An inquest in England and Wales is a coroner’s fact-finding hearing about a death, not a criminal trial. Families can prepare by identifying their case contact, asking about documents and listing the questions they want clarified. Scotland and Northern Ireland use different systems and should be checked separately.
Prepare for the hearing without guessing the outcome
Confirm the date, location or remote-attendance arrangements with the coroner’s office.
Ask how documents and questions should be provided, and whether deadlines apply.
Raise interpreting, accessibility or support needs before the hearing where possible.
Example question list: “Which factual points remain unclear? Which document relates to each point? Who can explain how I should raise these questions?” Keep factual questions separate from assumptions about blame.
Does asking a question guarantee it will be answered at the hearing?
No. The coroner controls the scope and procedure. Ask the office or your adviser how questions are considered and whether another process is needed for concerns outside the inquest’s remit.
Can one relative keep the family’s practical information together?
You can agree a contact for dates and practical updates, while respecting each person’s rights and privacy. Do not assume that a family organiser is automatically a legal representative for everyone.
Start with GOV.UK’s overview and the coroner’s own correspondence. Neither a general checklist nor an app account replaces legal advice about participation or representation. Check the official process and case correspondence
If you are also waiting for examination findings, distinguish the post-mortem process from the later hearing and its practical arrangements. Post-mortem: consent, results and next steps
What is an inquest and why is one held?
An inquest is the formal hearing at the end of a coroner's investigation. Under section 1 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009, a senior coroner must investigate a death if there is reason to suspect that the person died a violent or unnatural death, that the cause of death is unknown, or that they died while in custody or otherwise in state detention. If the investigation continues, section 6 says the coroner must hold an inquest as part of it.
Many deaths reported to a coroner never reach an inquest. If the post-mortem shows a natural cause, the coroner can simply tell the registrar, and the family registers the death in the normal way. The Ministry of Justice's Coroners statistics 2025 (published 14 May 2026) show 147,814 deaths reported to coroners in England and Wales in 2025, about 26% of all registered deaths, and 35,989 inquests opened. If you are still at the stage of waiting for post-mortem results, our guide to post-mortems in the UK explains that step.
What does an inquest decide, and what can it not decide?
The purpose is set out in section 5 of the 2009 Act: to establish who the person was, how, when and where they came by their death, and the details needed to register the death. In some cases involving the state, the inquest also looks more widely at the circumstances of the death. These are often called Article 2 inquests, after the right to life in the Human Rights Act.
An inquest does not decide who is to blame. Section 10(2) says the conclusion may not be framed in a way that appears to determine criminal liability of a named person or civil liability. The Ministry of Justice Guide to Coroner Services puts it plainly: the coroner cannot find that someone is guilty of something or to blame for something. Questions of responsibility belong to other processes, such as a criminal prosecution, a complaint or a civil claim, which a solicitor can advise on.
What happens before the inquest hearing?
Your main contact throughout is the coroner's officer, who links the coroner and the family. The coroner first opens the inquest at a short public hearing, usually very brief, and then adjourns it while enquiries continue. Opening an inquest does not usually hold up the funeral: the coroner releases the body once the first enquiries are done, and you can make funeral arrangements from that point.
As a close relative or personal representative you are normally an "interested person". That gives you practical rights. You will receive copies of the documents the coroner and witnesses will use at the hearing, a process called disclosure, and the coroner's office does not charge for copies given before or during the inquest. You can ask the coroner's office for a copy of the post-mortem report if you want to see it.
In more complex cases the coroner holds one or more pre-inquest review hearings. These deal with procedure: the scope of the inquest, which documents are needed and which witnesses will be called. You can attend and raise questions you want the inquest to look at, but you do not have to go if you would rather not. The coroner's office must tell you the date and time of the inquest within a week of fixing it, according to the Ministry of Justice guide.
What happens on the day of an inquest?
Inquests are held in a coroner's court and are public hearings, so members of the public and the media have a right to attend. The coroner leads the hearing. Witnesses, who may include doctors, police officers, the pathologist and family members, give evidence under oath or by affirming that they will tell the truth. The coroner asks questions first, and then interested persons or their lawyers may ask relevant questions too.
You do not need to attend if you are not giving evidence. If you do go, you can bring someone with you for support. All inquest hearings are recorded, and you can ask for a recording afterwards. Some straightforward inquests do not need a hearing at all. Since 2022, section 9C allows a coroner to conclude an inquest in writing, but only if every known interested person has been invited to comment, no one has given reasonable grounds for a hearing, there is no real prospect of disagreement, and no public interest would be served by a hearing.
When is there a jury at an inquest?
