English Funeral Chapels & Crematory

Steps to take at the time of death:

Death in an Institution: When the death occurs at a hospital or nursing home, the medical staff should take care of all necessary legal steps. You just need to notify the medical staff that English Funeral Chapel is the funeral home handling arrangements so they can have you sign any necessary release paperwork.

Anticipated Death at Home: Today, more people with terminal illnesses are electing to die at home under the care of hospice. In this situation, you just need to notify Hospice that English Funeral Chapel is the funeral home of your choice, they will then take care of all necessary legal requirements. Many times when someone has a terminal illness, the family will elect to make prearrangements with us so that they are not overwhelmed with the many important decisions at the time of death.

Unanticipated Death at Home or Elsewhere: In these situations, immediately call 911. The police and emergency medical personnel will then determine the appropriate steps to be taken. Often, the police can release the deceased directly to our funeral home. However, in certain cases, the body may need to go to the Medical Examiner's office so that they can determine the cause of death.

Death out of state: If the death occurs outside of Idaho, you should call English Funeral Chapel, Post Falls at (208) 773-3425 or Coeur d’Alene at (208) 663-3143. We can coordinate with a local funeral director at the place of death. As a member of several national associations, English Funeral Chapel often can save families money by having our firm make the arrangements. If you travel often, it would be wise to let us tell you about our Travel Protection Plan, which would cover most costs associated with a death away from home.

Funeral Arrangement Conference

To assure that one of our funeral directors is immediately available and can devote the personal attention and time needed to make the arrangements, we would request that you call to schedule a mutually convenient arrangement time. Although the vast majority of funeral conferences are handled at our chapel during normal business hours, we are available to come to your residence or meet in the evenings or weekends. One of our funeral directors is always on duty 24 hours a day, every day of the year.

When you come to the conference, you may want to bring with you the following items:

Military Discharge Papers (Form DD214)

Recent Photograph for newspaper & preparation purposes

Clothing - all normal items including undergarments, shoes are optional.

(For women, an outfit closed at the neckline and long sleeves are preferred.)

Jewelry & personal items - these items can either be brought to the arrangement conference, or on the day of the visitation.

At the funeral arrangement conference, if you have not already made prearrangements, our funeral directors will need to obtain some vital information for completing the death certificate. Certified copies of the death certificate are legal documents and are issued by the State Idaho Vital Statistics offices, or local health districts. Photocopies are not considered legal documents. After the original certificate has been signed by the physician, medical examiner or county coroner, and all vital information completed by our funeral home, it is filed with the local health district or Bureau of Vital Statistics. Fees for certified copies are set by the State. (We do not charge an additional fees)

During the funeral arrangement conference, we will ask you how many certified copies of the death certificate are needed. As part of our services, we will obtain certified copies on your behalf. In order to assist you in ascertaining the number of certified copies needed, below is a worksheet: Click Here For Additional Information

Each Life Insurance Company

Pension, IRA, or other Retirement Benefits

Probate of Will

Final Tax Return

Real Property

Stocks and Bonds

Your own files

Please note that we will notify Social Security of the death, a certified death certificate is only needed for applying for the survivor’s benefit for dependant children (a certified copy of the child's birth certificate will also be needed.)

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