Dear Office of the Chief Coroner,

Many Coroner offices advise that deaths occurring within 24 hours of admission to hospital need to be notified to the local coroner. I would appreciate if you could clarify if your guidance to local coroner offices states this and if it does what is the legal basis of this. My understanding is that for medical certification of death this is not a legal requirement if cause of death is known, however to complete a certificate for cremation, notification to the coroner is required.

Yours faithfully

T Cotter