Register a death: Information based on your answers

You should register the death within 5 days.

Contact a register office to register the death. You can contact any register office but it will be quicker if you use the one in the area where the person died.

Who should register the death

A relative should register the death.

If a relative cannot register the death, you can do it if you:

were there at the time of death
are an administrator from the hospital (if the person died in hospital)
are in charge of making funeral arrangements

What you need to do

The register office will tell you what you need to do when you contact them.

If the cause of death is unknown, sudden or unexplained it may be reported to the coroner.

The coroner will give you the documents you need, or they’ll send them direct to the registrar. The table below shows the documents needed.

Cause of death	Documents issued by coroner
Natural causes	Form 100A, or Pink Form 100B if there’s a post-mortem - these forms are sent to the registrar, but sometimes given to you
Unnatural causes/not enough evidence of natural causes	Order for Burial (form 101) or Certificate for Cremation (form 6) so the funeral can take place – will be given to you; Certificate After Inquest (form 99 (rev)) - this states the cause of death and is sent to the registrar (the death is registered by the registrar with no-one present)

If form 100A or 100B is issued (ie there is no inquest)

The register office may also want to see the person’s:

birth certificate
marriage or civil partnership certificate
NHS medical card

Ask the register office what to do if you do not have them.

You’ll need to tell the registrar:

the person’s full name at the time of death
any names previously used, eg maiden name
the person’s date and place of birth
their last address
their 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 any other benefits

Documents you’ll get

When you register a death, you’ll be able to buy death certificates - these prove the death has been registered. These certificates will be needed for sorting out the person’s affairs. You can:

buy death certificates at the register office when you register the death
order death certificates online