In reply to mypyrex:
Depends on different things.
My Dad died quite young on bed, my mum found him on Friday morning, it was a bank holiday Monday and we cremated him on the Thursday.
Autopsy and all the arrangements in 4 working days.
Last year my mate died when a car went headfirst in t his motorcycle, it took 2 weeks for the Autopsy to be cleared and a further week before we could arrange the funeral. We never got a straight answer but it might have been something to do with the criminal case against the driver and allowing them their own Autopsy for defence purposes.