Our family looking after your family.

At home

When a loved one passes away at home and their death is expected, please call their GP’s surgery as a doctor will need to pronounce death. The doctor will give you the Medical Cause of Death Certificate, you will need this to register your loved one’s death. If the death occurs out of hours, please call the NHS out of hours service on 111 who will send a doctor. Once the doctor has been, call us on 0172 334 4514 and we will bring your loved one into our care.

In a Nursing or Residential Home

The staff will contact a doctor who will fill out a Medical Cause of Death Certificate. Once this is done, call us on 0172 334 4514 and we will bring your loved one into our care.

In hospital

Please contact the Bereavement Office and request the Medical Cause of Death Certificate. This is required by the Registrar when registering the death. Once the hospital is satisfied for the deceased to be released, call us on 0172 334 4514 and we will bring your loved one into our care.

Unexpected or sudden death

In certain circumstances, a death may be referred to the Coroner to carry out a post-mortem. A funeral may take slightly longer to arrange, however, the Coroner will keep you updated. Once the Coroner has completed a post-mortem and is satisfied with the cause of death, call us on 0172 334 4514 and we will bring your loved one into our care.

Register a Death

This needs to be done within 5 days of your loved one passing away. Please call 0300 123 4045 to book an appointment. You will need the Medical Cause of Death Certificate.

Financial Help

If you or your loved one are claiming benefits, you may be entitled to some financial help to assist with funeral costs. Please call 0800 731 0469 (option 2) to see if you are eligible. This may not necessarily cover the full cost of the funeral.

Coffin Selection

At Walsh and McGrath, we keep a selection of coffins in our funeral home. However, we have access to a huge selection from our brochure. These include wooden, cardboard and wicker coffins and caskets. Please feel free to browse through our brochure to help you in your selection.

THE CHESS

Veneered oak coffin - high gloss finish

THE COLNE

Veneered elm coffin - solid oak mouldings

THE GADE

Veneered mahogany coffin - square embossed panel sides

THE ASHFORD

Veneered oak coffin - Irish panel sides, double raised lid

THE ST. FINBAR

Veneered oak - solid oak mouldings, raised lid, high gloss finish

THE LAST SUPPER

Veneered oak coffin - last supper panel sides, raised lid

THE SARRATT

Oval shaped willow coffin - fitted with cotton lining, matching pillow and quilt

Funeral Costs

The cost of a funeral can vary depending on your wishes. The options are cremation, burial or cremation followed by burial of ashes. Whatever your wishes, we will tailor the funeral of your loved one to suit your budget and requirements. Below is the approximate cost for a basic but respectful cremation.

Professional Fees - £670

This includes arranging the funeral and all the administration involved. Advice on registration of a death and liaising with doctors, mortuary staff, clergy, crematorium, cemetery and any other agencies involved. It also includes the provision of a Funeral Director to oversee proceedings on the day of the funeral.

Care of the deceased - £670

Removal of your loved one from place of death into our care. Dressing of your loved one and presentation for viewing which includes make-up, hair and shaving if necessary. If your loved one is in our care for more than 10 days this could slightly increase this cost. Embalming is not included in this fee.

Provision of a Hearse - £300

The hearse will transport your loved one on their final journey. This is normally from our premises to a place of worship or direct to the crematorium or cemetery. A surcharge of £50 per hour will be added after 2 hours. Please let us know if there is a special route you would like to take or a particular address you would like the hearse to pause outside.

Coffin – From £370

Our premises is located in Three Rivers, so we have named some of our coffins after the rivers that run through the area. The Chess, The Colne and The Gade. The Chess is a basic but elegant veneered oak coffin with solid oak mouldings and a high gloss finish. All coffins are furnished by hand in our premises by ourselves, thus adding a personal touch to each one.

Total - £2010 (including The Chess coffin)

Disbursements

These following costs need to be paid before the funeral takes place.

Crematorium £320 - £900
Cemetery – dependant on location
Minister/celebrant – from £230
Doctors’ fees - £82
Fees at Breakspear Crematorium are currently £412 -£851
Fees at West Herts Crematorium are £483-£900

Other costs to consider

Out of hours removal - £150
Limousine - from £350 each, for 2 hours with 6 passengers.
Embalming – from £160
Solid oak ashes casket – from £90 including engraved name plate.
Grave marker – from £90 including engraved name plate.
Deceased viewing at home address - £200
Out of hours viewing - £50 per hour. There is no charge for viewing in our Chapel of Rest during office hours.

We can make any other arrangements upon request.

Download our price list