Immediate need

If your loved one passes away at home or any location that is not a hospital, hospice facility, or nursing home, emergency services must be contacted immediately.

Please call 911. The emergency dispatcher will send the appropriate authorities to the location.

If the death occurs within city limits, a local police officer will respond. If the death occurs outside city limits, the county Sheriff’s Office with jurisdiction over that area will respond. 

The responding officer or deputy will then notify the Medical Examiner’s Office, which will determine whether any additional steps or investigation are required.

Before we can bring your loved one into our care, the Medical Examiner must first authorize the release. Once that authorization is given, we will respond promptly and respectfully to bring your loved one into our care.

If your loved one was receiving hospice care, please contact the hospice representative or hospice provider if they are not already present.

The hospice team will guide you through the proper next steps and will coordinate the release of your loved one to Aikens Funeral Home when appropriate.

If the death occurs in a hospital, nursing home, or hospice facility, the staff will notify the appropriate authorities and guide you through the immediate steps.

If you have already given the facility permission to contact Aikens Funeral Home, they will notify us when your loved one is ready to be released into our care.

If you have already selected Aikens Funeral Home, we recommend providing our name and contact information to the facility staff as soon as possible. Many families choose to do this in advance, so the staff will know exactly who to contact when the time comes.

If our information has not yet been provided, the facility staff will contact you and ask for the name of the funeral home you would like to serve your family. At that time, you may simply ask them to notify Aikens Funeral Home. They are very familiar with us and know exactly how to contact us 24 hours a day, seven days a week, including weekends and holidays.

Once your loved one has been brought into our care at Aikens Funeral Home, a member of our staff will contact you to let you know they have arrived safely and are being respectfully cared for. At that time, we will also help schedule a convenient day, time, and location for the arrangement conference. If your loved one arrives during late evening or overnight hours, we will typically reach out the following morning so that we may speak with you at a more appropriate and considerate time.

If your loved one passes away outside of the Tampa Bay area, in another state, or in another country, we recommend calling us first.

A single call to Aikens Funeral Home is all that is needed. Our staff will coordinate every detail required to bring your loved one home, including recovery, preparation, and transportation.

Allowing us to handle these arrangements helps reduce stress during an already difficult time and often proves to be more cost-effective as well.

When a death occurs in the state of Florida, we are required to gather specific information and electronically register the death with the state’s Vital Records office.

Whether burial or cremation is selected, a Certified Death Certificate must be issued before certain steps in the process can proceed.

During the arrangement conference, our staff will use our Vital Statistics Information Form to collect the information needed to complete the death certificate.

Completing this information in advance can help make the arrangement conference easier and save time for you and your family.

What Is A Death Certificate

A death certificate is an official legal document required by the government. It can only be filed by a licensed funeral establishment, such as Aikens Funeral Home. 

Types of Death Certificates

The State of Florida issues two types of death certificates:

Long Form – Includes the cause of death

Short Form – Does not include the cause of death

Timeline for Filing and Obtaining a Certified Death Certificate

Although Florida law allows up to five days for the funeral home to initiate the death certificate, we typically begin the process immediately.

In most cases, we strive to obtain certified copies within three to five business days after meeting with the family.

The first step is electronically submitting the certificate to the attending physician, authorized physician’s assistant, or medical examiner so they can certify the cause of death.

Who Is Authorized a Death Certificate

Under Florida law, any person may obtain a death certificate that does not list the cause of death.

How We Distribute Death Certificates

Aikens Funeral Home does not issue certified death certificates directly. However, once the certificate has been filed with the state, we are happy to obtain certified copies from the Health Department and provide them to the legally authorized next of kin.

Nothing is more important to us than your trust.

When you submit sensitive information through our secure website, your information is protected both online and offline.

We do not sell, trade, or transfer your personal information to outside parties. Any trusted partners who assist us in operating our website or providing services are required to keep your information strictly confidential.

Service Schedule

Think about when and where you would like the services to take place. 

Please avoid committing to a specific date or time until you have confirmed availability with us. This helps ensure that our staff, facilities, and any outside locations such as churches are properly coordinated.

Veteran Information and Documentation

If your loved one served in the United States Armed Forces, you may be eligible for certain benefits through the Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of

Defense, or the State of Florida. 

To assist you with these benefits, we will need a copy of the veteran’s DD-214 discharge papers, retirement papers, or other documentation of military service. 

Please visit our Veterans page for additional information.

Life Insurance Information

If you would like us to assist in filing a life insurance claim or assigning insurance proceeds toward funeral expenses, please bring the insurance policy and the most recent premium payment receipt, if available. 

Cemetery Documents

If cemetery property has already been purchased, please bring any documents that identify the grave, crypt, or niche location and the name of the owner. 

If you wish, we can help coordinate communication with the cemetery and assist you with scheduling an appointment with their staff.

Photograph

Please bring a recent photograph of your loved one. This can be helpful for use on the memorial website, newspaper obituary, funeral program, and may also assist our staff in understanding how your loved one typically wore their hair or facial hair. The photograph will be returned to you after the services.

Death Notice Information

If you would like a death notice or obituary placed in the newspaper, we can assist you by compiling the necessary information and submitting it for publication.

Because local newspapers often operate under strict submission deadlines, gathering this information as early as possible helps ensure the notice appears on the dates you prefer.

Please know that you do not need to worry about writing the obituary yourself unless you would like to. Our staff will gladly assist you by preparing and formatting the obituary so it meets the newspaper’s requirements, at no additional cost.

We will need the names and relationships of family members you would like mentioned, along with any photograph or memorial contribution information you would like included.

If you would like to get a head start, you may complete and submit our Easy Obituary and Newspaper Notice Form online prior to the arrangement conference. This allows our staff to begin preparing the obituary in advance and can make the meeting more efficient.

If you prefer to write the obituary yourself or submit it directly to the newspaper, we will gladly assist you with that process.

Please rest assured that your trust is extremely important to us. The information you provide will only be used for the purposes stated and will never be shared, sold, or used by any third party.

Printing Information

If you would like printed funeral programs for the service, Aikens Funeral Home offers a wide variety of program styles and formats for you to choose from. Our staff will prepare, format, and coordinate the printing of the programs for you. 

To complete the program, we will need the following information:

• The obituary information

• Photograph(s)

• The order of service

• Pallbearer names (if applicable)

• An acknowledgment message

If you would like to get a head start, you may complete and submit our Funeral Program Guide Form online.

This guide is designed to provide ideas and help you think about the information that is often included in a funeral program. Our staff will work with you to finalize the details, and there is plenty of flexibility to personalize the program in whatever way best honors your loved one.

Submitting the form in advance simply allows us to begin preparing the program outline and can help make the arrangement conference more efficient. 

Customized programs are also available if you would like something more personalized.

Please rest assured that your trust is extremely important to us. The information you provide will only be used for the purposes stated and will never be shared, sold, or used by any third party.

Clothing

You may also bring the clothing you would like us to use when preparing your loved one for the services.

We ask that a complete set of clothing be provided, including undergarments (shoes are not necessary).

We recommend clothing with high necklines, long sleeves, and non-transparent material.

If your loved one wore eyeglasses regularly, you may also wish to provide those.

We strongly recommend that any jewelry or items placed with your loved one not be of great monetary or sentimental value.