Certificate for burial or cremation (green form)

The certificate for burial or cremation, known as the green form, is issued free by the registrar when the death is registered. It gives permission for the burial, or for the cremation application, to go ahead, and you pass it to the funeral director. If a coroner is involved, the coroner issues their own order for burial or certificate for cremation instead; in Scotland the registrar’s certificate of registration of death does this job.

When you will need one

The green form is the paper that lets the funeral be booked. Your funeral director passes it to the crematorium or the burial authority, and nothing can be confirmed until they have it. A hospital mortuary will also want to see it before your loved one is released into a funeral director’s care.

Who issues it

You receive it at the registration appointment, on the same visit as the death certificate and the reference number for Tell Us Once. There is no charge. Because it only exists once the death is registered, the deadline for registering sets its timing too: 5 days in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and 8 days in Scotland.

If a coroner is involved

When a death has been reported to the coroner, the registrar does not issue the green form. The coroner issues an order for burial, or a certificate for cremation known as Form Cremation 6, and that document goes to the funeral director in its place. If the post-mortem finds a natural cause, the death is then registered in the usual way. If an inquest is opened, the coroner can still release your loved one with the certificate the funeral needs.

In Scotland

There is no green form in Scotland. The registrar gives you a certificate of registration of death, and you show it to the funeral director so the arrangements can go ahead.