Public funerals and the Treasury Solicitor

Public funerals

The Council provides an extremely simple public funeral for deceased people who have no relatives or friends to carry out this for them. We do not offer a low cost or free funeral service for people who are unable to afford a funeral for a loved one. See the GOV.UK  webpages for information on help with funeral costs. 

We are allowed to recover the costs of the funeral from the persons estate and if there are any funds left exceeding £500, we then pass the details of the estate to the Treasury Solicitor. Our role then ceases at that point and we do not administer the estate if there is one.

The funeral provided is extremely simple but dignified. It is usually the first or second time booking at Salisbury Crematorium; there are no flowers or hymns but we do let close friends know when the funeral is so they may attend.

Treasury Solicitor

In some instances the council is required to arrange the funerals of persons where no relatives can be found or no-one is willing to arrange the funeral.

Where the estate of the deceased is worth more than £500, the Treasury Solicitor will take responsibility for winding up the estate. We have some instances where we are approached by multiple parties for information and documents. We will engage with the party who is seeking probate in connection with the estate in question.

Recently we have received an increased number of Freedom of Information (FOI) requests for public funeral information. To meet demand, the council have created this web resource to make available a list of public funerals and other information frequently requested by will hunters and researchers.

By doing this the council has fulfilled its obligation under section 19 (publication scheme), section 21 (publish information) and section 22 (future planned publication) of the FOI Act. From this point forward the council will refuse all FOI requests relating to this and applicants will be referred to this web page.

All organisations working to trace next of kin are treated equally and have access to the same information at the same time.

This will ensure all organisations working to trace next of kin are treated equally and have access to the same information at the same time. This change will also significantly reduce the burden to local tax payers of responding to large numbers of FOI requests to businesses and organisations.

The table below lists the instances in the county where the council has become involved. This page is updated regularly, but an individual's information is not published until at least three months after their death.

Information about home burial.

If you believe you may have an interest in the estate or for further information please contact the Treasury Solicitor on 020 7210 4700 or visit their website.

Financial data

To enable the council to safeguard public health by providing funerals, the council is able to recover the cost of a funeral from the estate of the deceased. Most of the those who the council provides funerals for are often vulnerable or destitute individuals with no assets, meaning in most cases no costs can be recovered.

The figures for the last two financial years include an estimate of officer costs. These have not been included previously.

Public funerals requested

Prior to the formation of Wiltshire as a unitary council in April 2009, public funerals were administered by the respective district councils. Each council maintained their own recording systems and procedures for public funerals meaning data prior to 2008 - 2009 is not available.

FAQs