Registering a Death in England and Wales: Who, When, What to Bring
The short answer: in England and Wales a relative should register the death at a register office within five days of being contacted by the medical examiner's office to say the death can be registered. The five days include weekends and bank holidays. You can use any register office, but the one in the area where the person died is quicker. You will leave with the green form the funeral director needs, any death certificates you buy (£12.50 each), and a Tell Us Once reference number.
That is the whole of it. The rest of this page is for the questions that come up while you are doing it: what changed in 2024, who counts as the right person, what to have in your hand, and what happens if a coroner is involved.
If you are in the first day or two and do not yet know what comes first, our what to do when someone dies checklist puts registration in order with everything else. This page covers England and Wales; Scotland and Northern Ireland are at the end.
What changed in September 2024
You may have been told by someone who registered a parent's death a few years ago that you collect a medical certificate from the doctor and take it to the registrar. That is no longer how it works.
Since 9 September 2024, every death in England and Wales that is not investigated by a coroner is reviewed by an independent medical examiner. The medical certificate of cause of death goes from the medical examiner straight to the registrar. You do not carry it. When it has been sent, the medical examiner's office contacts the family to say you can now register.
Two practical things follow from that:
- The clock starts when you are contacted, not on the day of death. If the review takes a few days, you have not "lost" those days.
- The medical examiner's office will usually talk you through the cause of death. This conversation is a chance to ask questions about the care your person received. You are not obliged to have it, but families often find it useful, and it is the right moment to raise a concern.
If you need more than five days after being contacted, gov.uk says to tell the register office straight away rather than letting the deadline pass quietly.
Who can register the death
Gov.uk's first answer is simple: a relative should register the death. It does not have to be the next of kin or the executor; a son, daughter, sibling or other relative can do it.
If no relative can, these people may register instead:
- someone who was there when the person died
- an administrator from the hospital, if the person died in hospital
- the person in charge of making the funeral arrangements
If the death happened somewhere other than home or hospital, the list also includes the person who found the body and the person in charge of the body.
The government's own summary of the 2024 reforms also mentions new categories for a partner of the person who died and a representative of the person who died. If you do not fit neatly into any of the lists above, ask the register office before you book; they will tell you whether you can do it.
It helps to agree in the family who is going. The registrar asks detailed questions, and the person who goes should be the one who knows the answers, or who has them written down.
What to bring, and what to know
Most of registration is a conversation. The registrar types what you tell them into the register, so accuracy matters more than paperwork.
Information the registrar will ask for
- the person's full name at the time of death
- any previous names, including a maiden name
- date and place of birth
- last address
- occupation
- the full name, date of birth and occupation of a surviving or late spouse or civil partner
- whether they were getting a State Pension or other benefits
Documents the registrar may want to see
Gov.uk lists the person's birth certificate, Council Tax bill, driving licence, marriage or civil partnership certificate, NHS medical card, passport and proof of address such as a utility bill. These help the registrar get names and dates right. They are not a condition of registering. If you cannot find them, ask the register office what to do; you will not be turned away for a missing passport.
Two small things worth doing before you go:
- Write the details down. Grief does odd things to memory. People forget their own mother's middle name at the counter.
- Check spelling against something official. Mistakes in the register can be corrected later, but it is a slower process than getting it right on the day. Our guide to correcting a death certificate is written for the US, but the lesson is the same: check before you sign.
What you leave with
The green form. Its full name is the certificate for burial or cremation, and it gives permission for a burial or for an application for cremation. The funeral director or crematorium needs it before the funeral can go ahead, so give it to them as soon as you can. If you have not chosen a funeral director yet, our guides to finding one and choosing between them cover both halves of that.
Death certificates. These are certified copies of the entry in the register, and they cost £12.50 each when you register. You can order more later online from the General Register Office at the same price per copy, with extra charges if you do not have the index reference or need priority service.
How many to buy is the most common question at the counter. Count the organisations that will want to see an original rather than a photocopy: banks, building societies, pension providers, insurers, the solicitor or probate service. Many will look at a certificate and send it back, so you rarely need one each. Buying a few on the day saves a second order later.
A Tell Us Once reference number. Tell Us Once lets you report the death to many government departments in one go: HMRC, the DWP, the passport office, the DVLA and the local council among them. You must use the reference within 28 days. It does not cover banks, utilities or private pensions; our who to notify when someone dies list covers the rest.
When a coroner is involved
Some deaths are reported to a coroner instead of, or after, review by a medical examiner: when the cause is unknown, sudden or unnatural, for example. What happens to registration depends on how far the coroner goes.
- The coroner decides not to investigate. The medical examiner's office contacts you, and you register in the normal way.
- The coroner investigates but there is no inquest. Sometimes after a post-mortem, the coroner sends the paperwork to the registrar, and the registrar contacts you to arrange registration.
- There is an inquest. The death cannot be registered until the inquest ends. Ask the coroner for an interim death certificate in the meantime; gov.uk says it can be used for probate and for Tell Us Once. When the inquest finishes, the coroner sends a Certificate After Inquest to the registrar, and the registrar registers the death without anyone needing to attend.
An inquest can take months, which is why the interim certificate matters: without it, the estate can feel frozen.
If the person died abroad
Register the death under the rules of the country where it happened; the UK recognises that country's death certificate. For deaths on or after 1 January 1983 you can also choose to register the death with the UK. Gov.uk lists a £150 fee for that, plus £50 for each consular death certificate. It is optional, and many families do not need it. If you are also bringing the person home, our guide to death abroad and repatriation covers the coroner's role when a body comes back to England or Wales.
Scotland and Northern Ireland
- Scotland: register within eight days of the death where possible, at any registration office in Scotland, in person or remotely, through National Records of Scotland.
- Northern Ireland: register within five days, except deaths referred to the coroner, at any registration office in Northern Ireland. Registration is free; certificates at registration are £8 each. Tell Us Once is not available if the person lived in Northern Ireland.
A stillbirth is registered separately and has a longer window: 42 days in England and Wales.
After the register office
Registration feels like the hard part, and in some ways it is: it makes the death official. What follows is a long list of smaller tasks, most of which can wait a week or two. If you are the executor, the order in which things need doing is in the executor's first 30 days; it is written for the US, but the sequence of finding the will, securing property and opening the estate holds in England and Wales too.
If you are also the person who will tell everyone else, a short death notice with the funeral details, and somewhere to collect photographs and stories, saves a great many repeated phone calls. For support for yourself, the UK lines (Cruse, Samaritans) are on our grief support resources page.
Quick answers
How long do you have to register a death in England? Five days from being contacted by the medical examiner's office, including weekends and bank holidays. If a coroner is involved, the registrar or coroner tells you when registration can happen.
Can a friend register a death? Only if no relative can and the friend is on gov.uk's list: someone present at the death, the person arranging the funeral, or, for a death outside home or hospital, the person who found the body. Ask the register office if you are unsure.
Do I need an appointment? Contact the register office before you go; gov.uk says they will tell you what you need to do, so call or check their page rather than turning up unannounced.
Do I need the person's birth certificate? No. It helps the registrar get details right, but you can register without it.
How much is a death certificate in the UK? £12.50 per copy in England and Wales, whether bought at registration or ordered later from the General Register Office; extra fees apply for searches without an index reference or priority service. In Northern Ireland, copies at registration are £8.
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