If someone dies at home, you must call your family doctor who will normally call at the house, and if satisfied with the cause of death, will issue a medical certificate of cause of death.
In some cases the death may be reported to the Procurator Fiscal. There are many reasons for this and it should not give cause for concern and will not necessarily delay the funeral.
If the death occurs in the hospital or nursing home, the doctor or staff nurse in charge will make the arrangements for a doctor to issue the medical certificate of cause of death.
The medical certificate of cause of death must be taken to the Registration office within 8 days of the death. See our web page about Registering a death.
You may wish to make immediate contact with your Church.
To arrange the funeral you should contact your Funeral Director who will fully explain the procedures involved and will arrange a suitable time to visit you at your home.
The responsibility for arranging the funeral normally falls on the Executor or nearest family member. They should contact the Funeral Director who will be able to undertake many of the necessary arrangements necessary to help you arrange the funeral. Details of the name, age, religion place of death and next of kin will be required.
You will then need to decide the type of funeral, burial or cremation.
You can download our Application for Interment form from this page.
An individual can organise a cremation without the services of a Funeral Director, but it is against Council Policy to allow a burial to be organised by anyone else other than a Funeral Director.
It should also be stated that many of the duties performed by a Funeral Director are onerous and would therefore be difficult for family members to carry out anyway.
For information on local companies, please see the Funeral Services section of our Business Directory.
The following grave choices are available for residents within Clackmannanshire for a still-birth or the death of a baby:
No charge will be levied for hire of Council premises in connection with the funeral service of a child aged 5 years and under, including a still birth, provided that the use does not exceed 2 hours.
All our cemeteries are maintained by the Land Services and Burial Grounds Team who may be contacted by calling 01259 450000, email: landserv@clacks.gov.uk.
After an interment has taken place a certain amount of consolidation of the disturbed ground will occur. The maintenance team will routinely top up the level of soil to maintain a level appearance.
During heavy periods of rain or other severe weather, the amount of consolidation can be greater than normal. The maintenance team may require to repeat relevelling work several times until consolidation has stopped.
The Land Services and Burial Grounds Team Leader may be contacted by calling 01259 450000, email: landserv@clacks.gov.uk. His remit covers every aspect of this service and all issues should be addressed to him in the first instance.
Yes. However, due to the large size of some plans it will not be possible to provide a full sized copy. It will be possible in most instances to provide a copy of the relevant section where a particular lair is located.
Please be aware that there may be a small charge for this service.
You can contact the administration office for Land and Burial Services on 01259 450000, email: landserv@clacks.gov.uk to discuss your particular requirements.
Kilncraigs, Alloa, Tel: 01259 450000, email: landserv@clacks.gov.uk
There are 8 cemeteries within Clackmannanshire, plus 2 churchyards and a historical burial ground.
The Council leaves flowers and wreaths on graves for three weeks before removing them. If you would like them left for longer, please ask the Cemetery staff or office.
Should the family wish to keep any of these floral tributes, ribbons, cards and labels, please take them from the grave within three weeks of the funeral.
Christmas wreaths will be removed from the 1st February onwards.
At the time of the funeral floral tributes can be placed on the grass.
At any other times please place them within the headstone border of the grave so that we can cut the grass on the grave.
The Registration office in Alloa holds all genealogy information, including local birth, death and marriage records dating back to 1856. Staff are able to access an electronic link to the General Register Office for Scotland (GROS) in Edinburgh allowing a search of the registration index for the whole of Scotland.
Full adult lairs are available in all of our open cemeteries. These can normally accommodate 3 standard coffins.
No, we no longer allow grave or lairs to be purchased in advance.
No.
You have bought the Exclusive Right of Burial in that lair, rather than the ground itself. When the owner dies, the right of burial will pass to the individual nominated on the Application for Interment form.
No.
An Application for Interment, (an application for burial), must be submitted at least 2 working days in advance, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and Public Holidays. The Council is the Burial Authority, so all interments must be authorised and carried out by the Council.
An Application for Interment contains:
See Burial Ground Charges FAQs below.
The erection of memorials is permitted on lairs where the Exclusive Right of Burial has been granted.
All memorials must be constructed and erected by a Monumental Mason adhering to the recommendations formulated by the National Association of Monumental Masons and any pertinent to Clackmannanshire Council.
Lair owners, through their Mason, must apply to the Council with exact details of the construction of the memorial, the method of erection and the inscription.
You can download an Application to erect/carry out work on a memorial form from this page.
The Council will then grant permission.
The law requires the owner of the Exclusive Right of Burial be entered into the Council's register of ownership. Upon the death of the owner, the lair must be transferred to the person making the application to open the lair on the interment form. The Council register is updated with the new owner's details.
Included with the Exclusive Right of Burial is the right to erect a memorial. Responsibility for the maintenance and upkeep of the memorial lies with the owner of the Exclusive Right of Burial. The Council may require to contact the owner to advise of problems associated with the memorial for operational reasons.
After 40 years, if the lair has not been used or transferred to any other family member, the Council can terminate the Exclusive Right of Burial after appropriate checks and measures have been carried out. The ownership will then revert back to the Council and normal purchase charges will apply.
Yes. The Council will buy back lairs which have not been used for burial and will refund the amount paid at the time of purchase, less administration costs.
It is an offence to sell a lair to anyone other than the Council.
The following Burial Ground charges for Clackmannanshire Council are effective from 1st April 2024.
The charges for burials will apply on weekdays: Monday to Thursday 9.30 am to 3.00 pm and Friday 9.30 am - 1.00 pm.
Burials on public holidays and Saturday mornings will only be permitted in special circumstances and will be subject to a 50% surcharge.
Where more than one interment occurs simultaneously in a single lair the charge shall be for one interment only.
Purchase Right of Burial including Lair Certificate
The cost of a cremation is similar to that of an interment/burial. However, there may be an additional charge for purchasing a new lair as and when required.
Please speak to your chosen Undertaker about a more detailed breakdown of expected costs.
The registered owner of the Exclusive Right of Burial is responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of the memorial.
The Council will make some arrangements to contact owners to inform them that their memorial has fallen and provide advice on how to repair and re-erect.
If you wish to erect a new memorial, you should contact a memorial mason and complete our Application to Erect/Carry out Work on a Memorial form.
Grounds Maintenance and Burial Grounds
Kelliebank Depot, Riverbank Ind Est, Alloa, FK10 1NT
Tel: 01259 450000
Email: customerservice@clacks.gov.uk