When a Death Occurs:

When a death occurs it can be very trying for the family to handle all of the necessary arrangements while often dealing with considerable grief. We empathize with our clients and hope that this guide will be useful and will help them to understand the process. Depending on where the death occurs and under what circumstances, this explains what you may need to do:


• Death in an Institution: When the death occurs at a hospital or nursing home, the medical staff should take care of some of the necessary legal steps. You just need to notify the medical staff that Mystic Funeral Home is the funeral home handling arrangements,and it should be made clear whether the family or medical staff will notify the funeral home

• Anticipated Death at Home: Today, more people with terminal illnesses are electing to die at home under the care of organizations such as Hospice. In this situation, you just need to notify the home care provider that Mystic Funeral Home is the funeral home of your choice, they will then take care of some of the necessary legal requirements. Many times when someone has a terminal illness, the family will elect to make prearrangements with us so that they are not overwhelmed with the many important decisions at the time of death.

• Unanticipated Death at Home or Elsewhere: In these situations, immediately call 911. The police and emergency medical personnel will then determine the appropriate steps to be taken. Often, the police can release the human remains directly to our funeral home. However, in certain cases, the body may need to go to the Medical Examiner's office so that they can determine the cause of death.

• Death out of state: If the death occurs outside of Connecticut, you should call Mystic Funeral Home, telephone 860-536-2888. We will then coordinate with a local funeral director at the place of death, assisting in the completion of funeral arrangements.

The Next step will to be to make an appointment for the arrangement conference at the funeral home. This is a meeting between the funeral director and the family to make arrangements for either burial or cremation services and to obtain information for the Death Certificate and Obituary.

Information we need for the death certificate

• Name of the Deceased

• Age

• Date of Birth

• Place of Birth

• Social Security Number

• Occupation

• Industry of Occupation

• Years of Occupation

• Years of Education

• Name and Relationship of the Next of Kin

• Marital Status

• Name of Spouse

• Name of Parents with Mothers maiden name

• Name and Relationship of Responsible Party

Once the information for the Death Certificate has been secured we will together create the obituary, which will be placed in the local newspaper, and out of town newspapers if appropriate. The purpose of the obituary is to notify friends of the death, tell a brief life sketch, and to inform friends of service time and place. This information usually includes but is not limited to:

• Name of spouse and place and date of marriage.

• The names of High School and Universities or Colleges they may have attended.

• What the person did during his or her working career.

• Organizations, groups or clubs they may have belonged to.

• Hobbies

• Family information such as sons, daughters, brothers, sisters that survive the deceased.

• Photographs- You may choose to include a photo of your loved one with the obituary.