What about the deceased possessions
The Coroner’s Officer may need the deceased’s possessions to be held until the investigation is complete.
The Police Property Office is usually responsible for these possessions.
You can call the Coroner’s Office to find out if you can collect them. However please note that if clothing or shoes are damaged, wet or soiled, they’ll be disposed of.
When an investigation is needed
The Coroner must investigate where someone has died:
- a violent, unnatural or unexpected death
- from an injury or accident
- from an incident or injury at their workplace, and not apparently of natural causes
- during or after a medical procedure, where the death might be linked to the procedure; and a doctor would not, immediately before the procedure was done, have expected the death
- from an unknown cause
- when a doctor won’t issue a medical certificate for the cause of death
The Coroner must also investigate:
- the sudden and unexpected death of a child under the age of 1
- the death of someone in care or custody immediately before their death
- the death of someone escaping from prison, police custody, an institution (prison, detention centre or secure mental health unit); or while a prison officer or police office was trying to detain them.
How an investigation works
Investigations are needed to work out the circumstances and cause of death. These are usually done by the police on behalf of the Coroner, and involve taking witness statements and other evidence.
Investigations usually take 6 months, but they can take longer, due to:
- the complexity of the case, and the number of enquiries to be made
- the availability of witnesses
- the need to get expert witness reports
- the need to wait for the outcome of related criminal proceedings.
In most cases, the Coroner will end their investigation with a written ‘finding’. They will send a copy of this to the most senior next of kin.
How can I give information to the coroner?
If the coroner is holding an investigation, it is their duty to locate as much information as they can to enable them to make accurate findings.
If you have relevant information that will assist the coroner in the investigation process, please send it to the coroners’ office. You can write the information down in an affidavit or a statutory declaration (available on the Magistrates Court web site, under Forms) and send it to the coroners’ office. Please also send a letter that gives your contact details, states your relationship to the deceased person and explains why you think that the information is important to the investigation. If you are unsure about how to fill out the affidavit or statutory declaration form, the staff at the coroner’s court or the Magistrates Court can assist you.
You are also able to:
- provide a document explaining how the loss of the deceased person has affected you and your family
- provide the name and contact details of anyone that you think the coroner’s court should contact about the matter
- send any reports, documents or other evidence to the coroners’ office for the coroner to consider.