Register a death
You should register a death within 5 days of the register office receiving the Medical Certificate from the Medical Examiner unless the Coroner is involved. This includes weekends and bank holidays.
The Medical Examiner’s Office will speak with the next of kin and will advise when the medical certificate will be emailed to the register office.
Please book the first available appointment where possible.
If you cannot attend a register office in the district in which the death took place, arrangements can be made for you to attend another office in England and Wales.
What documents and information need to be supplied for the registration of a death?
Providing the death has not been referred to the Coroner, a medical certificate of cause of death will be issued by a doctor and then it will be transmitted electronically to the Register Office once it has been reviewed by the Medical Examiner. A death cannot be registered without this document.
Please DO NOT book an appointment until you have spoken to the Bereavement Team/Medical Examiner’s Office and they have advised that the medical certificate is being emailed to the registrars.
Once you have been told that the medical certificate has been emailed to Gloucestershire Registration Service you will be able to book an appointment to register the death.
Please click here to make an appointment
All information relating to a registration is obtained by direct personal questioning of the person who registers the death. You are asked to provide supporting documents at registrations to help ensure records are as accurate as possible. We would ask that you bring, on a voluntary basis, various forms of documents to support all relevant areas of the register entry e.g. names, addresses, relationships, places and dates of events.
Supporting documents for the deceased:
- Birth Certificate
- Passport
- Driving Licence
- Proof of Address (utility bill)
- Marriage/Civil Partnership certificates
- Deed Poll
Supporting documents for the informant:
- Passport
- Driving Licence
- Proof of Address (utility bill)
The absence of supporting documents will not prevent the registration from taking place.
The occupation of the person who has died and the full name and occupation of their spouse or Civil Partner will also be required, if relevant. The registration officer will need to know whether the person who has died was in receipt of any other government pension, in addition to Social Security pensions or benefits.
The information will then be written into a register, and you will be asked to check all details carefully before signing to say that they are all correct.
Who can register a death?
It is a legal obligation to register a death, and ideally a relative or the partner of the person who has died should do this.
The partner of the person who has died is defined as “A person is the partner of a deceased person if the two of them (whether of different sexes or the same sex) were living as partners in an enduring relationship at the time of the deceased person’s death.”
If no relative or partner is available, then it is possible for someone else to do it. This could be someone who was present at the death, for example, a senior member of staff from the establishment in which the death occurred or a personal representative appointed by the family/next of kin.
If more than one appointment is booked by different informants to register the same death, the registration will be completed at the first scheduled booking regardless of when other appointments were made. All other appointments will be cancelled.
What will happen at the appointment?
You will be seen in a private room and, in most cases, the registration process should take no more than 40 minutes.
Please have to hand the information to be recorded in the register, any supporting documents to help ensure the accuracy of the information to be recorded, and a debit or credit card if you wish to purchase death certificates.
Your appointment will be in person with a Registration Officer at the location you chose when you made your booking.
You can either pre-pay for death certificate(s) when making your online booking, or you can buy death certificate(s) at the time of registration for £12.50 each. We accept card payment or cash (please bring the correct money with you if possible). You can also order death certificate(s) online at a later date (at the same statutory fee of £12.50 per certificate).
Certificates
After the death has been registered, the registration officer will issue the following document free of charge
Certificate for Burial or Cremation (green form)This Certificate should be given to the funeral director to enable the funeral to take place.
You may also need to purchase death certificates. A death certificate is a certified copy of the entry in the register of deaths. It is subject to crown copyright and so cannot be photocopied.
Death Certificates can be used when dealing with the deceased’s financial matters. They are not required for state pension, DVLA etc as these are dealt with by the Tell Us Once Service. Funeral Directors also do not need a copy.
Death certificates may be required for the following:
- Insurance Policies
- Banks / Building Societies (Not one per organisation, they should be able to copy, and return them to you)
- National Savings (Premium Bonds)
- Property Matters may be being dealt with by a solicitor (they can copy and certify at a cost if more than one needed)
- Stocks/ Shares etc
Two types of Death Certificate are available. A full death certificate includes all of the information recorded in the register entry. A short death certificate does not show the cause of death or the sex of the person who has died. The fee is the same and you do not need to specify which type(s) you want when pre-ordering certificates when you book your appointment. You can pay for death certificate(s) at the time of booking your appointment online, or, you can pay during your appointment. If you need more copies, you can order copies of a death certificate online after the death has been registered. There is no increased cost for further copies at a later date.
Tell us once
At the end of the appointment, the registration officer will issue you with a reference number so that you can use the free Tell Us Once service to notify government and local council departments and services. The Tell Us Once service is not compulsory, and may be completed within the following 28 days online or by telephone. The registration officer will explain how to do this.
All the information provided to the Tell Us Once service will be treated securely and confidentially.
The organisations who are contacted will use the information to update records; to end services, benefits and credits as appropriate; and to resolve any outstanding issues. They may use this information in other ways, but only as the law allows.
Further information on Tell Us Once can be found on the gov.uk website.
For further information on What to do after a Death, please visit the following government website:
Privacy statement
Tell Us Once has a privacy statement which tells you how the information you provide when using this service will be used and protected. Ask the registration officer if you wish to see the full privacy statement or you can view it here.