How to register a death in England and Wales

Registering a death is one of the first legal tasks you'll face after losing someone, and it has to happen within five days in England and Wales. This guide is for anyone who has been left to handle the practicalities: a spouse, an adult child, a sibling, or a close friend who was present at the end. By the time you've read it, you'll know exactly who can register, what to bring, what to say, and which documents you'll walk away with.

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Step 1: Check who is legally allowed to register the death

The law under the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953 limits who can act as the "qualified informant." This is the person who attends the register office and signs the register. Not everyone qualifies.

You are a qualified informant if you are:

• A relative of the deceased
• A person present at the death
• The occupier of the building where the death took place (this applies to care home managers, for instance)
• The person arranging the funeral

The preference in law runs in that order. A relative should register if one is available. If you're an adult child and a sibling is also available, either of you can attend. You do not both need to go.

If you're a close friend rather than a relative, you can still register if you were present at the death or if you're arranging the funeral, but do check with the register office in advance, as some may ask for clarification.

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Step 2: Obtain the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death

Before you can book your appointment, you need the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death, almost always called the MCCD. This is a green certificate completed by a doctor, usually the GP or a hospital doctor who attended the deceased. It states the cause of death.

If the person died at home, you'll need to contact their GP surgery. If they died in hospital, the ward or bereavement office will usually have the MCCD ready, sometimes within hours, sometimes after a day or two. Ask specifically which department holds it and whether they'll post it or whether you need to collect in person.

Without the MCCD, the registrar cannot complete the registration. So getting this document is the practical starting point, even before you think about booking the appointment.

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Step 3: Check whether the coroner is involved

Some deaths are referred to the coroner. This happens when the cause of death is unknown, when it was sudden or unexpected, when it occurred during surgery or shortly after, or when the GP cannot certify the cause because they hadn't seen the patient recently. The doctor, hospital, or sometimes the police will make this referral; you don't need to do it yourself.

If the coroner is involved, you cannot register the death until they've completed their enquiries. In straightforward cases, the coroner may decide no post-mortem is needed and will issue a document called Form 100B (sometimes called a "pink form"), which goes directly to the registrar and allows registration to proceed.

If a post-mortem or inquest is required, registration may be delayed. The coroner's office will guide you through timescales. The five-day rule is paused during coroner involvement, so you won't be in breach of it while waiting.

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Step 4: Book an appointment at the register office

This is the step that catches people out: you must register at the register office for the district where the death occurred, not where the deceased person lived.

If someone died in a hospital in Manchester but lived in Leeds, you register in Manchester. The GOV.UK register office finder at gov.uk/register-offices lets you search by town or postcode. Most offices require appointments; walk-ins are rare now. Call or book online.

Some register offices offer a "Tell Us Once" service at the same appointment, which notifies multiple government departments (HMRC, DWP, the DVLA, the passport office and others) of the death in a single step. It's worth asking whether your local office offers this; it saves a significant amount of admin later.

The appointment itself typically takes around 30 minutes.

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Step 5: Attend the appointment and provide the required information

The registrar will ask you a set of questions about the deceased. You should know or be able to find:

• Their full name (and any previous names, including maiden name)
• Date and place of birth
• Date and place of death
• Last address
• Occupation (or most recent occupation if retired)
• Whether they were in receipt of a pension or benefits from public funds

If the deceased was married or in a civil partnership, you'll also need the full name, date of birth and occupation of the surviving spouse or civil partner.

Bring whatever documents you have. The GOV.UK guidance doesn't specify a mandatory list beyond the MCCD itself, but having the following will help: the deceased's NHS medical card, birth certificate, marriage or civil partnership certificate, driving licence and passport. None of these are obligatory, and the registrar will not turn you away without them. They're simply useful for confirming details and avoiding errors on the register, which are a nuisance to correct later.

The registrar enters everything into a computer system now, though they will also show you the entry to verify it before it's finalised. Read it carefully. Mistakes on official records take time and paperwork to correct.

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Step 6: Receive your documents and decide how many death certificates to order

Once registered, you'll receive two documents automatically.

The first is the Certificate for Burial or Cremation, commonly called the green form. This goes to the funeral director and authorises the burial or cremation to proceed. If the coroner was involved and issued a Form 100B, the coroner handles the burial authority separately.

The second is the certified copy of the death certificate, the formal document on official paper that proves the death has been registered. This is what banks, insurers, pension providers, solicitors and financial institutions will ask to see.

You will almost certainly need more than one copy. Each costs £11 at the time of registration in England and Wales (GOV.UK, 2024). Ordering them later from the General Register Office costs the same but takes longer. Most families find they need somewhere between four and eight copies, depending on how many accounts, policies and institutions are involved in the estate.

My suggestion: make a rough list of every institution you'll need to notify (bank accounts, savings, pension, life insurance, investments, the mortgage lender if applicable, and any premium bonds with NS&I) and order one certificate per institution. You can always request more later, but buying them at the appointment saves you weeks of waiting at a stressful time.

The Tell Us Once service, if your register office offers it, will not eliminate the need for paper certificates. Most financial institutions require an original certified copy; a notification from DWP is not a substitute.

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