When Someone Dies at Home in Illinois: The First Six Hours

When someone dies at home in Illinois, the first call depends on whether the death was expected. If the person was receiving hospice care, call the hospice. If the death was sudden or unexpected, or you are not sure the person has died, call 911. After that, the coroner or medical examiner decides whether they need to be involved, and a funeral home can take the person into its care. You do not need to figure everything out at once.

This guide covers roughly the first six hours: the calls that matter, the Illinois rules behind them, and what can wait until you have rested. It explains the rules in plain terms. It is not legal advice, and the hospice nurse, the coroner's office and the funeral director can answer questions about your own situation.

Who do you call first when someone dies at home in Illinois?

If the person was enrolled in hospice, the hospice is the first call. Under Medicare's hospice benefit, a hospice nurse and doctor are on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, so someone from the hospice team can talk you through an expected death at home at any hour. It helps to keep the hospice number by the phone in the last days, so nobody has to search for it.

If the death was not expected, or you have any doubt that the person has died, call 911 and follow the dispatcher's instructions. Tell them what you found. You do not have to work out what caused the death, and you do not have to know the rules below before you make that call.

When does the coroner or medical examiner get involved in Illinois?

In Illinois, the county coroner looks into certain deaths, including sudden or violent deaths and, in the words of the statute, a death where the decedent was not attended by a licensed physician. The law says police, funeral directors, anyone with custody of the body, and an attending physician shall notify the coroner promptly when a death falls into those categories.

That rule affects when the person can be moved. When no licensed physician attended the death, Illinois law says the body may be moved with the coroner's consent from the place of death to a mortuary in the same county. So if no doctor was attending, expect the funeral home to wait for the coroner's go-ahead before it comes.

Cook County has a Medical Examiner instead of a coroner. Its office says it generally investigates deaths suspected to be homicides, suicides, accidents or sudden unexpected natural deaths, and that it will not investigate cases of apparent natural death or deaths where the person was under a physician's care.

Do you have to call a funeral home right away?

Not in the first minutes. Once the hospice or the coroner has done its part, the next decision is which funeral home or crematory will care for the person. If the person or your family has not already chosen one, you can call more than one before deciding. Under the Federal Trade Commission's Funeral Rule, funeral directors must give you price information on the telephone if you ask for it.

The same federal rule means you do not have to accept a package that may include items you do not want. The FTC also says no state law requires routine embalming for every death, and that in most cases, refrigeration is an acceptable alternative. Ask each funeral home how it will care for the person if the funeral or cremation is several days away.

Who files the death certificate in Illinois, and how fast?

The funeral director handles the filing. Illinois law says the funeral director who first assumes custody of a dead body shall be responsible for filing a completed death certificate, and every death must be registered with the local registrar within 7 days after such death. The funeral director will ask you for the personal details that go on the certificate.

The cause of death is a separate part of the certificate. It shall be completed and signed within 48 hours after death by the certifying doctor or other health care professional. When a death occurred without medical attendance, or the coroner or medical examiner investigated, the coroner or medical examiner completes that certificate instead. Before burial or cremation, the funeral director must also obtain a permit for final disposition.

What changes if the person will be cremated in Illinois?

Illinois adds two steps before a cremation. The first is a waiting period: human remains shall not be cremated within 24 hours after the time of death. The second is a permit: the crematory cannot proceed until a cremation permit has been received from the coroner or medical examiner of the county where the death occurred.

In Cook County, the Medical Examiner's Office says a Cremation permit must be obtained through the Medical Examiner's Office prior to the death certificate being filed. That instruction appears on the office's page for funeral directors, which tells you who normally takes care of it. A family choosing cremation does not need to contact the office in the first hours.

Is organ or tissue donation still possible after a death at home?

Sometimes, and it is one of the few things where time matters. Gift of Hope, an organ and tissue donation organization, says tissue may be recovered within 24 hours after death to be safely transplanted. If the person was a registered donor, or you believe they would have wanted to donate, mention it early to the hospice nurse, the coroner's office or the funeral director.

Illinois keeps a state donor registry. The state says information contained in the registry is only released to organ and tissue procurement personnel and medical examiners after all efforts to save a person's life have failed. You do not need to look the registration up yourself.

What can wait until tomorrow or later?

Almost everything else can wait at least a day: the obituary, the service, flowers, calls to banks and insurers, and decisions about a casket, urn or burial place. In the first six hours, it is enough that the person is cared for, the hospice or 911 and then a funeral home have been called, and someone is looking after anyone at home who depends on the person who died, including pets.

When you are ready for the longer list, PartingPoint's guide to who to notify after a death puts those calls in order, and you can find and compare Illinois funeral homes and crematories on PartingPoint by county and city.