What To Do When A Loved One Passes Away At Home
When a death occurs in Malaysia, be it a close loved one or perhaps the parent of a friend, it affects all of us. We know it could be difficult to handle the post-death matters while trying to survive an emotional turmoil, so we hope this article will help make the death registration process a little easier for you. Speedoc’s CCOD service in Malaysia covers the following:
How to get a Certificate of Cause of Death online if a death occurs at home
How to register a certificate of death, i.e. Death Certificate, in Malaysia
How long does it take to register a death certificate
And more
COSTS TO CONSIDER TO GET CCOD IN MALAYSIA
When a loved one passes away at home, there are costs outside of CCOD to consider. Memorial services can cost anything between RM1,300 to RM10,000, and caskets, depending on the type, can cost anything between RM700 to RM10,000.
After registering the death of your loved ones, the memorial service can be arranged to send off your loved ones to either be buried, cremated, or replanted as a tree (eco-urn).
HOW TO GET A DEATH CERTIFICATE WHEN A DEATH OCCURS AT HOME
1. How to obtain a Certificate of Cause of Death (CCOD)
An Official Death Certificate is a document issued by a professional Malaysian Governmental Body that certifies an individual’s death as a result of known and natural causes.
A certification of death, or Death Certificate, must be obtained from the Malaysian National Registration Department (NRD).
Speedoc’s medical personnel, who may or may not be at the scene, can certify the death with a Letter Certifying the Death that will be used by official personnel before moving the body to the hospital. Your loved one may have passed on due to known and natural causes which refer to illnesses that were previously diagnosed, like cancer, or a sudden stop in bodily function, like a heart attack. Unnatural causes refer to death due to external forces, like suicide or murder.
When a death occurs at home, call a doctor that can perform a house call immediately. This can be prove to be a more cost-effective solution for the grieving family. Some family doctors conduct house calls aside from seeing patients at their clinic and help you register for it while you focus on more important things. But if your doctor doesn’t, consider calling Speedoc. We provide 24/7 house call services, where a licensed GP doctor can visit your home at any time of the day to issue a CCOD.
Simply give us a call enquiry at our hotline, +6011-4166 1178 or book a house call doctor online, and we will send a doctor to your home as soon as possible to help with the death registration process, no matter what time it is.
Do note that a doctor can only issue a CCOD on the spot if there is a valid medical report that could help him/her identify the cause of death due to pre-existing medical conditions. If the individual is a regular Speedoc patient, the doctor may be able to use prior medical records to determine the cause of death. However, if the individual is new to Speedoc, you may have to present a medical report that states the illness he/she has been diagnosed with.
According to Malaysian Law, the body of the deceased who did not pass on in a hospital should not be moved from the scene. This can only be done by official personnel like the police or ambulance staff. A medical officer, in which case a Speedoc doctor, must also be present if the family member passed on at home.
If necessary, a COVID-19 test will be performed on the deceased to determine the cause of death.
2. Engage a Funeral Director
If the cause of death is not a natural one, the Malaysian police would require a post-mortem to be done. Otherwise, the family of the deceased can begin the process of engaging the services of a funeral director to:
Collect the body from the hospital,
Send the body for embalming (if required), and
Deliver the body to the wake location
3. Register The Death
The death must be officially pronounced by someone with authority like a Speedoc doctor.
Upon checking on your loved one, the cause of death will be verified and the Death Certificate will be issued by our Speedoc doctors. The White Copy of the Death Registration Form/Burial Permit will be sent to Polis DiRaja Malaysia (PDRM) and NRD within the next few working days. The next-of-kin can then obtain the Death Certificate at the nearest NRD counters.
Before registering the death, you will have to make a decision as to whether the body will be cremated or buried first, as this information is needed during the registration. You can also register the death at any NRD locations yourself.
You’ll need to bring the following documents with you:
The Official Death Certificate
The permit for burial or cremation purposes
Identification papers of the deceased and informant (e.g. NRIC, Passport, or Birth Certification)