Most inquests are heard by a coroner alone. Section 7 of the 2009 Act requires a jury only in specific situations: when someone died in custody or state detention and the death was violent or unnatural or the cause is unknown; when the death resulted from an act or omission of a police officer or a member of a service police force acting in their duty; or when the death was caused by a notifiable accident, poisoning or disease, such as certain accidents at work. A coroner can also choose to sit with a jury if there is sufficient reason.
An inquest jury has between seven and eleven members, under section 8. Jury inquests are rare: the 2025 statistics recorded 527, about 1% of all inquests.
What conclusions can a coroner reach?
At the end, the coroner or jury records a conclusion on a document called the Record of Inquest, and the coroner's office gives interested persons a copy. Conclusions are often a short phrase. The Ministry of Justice guide lists the short-form conclusions as accident or misadventure, alcohol or drug related, industrial disease, lawful killing, unlawful killing, natural causes, open, road traffic collision, stillbirth and suicide. In more complicated cases, the coroner may give a brief narrative conclusion instead, setting out the facts surrounding the death in a few sentences.
In 2025, misadventure was the most common short-form conclusion (25% of conclusions), followed by suicide (14%) and drugs and alcohol (12%), according to the Coroners statistics 2025. An open conclusion means the evidence did not fully explain how the death came about. It is not a criticism of anyone.
If the evidence shows a risk that other deaths could happen, the coroner must write a Prevention of Future Deaths report, sometimes called a Regulation 28 report, to the organisation that can act on it. Under regulation 29 of the Coroners (Investigations) Regulations 2013, the recipient must respond within 56 days of the date the report is sent, unless the coroner extends that time.
How long does an inquest take?
The rule is that a coroner must complete an inquest within six months of being made aware of the death, or as soon as reasonably practicable after that date, under rule 8 of the Coroners (Inquests) Rules 2013. In practice many take longer, especially when other investigations come first. The estimated average time to process an inquest was 31.3 weeks in 2025, according to the Ministry of Justice statistics. If someone has been charged with an offence such as murder or manslaughter, the coroner suspends the inquest until the criminal trial is over.
While you wait, daily life does not have to stop. If you need proof of the death before the inquest ends, GOV.UK says you can ask the coroner for an interim death certificate. You can use either the interim certificate or the final death certificate to apply for probate and to report the death to several government organisations through Tell Us Once. When the inquest ends, the registrar can register the death and issue the final certificate, which is the step covered in our guide on how to register a death.
Can you get help or legal aid for an inquest?
You do not need a lawyer to take part in an inquest. Free emotional and practical support is available from the Coroners' Courts Support Service, whose helpline for England and Wales is 0300 111 2141, Monday to Friday 9am to 7pm and Saturday 9am to 2pm, as listed on GOV.UK.
Legal aid for representation at an inquest is limited. According to the Legal Aid Agency's guidance on exceptional case funding for inquests (published October 2022 and still current in October 2026), it can be granted where the person died in the care of the state, for example in a police station or prison, or where the inquest is likely to bring significant benefits to the wider public. If those criteria are met, representation is funded regardless of your income and capital, and a solicitor applies on your behalf. If you are unhappy with a coroner's decision, the route is usually judicial review, which has strict time limits, so speak to a solicitor early.
How do inquests work in Scotland and Northern Ireland?
Scotland has no coroners or inquests. Sudden, suspicious or unexplained deaths are reported to the procurator fiscal, who investigates and may ask for a post-mortem, as mygov.scot explains. In most cases the fiscal finds the death was due to natural causes. The closest equivalent to an inquest is a Fatal Accident Inquiry, a public hearing before a sheriff. Under section 2 of the Inquiries into Fatal Accidents and Sudden Deaths etc. (Scotland) Act 2016, one must be held after a death in legal custody or from an accident at work, and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service can hold others in the public interest after asking the family's views, as its guide to Fatal Accident Inquiries describes.
Northern Ireland has its own coroners, based at one office in Belfast. According to the Coroners Service for Northern Ireland, whether an inquest is held is at the coroner's discretion, with the family's views taken into account, and an inquest is postponed if someone has been charged in connection with the death.
Frequently asked questions: Inquest
Do I have to go to an inquest?
No, not unless you have been asked to give evidence. Many families attend because they want to hear the evidence first-hand, but you can ask the coroner's office to send you the conclusion and a recording instead.
Can we hold the funeral before the inquest?
Usually yes. The coroner releases the body once the first enquiries and any post-mortem are complete, which is often long before the full inquest. The coroner's officer will tell you when you can go ahead.
Can I ask questions at an inquest?
Yes. As an interested person you can ask witnesses relevant questions, after the coroner has asked theirs. It helps to tell the coroner's officer in advance what you want covered, especially at a pre-inquest review.
Will the inquest be in the newspaper?
It might be. Inquests are public hearings and the media have a right to attend and report. If press interest worries you, mention it to the coroner's officer or the Coroners' Courts Support Service.
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