What Are The Rules For Funerals After The Second Lockdown?

2020 has been a lot to take in.

Whether you’ve been wondering about who you can see, where you can see them, or just what time the pub shuts, this year has had a lot of rules to navigate that we are all not used to. One of the most difficult times to experience this confusion is on the run up to a funeral.

Are you allowed to attend the funeral?

What are you supposed to tell others?

Can you still place an announcement in the newspaper?

Now that we have come out the other side of our second lockdown, it’s worth taking another look at all the information regarding funerals, so that hopefully it’s one less thing to worry about.

Thankfully the answer for those of us in England is fairly straightforward, in that there are only one set of guidelines that remain the same across all three tiers. Thanks to the NAFD (National Association of Funeral Directors), we can share the following information:

On 3 December, when the [second] lockdown ends in England, the country will return to a three-tier system.

In all three tiers, the guidance for funerals remains the same:

There are no rules or regulations in England against announcing a funeral in the newspaper or online, so that is one tradition that remains unaffected. Obviously there is still that restriction on the number of people attending the funeral or the wake, so just be mindful not to turn up unannounced and cause any unnecessary awkwardness for the family.

The Welsh guidelines are a little trickier, albeit a little more flexible too. Information from gov.wales tells us that the number of people who can attend a funeral is governed by the size of the venue and its ability to allow for social distancing. For example, a chapel might normally have space for 100 people, but when you factor in social distancing then it might only fit 40 people.

One other key piece of information is that you must be invited to the funeral. That way they can control the amount of people who attend on a per funeral basis. Some Funeral Directors in Wales are even choosing not to publish the funeral details at all, just so that they don’t have too many uninvited guests turning up. The best thing for you to do if you are a prospective guest is to just call the Funeral Director and find out more directly from them.

All of Scotland is currently divided up into 5 levels. If you are lucky enough to be in level 0, which is the lowest level, then the maximum number of guests at a funeral has been set at 50. If you are in levels 1 through 4 then the maximum has been set at just 20 people.

Again the guidance is that these numbers will differ depending on the venue size, if you cannot fit 20 people in whilst also maintaining social distancing, then the number could be even fewer. For further information on the Scottish guidance then visit gov.scot for more details and clarification.

Marie Curie, the terminal illness charity, have put together a great information and advice page that details all the above information, plus more information about coping with grief in these strange times: https://www.mariecurie.org.uk/help/support/bereaved-family-friends/organising-funeral/funerals-and-coronavirus

If you want to keep up to date with any rule changes that may affect funerals in the coming months, then make sure to follow funeral-notices.co.uk on social media to find out when new articles are published:

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
LinkedIn