Register a death

When to register a death

The Medical Examiners office will issue a medical certificate of cause of death (MCCD) and send it to us. If you’re the next of kin, they will talk to you about this. You'll then need to register the death within 5 working days of us receiving the MCCD.

If the death has been reported to the coroner, this may be extended.

Who can register

You can register a death if you’re:

• a relative or partner of the deceased, present at their death
• a relative or partner of the deceased, in attendance during their last illness
• a personal representative of the deceased
• a person present at the death 
• the occupier of the building where the person died, such as a care home or hospital official
• someone instructing the funeral director 

How to register a death

First, you’ll need to make an appointment with the registrar. You can do this online.

There is no charge to register a death.

Information you’ll need at the appointment

You’ll need to know the following details about the person who has died:

• their full name at the time of their death
• any other names they used
• their date and place of birth
• their usual address
• their occupation
• the full name, date of birth and occupation of their spouse or civil partner, if they had one

You should also have the details of the funeral director so that we can send them the forms they need.

What happens at the appointment

During the appointment, we’ll issue:

1. The certificate for burial or cremation (also known as the ‘green form’ or Form 9). We’ll send this directly to the funeral director.
2. Certificate of registration of death. There is a charge for this, and you can pay during your appointment.

At the end of the appointment, the registrar will capture some information in the government's Tell Us Once service. This will let you notify some government departments of the person’s death. 

Find out more about the Tell Us Once service.

Out of hours service

If you need to register a death so that an urgent burial can take place at the weekend or on a bank holiday, you can use our out of hours service. Contact the Standby Bereavement Officer on 07734 544806 during the following times: