Public health funeral

Public health funerals are funerals in the United Kingdom paid for by the local authority, where the relatives are either unwilling or unable to pay, or where no relatives can be found.

Public health funerals are governed by the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984. Such funerals are commonly termed "state funerals", "contract funerals", "public assistance funerals", "Pauper's funerals" or "welfare funerals".

While there is no recourse to recover costs from relatives who refuse to pay for a public health funeral, local authorities are able to recover the costs of such a funeral from the estate of a deceased person where this is possible.The Guardian has reported that the average cost of a public health funeral is £950.

The term "state funeral" is also used in the UK in a different context to describe the funerals of monarchs or other distinguished figures. For this usage see State funerals in the United Kingdom.

For "paupers' funerals" under the English Poor Laws see Pauper's funeral.

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