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Register a death

How to register a death

All deaths must be registered within five days. Please send us an email if you are unable to do this. Explain your situation to us, and provide your phone number. We will call you back to help find a solution.

You will be able to obtain, and pay for, death certificates with a debit or credit card at the time of your appointment. The paperwork for the funeral will be sent directly to the cemetery or crematorium and the funeral director.

Who can register a death 

The following people may register a death (in order of preference):

  • a relative of the deceased
  • a person present at the death
  • a senior administrator from the hospital (if the person died in hospital)
  • the manager of the carehome where the person died
  • the occupier of the building where the person died
  • the person making funeral arrangements (not including the funeral director)

Your appointment

You will need to make an appointment to register a death as soon as you have confirmed that the medical certificate of cause of death has been emailed to the Register Office from the relevant doctor.

You are required to register a death at the register office in the district where the death occurred. 

You can obtain and purchase death certificates at the appointment.

At the end of the appointment, the registrar will record the details of the death into the DWP Tell Us Once service to notify government departments of the death afterwards. 

The quickest and easiest way to book an appointment is online.

The medical certificate showing the cause of death (signed by a doctor) will have been forwarded to the Registrar. 

If the coroner has ordered a post-mortem these details will be sent directly to the Registrar.

Please have details of the funeral director on hand so that we can send the necessary forms to them following the registration.

Documents you'll need

To make sure we have the correct information, we recommend you have these documents to hand (where available). The deceased person's:

  • passport
  • birth certificate
  • proof of address (for example, a utility bill)
  • medical card or NHS number
  • marriage or civil partnership certificate (if applicable)

What you'll need to tell the Registrar

The deceased person's:

  • full name at the time of death, and any names they previously used (for example, their maiden name)
  • date and place of birth
  • last address
  • occupation
  • whether they were getting a state pension or any other benefits

You'll also need to tell us the the full name, date of birth and occupation of a surviving or late spouse or civil partner.

Documents you will receive

When you register a death, you will receive:

  • a certificate for burial or cremation (green form) - this gives permission for burial or cremation, and will be issued to your funeral director and/or the cemetery or crematorium
  • a certificate of registration of death - this will be sent to you, and you may need to fill in and return if the deceased was getting a state pension or benefits

You can buy copies of the death certificate at a cost of £11.00 each at the appointment. They will be issued by post. You can buy more copies of the death certificate later.

Death registration procedure for the district of Walsall

By law, you need to register a death within five days unless the coroner has requested a post mortem or an inquest. 

  1. The Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCD) will be issued by the hospital or GP Practice and scanned to Walsall Register Office
  2. As the Informant, you will need to book a death registration appointment online to register the death
  3. The Registrar will ask you for details of the person who died. It would be helpful but not essential if you have documents to hand showing details of the deceased (for example, birth or marriage certificate, passport and last address)
  4. The Registrar will check all the details with you to make sure they are correct and your name as the informant will be shown on the registration
  5. Details of the death will be captured on the Tell Us Once system with information about what to do next
  6. The form for burial or cremation (‘green form’) will be scanned and sent to your funeral director to allow funeral arrangements to be made
  7. The Registrar will issue death certificates, if requested
  8. We will issue a form BD8 so that if the person who died was receiving any benefits or State Pension, you can use this form to ensure that those payments are adjusted
  9. Death certificates and the form BD8 will be posted to your home address

Out of hours registrations

This procedure also applies to out of hours registrations. Out of hours registrations can be arranged by calling the Standby Bereavement Officer on 07734 544806 during the following times:

When to contact out of hours team

Saturdays

8:30am - 12.00pm

Sundays and Bank Holidays 

9.00am - 10.00am

Death referred to Coroner 

In certain circumstances a death is referred to the Coroner for further investigation.  You may want to see more information about what this means.

There is a short guide giving information about what will happen if the Coroner chooses to investigate a death on GOV.UK.

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