My brother and I are currently going through a heart-wrenching experience. Our father, Glenn, who we dearly miss, passed away in August 2024. As you can only imagine, losing a loved one incites an unimaginable amount of sorrow. However, our grief is exacerbated by the fact that we, his legal next of kin, have been denied the right to collect his ashes from the funeral home due to the current insufficient verification protocols at the point of the funeral arrangements. You may not be aware of this process, and honestly, neither were we. The assumption from everybody (even those who mean well) incorrectly assume that as his children and executors of his will, we are able to collect his ashes and bury him as per his wishes. Sadly, this is not the case. We have attempted to speak to the Funeral Director to explain the unfortunate situation, and our solicitor also attempted to assist by writing to the Funeral Directors, but to no avail. Our Father's ashes will only be released to the person who signed the documents and that person incorrectly claimed next of kin status upon our Father's death,  and hurriedly arranged the funeral before we had barely had a chance to process the enormity of the impact that his death had upon us.

Heartbreakingly, our father's ashes have now been left in the funeral home (his funeral was in September 2024 and at the time of writing this, it is March 2025) and the funeral directors will only release the ashes to the person who signed the documents. This means that we, and others who loved him, are unable to visit him as he wished.

After speaking to the National Association of Funeral Directors (NAFD), they confirmed this process is currently being reviewed, but at present, the main proofs considered when authorising someone to organise a funeral, request a cremation, or collect the ashes, are the green form and the death certificate. No further evidence, such as marriage certificate or the deceased's will to prove next of kin status and/or executor status, is requested. As per the NAFD hierarchy (https://www.nafd.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/NAFD_Funeral_Arrangements_Entitlement_Leaflet_A5_ENG_WALES_DIGITAL.pdf it should have been us, his children whom he loved dearly, his next of kin, the executors of his will, that arranged and had input into his funeral and thus the collection of his ashes and his burial.

Adding a step, an additional legal protocol, to prove that the person arranging the funeral or collecting the ashes is the next of kin or executor of the will, is crucial. This requirement should be made obligatory for all funeral homes and crematoriums. This change wouldn't only prevent emotional distress caused to families, but it would also uphold the dignity of the deceased by enabling loved ones to adhere to burial and visitation wishes (one of our Dad's was to visit him on Father's day for a chat and to pour two cans of Fosters into the ground 😂🥰)

Hence, we are petitioning for the policy to be reviewed and an additional step added to the process. It is time to offer families who are already grieving the assurance that their loved ones' final wishes will be respected and executed by the right people.

Please sign this petition and support this necessary change. We need your help to ensure the dignity and respect of the deceased are preserved, and to protect grieving families from additional distress. Thank you ❤️