What happens after an Inquest?

If necessary, the Deputy Viscount issues a cremation certificate, which has to be countersigned by the Medical Officer of Health: that is dealt with by the funeral directors.

The Deputy Viscount reports his verdict to the Bailiff who, if he is satisfied with it, orders its registration by the Judicial Greffe. After that registration, a copy of the verdict is sent to the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages for the Parish in which the deceased died; the death is registered by that Registrar and the Deputy Viscount signs the Register of Deaths. That usually takes about 7 to 10 days. Upon request, and payment of the appropriate fee (October 2002: £10.00), a certified extract from the Register (a ‘Death Certificate’) is issued by the Registrar: funeral directors normally arrange that for the family.

The Viscount’s Department is not involved in any way with the estate of the deceased: for information about how that is dealt with, a Jersey lawyer or the Probate Section of the Judicial Greffe should be consulted (tel. 441307).

All inquest proceedings are recorded but transcripts are not produced routinely. A transcript will be supplied, upon request, at the expense of the person requesting it: this is either the direct cost of having the transcript prepared by an external firm of transcribers or, if produced in-house, at £10.00 per A4 page (double-spaced typing). For more information about this, please contact Mrs Cave on 441402.

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