Register Death

You need to take three documents to the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages (which it should say on the front of the sealed envelope the Medical Certificate comes in). This should be in the same district that the person died in, within five days of the death.

The three documents are: the Medical Certificate, a form of ID for the deceased (can be a bill), any formal certificates of the deceased that you have – such as a birth or marriage certificate.

When you get to the registrar, you’ll be asked the deceased’s address and occupation, where they died and when, and the place and date they were born. If they had a spouse you’ll need these same details for them too.

You’ll then be given a Death Certificate, which you need to keep to take to the funeral. It’s worth making copies of this so that you can also use it to settle the affairs of the deceased.

You’ll also be given what’s known as ‘The Green Form’, which is the Certificate for Burial or Cremation. Again, you’ll need to hold on to this for the funeral.

There’s now also something called a Tell Us Once number that you’ll be given. This is a government initiative that allows you to enter the code online to inform most of the government organisations of the death, rather than having to repeat yourself.