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Death Registration

Registering a Death in the UK: England, Scotland & Northern Ireland

Regulations say that a death should be registered with 5 days in England, Wales and Northern Ireland or 8 days in Scotland. On occasions you may not be able to achieve this because of delays which are not your fault, eg a delay in issuing the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death or the involvement of a coroner or procurator fiscal. Don’t worry if this happens, everyone involved will understand.

Find your local register office by clicking the relevant link below.

You can also call one of our experienced bereavement advisors for free*, on 0800 024 6121 or use our live chat function.

England & Wales Scotland (Opens PDF) Northern Ireland

What’s involved when registering a death?

The following information applies only to England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland have significantly different procedures which you can find out about using these links.

This link takes you to information about registering a death in N Ireland

This link takes you to information about registering a death in Scotland

The registration of death records both the personal details of the person who has died and the cause of their death. An appointment usually lasts 30-40 minutes.

When the cause of death is known and from natural causes, the doctor responsible for the care of the person (whether at home, in hospital or elsewhere) informs the Medical Examiner of the cause of death. The role of the Medical Examiner is to confirm that the proposed cause of death is correct or to discuss with the certifying doctor what would be more accurate.

As part of this process, the Medical Examiner, or one of their team (Medical Examiner’s Officer) will speak with the nearest relative of the deceased person to ensure that they understand why the person died and are in agreement. The cause of death will be written in correct medical terminology so this is an opportunity for the relative to ask questions and receive explanations. If the relative has serious concerns about the cause of death, a Medical Examiner can, if necessary, refer a death to the Coroner for formal investigation.

The Medical Examiner is an experienced senior doctor who is usually also working part-time in a position caring for patients and must be from a different team to that which cared for the deceased person. [The introduction of the Medical Examiner role was completed in September 2024 and in early 2025 families are finding that there are some delays as all the professionals involved get accustomed to the new process.]

If you need the funeral to take place quickly for faith, cultural or other reasons, please inform the hospital or GP practice of this.

The Medical Examiner sends the completed Medical Certificate of Cause of Death to the Registrar of Deaths electronically. This certificate is only valid for this purpose so relatives do not receive a copy.

The nearest relative, or their representative, will be notified that they can now make an appointment to register the death.

Deaths have to be registered in person in the area where the death occurred. You can find the location of the registrar using this link

If this is completely impossible due to sickness or inability to travel, please call the register office and they will explain what alternative arrangements may be possible.

The government plans to introduce registration online but this is in the early stages of development.

Who should register a death?

In most cases, it should be a relative that registers the death. However, there are circumstances where others can do so. Please contact the registrar to discover what may be possible in your circumstances.

What details are needed to register a death?

To register a death, you will need to know when and where the person who has died was born, if they have been married and to whom, their occupation as well as their husband/wife/civil partner’s occupation (if applicable) and their most recent address. You can take along relevant documents if you have them, but they are not essential. You may be also asked for proof of your own identity, so take a photographic form of ID.

The documents you will receive

Certificate for burial or cremation You will receive a certificate for burial or cremation, commonly referred to as ‘the green form’. This is the legal permission for burial or cremation, but cemeteries and crematoria have additional forms to be completed – usually supplied by your funeral director if you are using one.

The green form is replaced by a document from the coroner if there is to be an inquest, or if the funeral will be a cremation following a coroner’s post-mortem examination.

If you a registering a stillborn baby the form to give to the funeral director is white.

If you will be repatriating the person who has died abroad (including to Scotland or N Ireland) please inform the registrar who will issue a different document that the funeral director will complete with you.

Certified copies of the death certificate More commonly referred to as ‘death certificates’, the Certified Copy of a Death Entry documents are required by banks and other organisations when they ask to see an ‘original’ death certificate. Most will take their own photocopy and return the ‘original’ to you. This takes time if sent in the post, so purchase several copies unless the estate – everything the person has left in terms of belongings, property, money – is extremely simple. This will allow you to deal with several organisations concurrently and will mitigate against slow postal services. If most of the financial and similar affairs are online you may be permitted to email a scanned death certificate.

