How to Register a Death in the UK

Registering a death is one of the first legal tasks after someone dies. You cannot arrange a funeral or begin administering the estate until it is done. This guide explains exactly how to register a death in the UK, who can do it, what to bring, and what happens next.

The death certification process: what changed in September 2024

Before you can register a death in England or Wales, the cause of death must be certified and independently reviewed. Since 9 September 2024, all deaths not investigated by a coroner have been reviewed by NHS medical examiners. A medical examiner is a senior doctor who was not involved in the care of the person who died.

It is now a statutory requirement in England and Wales for all deaths not investigated by a coroner to be reviewed by a medical examiner before the death can be registered. The medical examiner sends the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCD) electronically to the register office. Within a few days of the death, the medical examiner’s office will contact you by phone and explain what the cause of death will be recorded as.

If the death is referred to a coroner instead, the medical examiner is not involved and the timetable changes. A death is referred where the cause is unknown, where it was violent, unnatural or sudden, or where it happened in custody or state detention. The coroner may order a post-mortem and, if that establishes a natural cause, will notify the registrar so that registration can go ahead. Where the coroner opens an inquest, the death cannot be registered until the inquest concludes, which can take months. In that situation the coroner can issue an interim certificate of the fact of death, and most banks, insurers and the Probate Registry will accept it so that the estate is not left frozen. In every case it is the registrar who contacts you once the paperwork arrives, so wait to hear from the register office rather than chasing the coroner’s office for an appointment.

Step 1: Wait for contact from the medical examiner’s office

Do not book a registration appointment until the medical examiner’s office has been in touch. The medical examiner’s office will contact you to confirm you can register the death. You should not book an appointment until you have heard from them.

If the death occurred in hospital, the hospital’s medical examiner office will handle this. For deaths at home or in a care home, the GP practice will work with the local medical examiner office.

Step 2: Find the correct register office

You are legally required to register the death within five days from when the coroner or medical examiner has passed the relevant paperwork to the register office. Registration normally takes place in the district where the person died, though there is an alternative route if you cannot get there.

You can find your local register office using the government’s Find a Register Office tool. In England and Wales, using the office for the district where the death occurred is the quickest route, because the certificates are issued to you there and then.

If you cannot travel to that district, you do not have to. You can attend any register office in England or Wales and make what is called a declaration of the particulars. That office records the details and sends them to the district where the death occurred, which then registers the death and issues the certificates by post. It is a recognised alternative rather than a special concession, but it adds several days, so tell the funeral director if you are using it. In Scotland you can register at any registration office; in Northern Ireland you can register at any district registrar’s office.

Step 3: Book your appointment

Contact the Register Office by telephone or online to book an appointment. The registration appointment usually takes about 30 minutes, and you can often book it online or by phone.

In England and Wales, you must register the death within five days. Crucially, that five-day window starts when the register office receives the MCCD from the medical examiner’s office, not from the day the person died. This is a direct result of the death certification reforms that became law on 9 September 2024.

The five days include weekends and bank holidays, so a death certified before a long weekend can leave a tight window. If you cannot get an appointment in time, phone the register office straight away and explain the situation.

Step 4: Gather the information you need

The registrar will tell you what documents to bring when you book. In general, bring whatever you have from this list:

• The deceased’s birth certificate or passport
• Marriage or civil partnership certificate (if applicable)
• NHS medical card (if available)
• National Insurance number (if available)
• NHS number (if available)

The registrar will ask for the following information about the person who died:

• Full name, including any previous names or maiden name
• Date and place of birth
• Date and place of death
• Last address
• Occupation
• Marital or civil partnership status
• Full name, date of birth and occupation of a surviving or late spouse or civil partner

If you do not have all of this, tell the registrar when you book. They will advise you on what to do.

Step 5: Attend the appointment and sign the register

Arrive at the register office at your scheduled time. The registrar will go through all the details with you and ask you to sign the death register. After registering the death, the registrar will issue a green certificate for burial or cremation, which should be given to your chosen funeral director.

