Registering a Death

 - originally published September 6 2017

In order to register a death you need a Cause Of Death certificate. This is produced by the deceased’s own GP if they died at home (or in residential or nursing care) or by the hospital doctor via the Bereavement Office if the person died in hospital.

If the Coroner is involved things are slightly different and we will cover that situation in a future blog post.

A death must be registered by law within five working days (unless you are told otherwise - sometimes the registrars do not have any appointments). The registration is normally in the district in which the death occurred but it is possible to do it by long distance (speak to your local registration service if you want to know more).

Appointments can be booked via a phone call to the appropriate office or by going on line and booking it yourself.

Under normal circumstances, the Cause of Death certificate should be taken to the Registrar with (if possible) the deceased’s birth certificate, marriage certificate (if the deceased is female) and the deceased’s medical card. Other things that can prove useful are proof of address (eg a utility bill or deed poll).

The person registering is advised to take with them their own  passport, driving licence and proof of address. Please note these are not legal requirements but they do help to ensure that information is recorded correctly.

The death should be registered by the next of kin if possible, but, if the next of kin is ill, absent or has died, it can be registered by any relative of the deceased, any person present at the death, the occupier of the house where the death occurred or the person who is arranging the funeral with the Funeral Director.

The procedure for registering a death is a simple interview (expect if to take about 20 minutes) with the Registrar who will require the following information about the deceased:

1. Date and place of birth and of death.
2. The full name.
3. Home address.
4. Marital status.
5. Occupation.
6. Date of birth of the surviving spouse (if any).
7. If female, her maiden name and her husband’s full name and occupation.
8. Whether the deceased is to be buried or cremated.
9. The national insurance number of the deceased (if the one stop system is to be taken up - see below).

The Registrar will usually issue a green certificate (the certificate for burial or cremation) which should be handed to the Funeral Director at the earliest opportunity. This is necessary before the Funeral Director can conduct any preparation of the deceased’s body or book the funeral.

The Registrar will also provide copies of the death registration on request. These are required as proof of demise for private pensions , banks, probate and the like. My advice would be for you to consider how many copies you require and get these from the Registrar at the time of registration.

The cost per copy (as of time of writing) is £4.00 but increases considerably if you return at a later date for extra copies.

The registrar will also issue a Certificate for the Department of Work & Pensions benefits (BD8 form: Registration or Notification of Death).

The registrar will normally offer a ‘one stop service’. In order to do this, they require the deceased’s National Insurance number. This system informs official bodies:

• HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) – to deal with personal tax
• Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) – to cancel benefits (eg income support)
• Passport Office – to cancel British passports
• DVLA – to cancel a driving licence and to remove the person as the keeper for up to five vehicles
• The local council – to cancel Housing Benefit, Council Tax Benefit and blue badge, inform council housing services and remove the person from the electoral register
• Public sector or armed forces pension schemes -  to stop pension payments. Please be aware that if a state pension payment is made following the date of death it will have to be paid back.

At the time of a person’s death there is lots of help available. The chosen Funeral Director will offer advice as will the Registrar’s office, the Bereavement Office (if the person died in hospital) , the person’s own doctor’s practice (if the person died at home) and, of course, you can always look online.