Deceased

Deceased means a person who has died. You will see it on official forms, in wills and in letters from banks, registrars and solicitors, for example in the phrase the deceased’s estate.

Where you will see the word

Nearly every step after a death uses it. It appears on the medical certificate of cause of death and in the registration. It runs through the paperwork that values and settles the estate, and through an application for probate. The forms for a burial, a cremation or a repatriation use it as well.

It also turns up in the names of some documents. The notice an executor places in The Gazette, so that anyone owed money can come forward, is called a deceased estates notice. Some consulates issue a laissez passer for the deceased when someone is taken home to another country.

Is it a document?

No. Deceased describes a person, not a form or an office, so nobody issues it and no fee or time limit is attached to it. When a form asks for the details of the deceased, it is asking about the person who has died: their full name and any earlier names, their date and place of birth, and their last address.

Is it different in Scotland or Northern Ireland?

No. Guidance from Scotland and Northern Ireland uses the word just as guidance for England and Wales does, and it means the same thing everywhere in the UK.

Why this site uses other words

Forms use deceased because it is short and exact. On this site we write the person who has died, or your loved one, because a family reading about their own mother or husband is reading about a person, not a case file. The official word is still the right one to look for when you read a letter or fill in a form.