The first stage after the death of a person at home is to notify MDA (first aid unit) in order for them to determine the death and issue a death notice. MDA are in charge of notifying the Police.
In a case whereby there is suspicion for an unnatural death, the Police must take care of transferring the deceased by their ambulance to the Institute for Forensic Medicine at Abu-Kabir, in order to perform an autopsy. It is important to note that it is not mandatory to perform the autopsy and it is up to the family to decide upon this.
After receiving confirmation from the Police that the death was unnatural, you must contact the burial company to set the funeral. In order to coordinate the funeral, you must go with the burial license, which must be issued (with no pay) at the District Health Bureau.
In most cases the burial company will take care of issuing the license. But in the case of unnatural death, in which the body is transferred to the national Institute for Forensic Medicine at Abu-Kabir, the certificate will be issued by them.
In the case of an unnatural death, transferring the deceased from Abu-Kabir is at the Police’s expense and performed by a private ambulance on their behalf.
In the case of a natural death, transferring the deceased from the home to the cemetery within the authority in which the deceased is registered, is performed by the burial company free of charge. If the burial is performed in a different authority in which the deceased is registered, the transfer costs money. If the burial company transfers the deceased, the transport tariff should be according to the Social Security: NIS 373 for the first 10 km from the first authority, and another NIS 11.33 for each extra km up to the burial place.
Please note, most burial companies don’t work during the evening or night excluding performing funerals which were scheduled in advance for these hours, and they also don’t work on Shabbat and Hagim (holidays: Rosh Hashana, Yom Kipur, the first day of Succot, Simchat Torah, the first and last day of Passover and Shavuot). If the death occurred during the night, on Shabbat or Hag (holiday), you must wait until morning or till Saturday evening (Motza’ei Shabbat or Hag) in order to make the funeral arrangements.
