Inspector of Burial, Cremation and Funeral Directors: annual report 2024 to 2025

Summaries of enquiries/ complaints

23. The following is an anonymised summary of a selection of the various

complaints and enquiries dealt with by the senior Inspector during the period of this report.

24. Whilst almost of these have been completed by the Senior Inspector, a small number may still be subject of further consideration or ongoing action by other agencies including Police Scotland, Environmental Health, Competition and Markets Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority.

25. The largest number of complaints and enquiries reported concern family disputes and relate to the entire period from time of death, to, and beyond, the funeral. These have included the following:

a) Dispute between siblings when both have equal right to be applicant for burial or cremation.

b) Late discovery of deceased’s Will giving instruction different to what actually happened.

c) Issues where deceased has been married in the past, separated, but never divorced, and then co-habited with another, with children by both relationships, on death both families consider they are entitled to make arrangements, etc.

d) Disruption to several services by ongoing disputes between family members.

e) A number of occasions when police have to be alerted to threats of disruption.

f) Several disputes where issues could only be resolved by families seeking a court ruling, consequently funerals were delayed pending the outcome.

g) Refusal to agree to ashes being split with other family members.

h) Non agreement over burial or cremation, type of coffin, name on coffin plate and memorial, costs incurred, etc.

i) Refusal by a father to inform his adult daughter that her biological mother had died, as he had remarried, and the daughter believed the stepmother to be her biological mum.

26. Some of the other varied complaints and enquiries dealt with by the senior inspector during the past year:

a) Oversized coffin placed on catafalque which was unable to be lowered.

b) Allegations of wrongdoing in respect of funeral plans and handling of ashes.

c) Disagreement with funeral director over handling of service and retention of ashes until account paid.

d) Complaint concerning a funeral director having taken a deceased into their care without authority.

e) Allegation concerning property considered missing.

f) Complaint concerning procedures relating to the transfer of a deceased following a significant cremator breakdown.

g) Several complaints concerning care of the deceased whilst in premises of funeral director.

h) Wrong coffin delivered to crematorium and only realised after the service, and just before due to be cremated.

i) Total power outage during funeral service resulted in service being abandoned and deceased later conveyed to another crematorium where service and cremation was carried out at a later date.

j) Complaint regarding members of public on a visit having sight of ongoing cremations.

k) Complaints regarding suspected inappropriate products placed inside coffins to prevent leakage of body fluids

l) Clerical error which resulted in the internment of a coffin in a wrong (empty) lair.

m) Several enquiries regarding exhumation, mainly ashes.

n) Unauthorised removal of memorial plate and ashes from cemetery.

o) Discrepancies in combined weight of deceased and coffin given in application forms.

p) Complaint concerning procedures relating to cremation of body previously donated for scientific research.

q) Several enquiries concerning uncollected historic ashes.