrangements to a “legally authorized person,” usually the surviving spouse, then adult children. See who can make funeral arrangements in Florida.
- Collect personal belongings or ask how the hospital will return them.
- Ask about bereavement support. Hospital chaplains and social workers can often point you to local grief resources.
Hospitals generally have limited space to keep a person who has died, so they will ask you to name a funeral home fairly soon. You do not have to make any other decisions, such as burial or cremation, at that point.
If an autopsy is mentioned
A medical examiner may require an autopsy in some deaths under Florida law. In other cases a hospital may ask the family’s permission for a non-required autopsy; the family can decline. Ask the doctor to explain which applies.
The next few days
- Meet with the funeral director and ask for the General Price List. See your rights when planning a funeral.
- Gather information for the death certificate. See documents a funeral home may need.
- Compare options with the funeral cost calculator.
This page is not medical advice. In an emergency, or if you are unsure whether someone has died, call 911. Editorial policy.