In Scotland, there has been a high-profile case of funeral home fraud reported in the news, and we are aware that this could affect your trust and confidence in a funeral director when arranging a funeral, memorial or cremation.

This page contains some information you may find useful to consider when making funeral arrangements.

Funeral fraud can be a very distressing type of crime. It can involve funeral homes taking or misusing money paid into pre-paid funeral plans before the person it is intended for has died, or the mishandling of a loved one’s ashes, meaning that you receive a different person’s ashes or no ashes at all.

Victim Support Scotland can help support you if you suspect you’ve been a victim of this type of crime. Even if you haven’t reported it to the Police, we can provide emotional support, practical advice and help you make a Police report, if you wish to do so.

We have used the Scottish Funeral Director Code of Practice to highlight some key questions that you could ask any funeral director before engaging their services.

Questions to ask your funeral director

The Scottish Funeral Director Code of Practice came into force on 1 March 2025. It applies to all funeral directors operating in Scotland. Funeral directors are inspected against this code and are legally obliged to meet its requirements.

It sets out certain standards that they must adhere to, ensuring transparency, dignity, and compliance when carrying out their duties. The questions below are based on these standards.

General questions

  • Are you fully compliant with the Scottish Funeral Director Code of Practice?
  • Are you a member of any professional or trade association, and do you follow their code of practice as well?

Costs and services

  • What information do you need from me to begin making arrangements?
  • Will you clearly explain all services and costs in plain language?
  • If there’s something I ask for that you don’t provide, will you help me find someone who can?

Transfer to a funeral director’s premises

  • How soon will my loved one be brought into your care?
  • How will you ensure that they will be treated with dignity during the transfer?
  • How will you ensure that you ensure the identity of the person who has died at each stage in the process? Please provide written details of where they will be cared for at each stage.
  • How will you ensure the safe return of any personal effects?

Care of your loved one and premises

  • Where will my loved one be kept, and am I able to visit or see the premises?
  • Are your staff trained in infection control and in handling the deceased with care and respect?
  • Do you follow Health and Safety Executive guidance for managing risks?

Funeral planning

  • Can you explain all the available options available for the funeral service, including associated costs?
  • Will you provide a clear timeline and let me know who is responsible for what on the day of the funeral?

Complaints

  • If I have concerns or am unhappy with any part of the service provided, how can I raise a complaint?
  • Do you have a plan in place to ensure continuity of service in case of emergencies or disruptions?

Information about ashes following a cremation

A funeral director can help you arrange a cremation. Most crematoriums will only work with a funeral director and will not discuss arrangements with bereaved families directly.

Your chosen funeral director will submit an application for cremation: Form A5: application for cremation of an adult or a child (by a local authority).

All funeral directors use this standardised paperwork to arrange a cremation. This means that, legally, all funeral directors must ask families the same questions about their wishes.

Following a cremation service, ashes will be returned to the funeral director who has organised the service. All ashes are returned in a biodegradable cardboard box - a medium-sized rectangular box available in a variety of colours. 

The below image is an example of how this box can look.

The ashes are contained within a bag inside that box. The below image shows what that bag can look like.

Please check that the label has not been tampered with.

On this box, the crematorium adds a standardised white label with black printing with the following information:

  • Crematorium name
  • Cremation number
  • Service date (date the cremation took place)
  • Name of deceased person
  • Instruction e.g. to be collected, to be scattered etc.
  • Additional instruction e.g. ashes to be collected by funeral director
  • Name of funeral director and branch

Additionally, funeral directors will also add their own labels, sometimes inside as well as outside of the box. This may be to do with further instructions, or collection details. 

Correct labelling is particularly important if families have chosen a bespoke urn into which they wish to transfer their loved one's remains. 

You can see what a standard label looks like in the image below.

Support for funeral fraud

Victim Support Scotland is here to help you if you’ve been affected by any kind of funeral fraud.

Call our helpline, 0800 160 1985, or use our webchat service, which you can usually see on the bottom right hand side of this site. You can also fill out a self-referral form here.

Both of these services are free, confidential, and anonymous if needed. We are open 8am-8pm, Monday to Friday, and 10am-4pm on Saturday and Sunday.