How To Register A Death

This section is designed to guide you through the process of registering a death. For more help or guidance, speak to a funeral director in your local area.

• Once you have the medical certificate, the death must be formally recorded.
• Register the death at a Registry Office in England and Wales or Registrar of Deaths in Northern Ireland. You normally need to register the death within five days.
• Any death which occurs in Scotland must be registered within eight days by the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages. The law allows a death to be registered in any registration district in Scotland.
• You may need to make an appointment to see the registrar. You will need to take the medical certificate with you when you register the death.
• Once registered, the registrar will issue the death certificate. This is needed to deal with the will, and with money and other assets left by the deceased. It is often wise to get several copies of the death certificate if you need to write to a number of different companies, however there is an additional charge for this.

The registrar will also provide a green certificate for you to give to the deceased’s funeral director. This allows for the burial or cremation to proceed.

The registrar may also give you form BD8 which will need to be sent to the local Jobcentre Plus. If the deceased was receiving any benefits or tax credits, you'll also need to contact the tax credit helpline and advise the relevant offices that were making the payments. You may like to use the 'Tell Us Once' service which lets you report a death to most government organisations in one go.