Inspector of Burial, Cremation and Funeral Directors: annual report 2025 to 2026

Summary of enquiries/ complaints

20. 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.

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

22. As was the case, and referred to in previous annual reports, the largest number of complaints and enquiries reported to the Senior Inspector relate to family disputes. These have included the following examples of the various issues:

a) Disagreement between family members on burial or cremation.

b) Dispute between siblings when both have equal rights to be applicant.

c) Disagreement over legal right to receive ashes of the deceased.

d) Disagreement over whether ashes are to be scattered or interred.

e) Issues where deceased has been married in the past, separated, but not divorced, cohabiting with another at time of death, children by both relationships, with both families claiming it their right to make arrangements.

f) Refusal for ashes to be split between family members.

g) Details of a will giving different funeral instructions not being known until after the funeral.

h) Issues relating to rights of holder who had Power of Attorney for the deceased.

i) Several disputes where issues could only be resolved by a Court ruling, consequently funerals were delayed pending the outcome.

23. The following is a summary of some of the other and varied complaints and enquiries dealt with by the Senior Inspector during the period of this report:

a) Community concerns regarding a start-up funeral business (following investigation the funeral director agreed to cease trading immediately)

b) Dispute between local funeral directors resulting in a number of allegations, some of which were found to be groundless.

c) Wrong name plate on coffin delivered to crematorium.

d) Wrong measurement of coffin dimensions resulted in coffin being unable to be lowered and service halted temporarily.

e) Wrong deceased released from mortuary into care of funeral director.

f) Repatriation of deceased from Norway, by-passed the Death Certification Review Service (DCRS) resulting in an unlawful burial.

g) Instances where funeral directors have mistakenly believed they were authorised to bring a deceased into their care whereas families were only seeking quotations.

h) Several instances where deceased have been accidentally dropped whilst in the care of funeral directors.

i) Transfer of deceased between premises with no identification tags present on body.

j) Several instances of personal items worn by deceased whilst in the care of funeral director not being dealt with in accordance with the instructions of the applicant.

k) Several reports relating to lack of refrigeration on funeral director premises.

l) Badly leaking coffin resulted in delay to service whilst the deceased was returned to the funeral home, re-coffined and returned to crematorium.

m) Ongoing discovery of historic human remains whilst opening lairs in new cemetery located over an ancient burial ground (exhumation considerations)

n) Burial lairs sold a number of years ago as being able to accommodate three coffins, now found to be able to only accommodate two coffins.

o) Interment in wrong lair in Cemetery.

p) Instructions relating to embalming not being adhered to.

q) Wrong lair being opened resulting in delay to funeral whilst correct lair opened.

r) Several enquiries regarding exhumation (mostly ashes)

s) Other various enquiries including those relating to correct paperwork required (mainly death in England, burial or cremation in Scotland) prohibited items believed to have been left in coffin, pregnancy loss out with hospital setting, interment of dog ashes.