What to do?
Someone you know has died in Katwijk, Rijnsburg or Valkenburg. Or in a hospital. And you want to know what you must do now.
When somebody died at home, you must contact your general practitioner. The general practitioner is the one that must confirm someone has died. He/she will provide two documents: the death certificate and one which contains the cause of death (anonymous). When you (or the funeral service provider) registrates the death at the city hall of the town where the deceased has died, these two documents must be handed in.
The first document will be used to update the administration of the town you live in. The other document will be send to Statistics Netherlands (CBS). The mission of CBS is to publish reliable and coherent statistical information about Dutch citizens.

Deceased in a hospital or hospice
When someone dies in a hospital or hospice, their staff will inform you about what will happen. For example how long the deceased can stay. We recommend you to inform a funeral service provider to make sure the care of the hospital/hospice is in line with the care of the funeral service provider. For example concerning the last care of the deceased or the place the deceased will go after leaving the hospital/hospice.

Does the deceased have a donor codicil?
If so, the general practitioner or doctor in the hospital can inform you what to do when you decide to grant the wishes of the deceased according donating organs and/or tissues.

Does the deceased have a funeral insurance?
In case of a funeral insurance, the insurance company wants you inform them about the bereavement. Before you do, you must decide if you want the insurance company to provide the funeral or chose which funeral service provider will do that. Or that you chose a funeral service provider yourself. It’s always possible to chose your own funeral service provider; you’re not obligated to let the insurance company decide that for you. The insurance company or the funeral service provider can tell you the consequences of chosing your own funeral service provider instead of the insurance company.
The benefits of chosing a local funeral service provider is that they know the habits and locations, cemeteries and crematories which can be used for a burial or cremation in Katwijk, Rijnsburg en Valkenburg.

Call a funeral service provider
The next step is to call a funeral service provider. They will ask you when you want them to come. That can be as soon as possible, but you also can choose to wait some time. For example when you first want some time to be alone with your family or friends.

What information does the funeral service provider need?
At your first contact with the funeral service provider by phone, some questions will be asked:
– do you want to do the last care of the deceased yourself (alone or with others) or should the funeral service provider take care of that? Or should there be a ritual washing? And if so, where?
– when the funeral service provider does the last care: will you already get the clothes you want the deceased to wear after the last care?
– to already get the ID of the deceased and of the person who will give order to arrange the funeral. The information in the ID’s (e.g. a passport) will be used by the funeral service provider to fill in all kind of necessary forms.
– where do you want to lay out the deceased? At home or somewhere else?

And then?

The funeral service provider will come to you and explain exactly what will happen and what should be planned. And which choices can be made with that.
Van der Bent Uitvaart thinks it’s very important that you tell what yoú want. And/or what the deceased should have wanted. Maybe the deceased has told what his/her wishes were. Or has written it down. Together with the funeral service provider you can talk about the possibilities of complying that wishes.

Questions?

If you want more information or have questions, you can always contact us:
at 06-23 56 19 17 (call / WhatsApp) or [email protected].

In case of a bereavement you can contact us 24 hours a day.

Van der Bent Uitvaart will provide funerals and cremations for all religions and cultures. Each religion or culture has its own rituals and customs. Van der Bent Uitvaart respects that and will adjust to that.