In England, Scotland and Wales the registrar will also give you a unique reference number for the Tell Us Once service. Tell Us Once is a free government service that notifies HMRC, the DWP, the Passport Office, the DVLA, the local council and several other departments in one go, which saves a great deal of repeated form-filling. Two points catch people out. The reference expires: you must use it within 28 days of registering the death. And Tell Us Once does not operate in Northern Ireland, where each organisation has to be contacted separately. If you would rather not do it at the appointment, you can use the reference online or by phone afterwards, as long as you stay inside the 28 days.

Tell Us Once covers government departments only. Banks, insurers, pension providers, utilities and mortgage lenders still have to be told individually.

Step 6: Order enough death certificates

Certified copies of the death certificate are not issued automatically, and three to six copies is a sensible starting point for most estates. Banks, insurance companies and other organisations require an original certificate each. Most will not accept photocopies or digital copies. You can purchase additional certified copies at the appointment.

Registering the death itself is free. The certificates are not. A certified copy ordered at the appointment costs £12.50 in England and Wales, and the same fee applies to copies ordered later from the General Register Office, which also offers a priority service at a higher fee. Ordering at the appointment is therefore no more expensive than ordering later and it is considerably faster, so it is worth deciding how many you need before you go. Fees are set by regulation and do change, so check the current figure when you book.

What to do next

Registering the death is one of the first steps in administering an estate. Once you have the certificates, our guide to what to do when someone dies sets out the rest of the practical sequence.

The next legal step is usually establishing whether you need a grant. Our guide to what a grant of probate is explains when one is required, and how to apply for probate with a will walks through the application itself. Where there is no will, you would apply for letters of administration instead. If you expect to instruct a professional, it is worth reading how much solicitors charge for probate before you commit.

Frequently asked questions

Who can register a death in the UK?

Only “qualified informants” as defined by law can register a death. You cannot nominate any person of your choosing to act on your behalf. The priority order is: a relative present at the death, then a relative present during the last illness, then any relative in the district, then a non-relative present at the death. A relative in England and Wales includes a spouse, civil partner, parent, child, sibling, or any person related by blood or marriage. If no relative is available, a hospital administrator, person responsible for the mortuary, or the funeral arranger can register as a last resort. Rules vary slightly across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, so check with your local register office if you are unsure.

How long do you have to register a death in the UK?

The time limit depends on where in the UK the death occurred. In England and Wales it is five days, and since the September 2024 reforms that clock runs from the point the register office receives the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death from the medical examiner, not from the date of death and not from the phone call you receive from the medical examiner’s office. In Scotland it is eight days from the death. In Northern Ireland it is five days from the death. All of these include weekends and bank holidays. The period can be extended where the registrar agrees, and it does not begin at all while a coroner, or the procurator fiscal in Scotland, is investigating: in those cases you wait for the registrar to tell you the death can be registered.

Can you register a death online?

No. Registration itself is done in person, and most register offices let you book the appointment online or by telephone. You do not have to attend the office for the district where the death occurred, though. You can go to any register office in England or Wales and make a declaration of the particulars, which that office passes to the correct district to complete the registration and post the certificates out to you. It works, but it takes longer, so allow for the delay if a funeral is being arranged.

What is the penalty for not registering a death?

A qualified informant who refuses or fails to give the registrar the required information commits an offence under the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953, punishable on summary conviction by a fine at level 1 on the standard scale, currently £200. In practice prosecutions are rare and are brought where a death has been deliberately concealed, not where an appointment slipped. A delay caused by the medical examiner, a doctor or the coroner is not your failure, because the five days do not start until the certificate reaches the register office. If the deadline is tight for any other reason, phone the register office and say so: they can usually accommodate you, and a recorded explanation is far better than silence.

This article is for general guidance only and does not constitute legal, tax or financial advice. Rules and thresholds can change and every estate is different. For advice on your own circumstances, speak to a qualified professional. You can book a free legal consultation through The Probate Network.