Software for Scottish funeral directors, from Form 11 to the funeral tea
Scotland registers deaths its own way, and since March 2025 funeral directors here work under a statutory Code of Practice. Kindred keeps each case's forms, dates and people in one record your firm shares.
Now welcoming funeral directors in Scotland
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Attending the first callFrom a hospital, hospice or care home, or from the family at home
Where it lives in Kindred: First callOpen the case while you are still on the phone, so what the family tells you is recorded once. -
Form 11The doctor's Medical Certificate of Cause of Death, without which there is no registration
Where it lives in Kindred: Case checklistA checklist item shows which cases are still waiting for the certificate from the doctor. -
A DCRS reviewSome certificates are checked by the Death Certification Review Service, and the funeral waits until it finishes unless advance registration is agreed
Where it lives in Kindred: Outstanding workCases selected for review stay visible among your outstanding work, so a funeral date isn't confirmed too soon. -
Registering within eight daysAt any registration office in Scotland, in person or by a remote appointment
Where it lives in Kindred: Particulars kept onceThe informant's details and the deceased's particulars are held encrypted on the case and printed on your own paperwork.
Kindred's screens keep their own names. These are your steps, matched to where they're handled.
The rest of the work, matched the same way
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Form 14The Certificate of Registration of Death, needed before a burial or cremation
Where it lives in Kindred: Documents with the caseWhen the registrar emails or hands over Form 14, it is stored with the case and the checklist moves on. -
Form A1The cremation application, with the funeral director's part and Funeral Sector Register number
Where it lives in Kindred: Forms filled from the caseYour register number and the family's details fill your copy of the application from the case, so neither is keyed twice. -
The lair and the intermentBurial in a lair held under an exclusive right of burial
Where it lives in Kindred: Events on the caseThe service, the interment and the funeral tea are separate events, each with its time, place, minister or celebrant and staff. -
Ashes ready for collectionThe applicant receives written notice when the ashes can be collected
Where it lives in Kindred: Follow-up tasksA checklist task prompts the written notice, and a later call to the family once the funeral is behind them.
How funeral directors work in Scotland
Registration, review and the Procurator Fiscal
A death in Scotland should be registered within eight days, at any registration office in the country, in person or remotely. The doctor completes Form 11, and once registration is done the registrar gives Form 14, which the funeral director needs before a burial or cremation can take place.
The Death Certification Review Service checks a random selection of certificates. Families can begin arrangements, but the funeral waits until the review is finished; advance registration is available for religious or cultural, compassionate or practical reasons. Sudden and suspicious deaths go to the Procurator Fiscal instead, and a cremation then waits for Form E1.
A statutory Code and inspectors
Scotland is the only UK nation with a statutory Funeral Director Code of Practice. It has applied since 1 March 2025 to anyone carrying out funeral director work in Scotland, wherever the business is based, and covers the transfer and care of the deceased, planning and delivering the funeral, complaints and business continuity. Inspectors appointed by Scottish Ministers inspect against it.
Since 2 March 2026 the Funeral Sector Register number goes on the updated burial and cremation forms. Licensing of funeral directors is provided for in the 2016 Act but is not yet in force. The CMA's price-list rules and FCA regulation of funeral plans apply in Scotland too.
Lairs, the purvey and the funeral tea
Burial has its own vocabulary: a lair is the grave, and families buy an exclusive right of burial rather than the ground itself. A right of burial sold from 1 March 2026 lasts 25 years and can be extended. After the burial, family and friends often gather at a funeral tea, and the purvey is the food laid on for it.
Help with costs comes through Funeral Support Payment, which can be paid to the applicant or straight to the funeral director.
Shaped around your firm
No two funeral directors run their firm the same way, and Kindred isn't asking you to change yours. It is configured around how you already work.
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Your workflow and checklists
Case steps and checklists are set up to match your process, not a one-size template.
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Your forms and documents
The paperwork you use is built as forms and document templates that fill from the case, so details are entered once.
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Your services and prices
Your own services, packages and price list, the way you present them to families.
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Each branch, its own way
One branch or several: tailor each branch while keeping the whole firm consistent.
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Your name on everything families see
The family portal and your website carry your firm's name, not ours.
Ready today, wherever you are
- Unlimited users and locationsYour whole team signs in. Pricing follows your case volume, not your headcount.
- English or Spanish, per personEach staff member chooses the language of Kindred, and each family can receive the portal in English or Spanish.
- In the cloud, backed upUse it from any device with encrypted data and automated backups. No servers on the premises.
- Families sign from homeSend contracts and authorisations for electronic signature.
- Your website and noticesKindred can design and host your website, or publish notices to the one you already have.
What we'll work out together
Kindred accounts run in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom today, and the UK service is hosted in London at uk.kindredfuneral.io. Your paperwork, your prices in pounds sterling and the way you work in Scotland are part of the setup conversation, and we'll tell you plainly what's ready and what isn't.
Questions from funeral directors in Scotland
Is Kindred available to funeral directors in Scotland?
Yes. Kindred is open to Scottish firms of any size, and it runs in the cloud, so there is nothing to install. We start by asking how your firm handles a case, from the first call to the funeral tea.
How would our forms, paperwork and pricing be set up?
Kindred accounts run in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom today. Building your forms, entering your prices in pounds sterling and matching how your firm works all happen in our first conversations, and we'll be straightforward about what is ready today and what isn't.
Will Kindred make our firm compliant with the Code of Practice?
No, and we wouldn't claim it could. Meeting the Code, preparing for an inspector and keeping your entry on the Funeral Sector Register remain your firm's responsibility. Kindred gives you one case record, with its documents and checklists, set up around how you already work.
Does Kindred connect to registrars, DCRS or the Funeral Sector Register?
No. Kindred doesn't send anything to, or receive anything from, National Records of Scotland, the registrars, DCRS or the Scottish Government. Form 14 and other documents are filed with the case when they reach you.
Can a case wait on the Procurator Fiscal without slipping out of view?
Yes. A Procurator Fiscal case can follow its own checklist, with notes on what has been received, and for a cremation it stays among your outstanding work until Form E1 arrives.
How is our data looked after?
Records are encrypted, each person's access follows their role, and backups run automatically. Staff can be limited to the branches they work in.
Tell us how your firm works
A person from the Kindred team will reply, usually within one working day, with no obligation.
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