(1) Before conducting a hearing for an inquest into a death (other than a death in care or death in custody), the coroner must, at the earliest opportunity, take reasonable steps to notify a member of the immediate family of the deceased person about the time and place of the hearing.
(2) Nothing in subsection (1) prevents a coroner from conducting a hearing if the coroner believes, on reasonable grounds, that it would be in the public interest or the interests of justice to do so.