Registering the death is free, but you do have to pay for death certificates. If you order copies when you register the death, they will cost £12.50.  If you order additional copies later the cost will be significantly more, especially if you need them urgently..

If there is to be an inquest, the death will not be registered until after the inquest. Therefore, the coroner will issue you with an Interim Certificate or Certificate of the Fact of Death which you can use instead of certified copies.

Notifying the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)

All registrars of deaths in England. Wales and Scotland offer the Tell Us Once (TUO) service. In N Ireland you need to contact the government Bereavement Service to inform the Department for Communities which is responsible for benefits.

‘Tell Us Once’ service Some registrars will carry out TUO immediately during your registration appointment. However most will give you a unique code which allows you to do this yourself at a later date. The service notifies the Department for Work & Pensions and His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (tax) and other central and local government departments of the death. You can see which departments are informed here.

If the death is being investigated by the coroner leading to an inquest, you can contact the registrar to obtain a TUO code, even though you cannot yet register the death.

What if the death occurs abroad?

You must register the death according to the regulations in the country where the person died. You need to obtain a local death certificate, which will be accepted in the UK. If the certificate is not in English you may need to obtain a certified translation of the document – search the internet for a provider of certified translations.  You will not be able to use the Tell Us Once service so will need to notify government departments individually if needed.

Certificate for burial or cremation
You will receive a certificate for burial or cremation, commonly referred to as ‘the green form’. This is the legal permission for burial or cremation, but cemeteries and crematoria have additional forms to be completed – usually supplied by your funeral director if you are using one.

The green form is replaced by a document from the coroner if there is to be an inquest, or if the funeral will be a cremation following a coroner’s post-mortem examination.

Certified copies of the death certificate
More commonly referred to as ‘death certificates’, the Certified Copy of a Death Entry documents are required by banks and other organisations when they ask to see an ‘original’ death certificate. Most will take their own photocopy and return the ‘original’ to you. This takes time, so purchase several copies unless the estate – everything the person has left in terms of belongings, property, money – is extremely simple. This will allow you to deal with several organisations concurrently and will mitigate against slow postal services.

Registering the death is free, but you do have to pay for death certificates. If you order copies when you register the death, they will cost £11.00 in England and Wales, £8.00 in Northern Ireland and £10.00 in Scotland. If you order copies later in the process, then costs increase.

If there is an inquest, the death will not be registered until after the inquest. Therefore, the coroner will issue you with an Interim Certificate which you can use instead of certified copies.

In Scotland and Northern Ireland, certain registration forms may be slightly different than that described, but your registrar will advise you.

Notifying the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)
Form BD8 Registration or Notification of Death (form 3344SI in Scotland, form 36/BD8 in Northern Ireland) should be completed if the deceased was in receipt of a state pension or any other benefits. The death can be notified to the Pensions Service via telephone. In this instance, it may not be necessary for the BD8 form to be posted.

We advise phoning the DWP to notify them of the death as soon as you can – do not wait to get this form. This means all benefit / pension payments to the person who died will be stopped. If payments go through between the death and when notification occurs, these payments will have to be refunded to the DWP.

If the coroner is involved in the death, you can still obtain this form from the registrar, even if the death cannot be registered yet.

‘Tell Us Once’ service
Some registrars offer the Tell Us Once service, which means they will notify the DWP and other central and local government agencies of the death e.g. DVLA, the Passport Agency, Housing Office, Blue Badge scheme. If Tell Us Once is offered, you will probably not need to complete form BD8. If it is not offered, you will need to complete this form and the registrar may provide an envelope with the form inside.

What if the death occurs abroad?
You must register the death according to the regulations in the country where the person died. You will be given a local death certificate, which will be accepted in the UK. It may need to be a certified translation of the document if it is not in English. You can then also apply to register the death with the UK authorities.

Call us for free* on 0800 024 6121 and we can guide you through the process, or use our live chat function.

Alternatively, you can explore the Government guidance offered, here.

Get in touch

Contact us today

For more information about the National Bereavement Service, contact us today on:

UK callers:

0800 0246 121

International callers:

0191 656 3201

Email:

info@thenbs.org

or contact us via our live chat function below.

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