If the death is sudden or unexpected, the doctor is required to notify the coroner's office. This will possibly mean that a police officer will call to see the relatives or residential care staff to take some details. Your chosen funeral director may still be called, but it is likely that the deceased will be taken to the local hospital, pending a possible post mortem examination, rather than to the funeral home. If a post mortem examination takes place, this may delay the registration of the death, but not necessarily the timing of the funeral. The funeral director and coroner's officer will advise as to the necessary process and paperwork.
It is a legal requirement that the coroner's office must be informed if the deceased has not seen a doctor within the fourteen days immediately prior to death or if the person died following an operation. However, it may be that the coroner's officer, in consultation with doctor and the family members, decides that an examination is not required.