Registering a death

Registering a death is the appointment at the register office where the death is recorded and the death certificate is issued. In England and Wales it is done within five days of the death, at the register office for the district where the person died, once the medical certificate of cause of death has been sent there by the doctor or the medical examiner. If the coroner is involved, the coroner sends the paperwork instead, and the registrar will already have it.

Who registers

A relative usually does it. If no relative can, someone who was present at the death or the person arranging the funeral can register instead. Book an appointment; most register offices will not see you without one.

What to take and what you will be asked

• A passport, driving licence or other document that confirms your loved one's name and date of birth, so the spellings are right.
• Their full name, including any former name, and the date and place of birth.
• The date and place of death, and their usual address.
• Their occupation, or their last occupation before retirement.
• Whether they received a pension or allowance from public funds.
• If they were married or in a civil partnership, the full name and occupation of their spouse or partner, and the date of the spouse's death if they were widowed.
• Your own full name and your relationship to the person who has died.
• The funeral director you are using, and whether your loved one will be buried, cremated or repatriated.
• How many copies of the death certificate you want. Banks, insurers and pension providers each ask for one, and extra copies cost less at the appointment than later.

Check every name and date before you sign the register. A correction afterwards is possible, but it takes a separate application.

The green form, and when there is none

For a burial or a cremation in the UK, the registrar gives you the certificate for burial or cremation, the green form, which goes to the funeral director. For a repatriation there is no green form. Your loved one leaves England on the coroner's acknowledgement instead, which we obtain as part of the repatriation paperwork.

Read next

The appointment itself, what to bring and the five-day rule are in how to register a death. The certificate the doctor issues first is explained in the medical certificate of cause of death, and the government service that tells every department at once in how Tell Us Once works.

Related terms: Next of kin and Coroner. Every term, explained.