Moving a relative's remains

Southwark's Bereavement Service occasionally receives requests from people who wish to move the remains of a relative from one grave and place them in another. The process of moving a person's remains from a grave is called an 'exhumation'. For various reasons, exhumations take a long time to arrange and can be expensive.  

Exhumation of a grave can only take place once the Home Office has issued a licence. The licence contains certain conditions that must be observed. If the grave is within consecrated grounds i.e.blessed by the Church of England, permission also has to be obtained from the church beforehand. Within Southwark the representative for the Church of England is the Bishop of Southwark. View his contact details on the Diocese of Southwark website.  

If the exhumation goes ahead, an Environmental Health Officer is required to be present to ensure that there's no risk to public health and all conditions are complied with.