Register a death: Information based on your answers

You’ll be contacted by the medical examiner’s office to confirm you can register the death.

You must register the death within 5 days (8 days in Scotland) of being contacted. This includes weekends and bank holidays.

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 a death is from natural causes

When a natural cause of death is confirmed, form CN2 is issued by a coroner and given to the registrar. You must wait for the confirmation from the coroner or registrar before you go to the register office to register the death.

If a death is from unnatural causes

When the cause of death is unknown, sudden or unexplained it may be reported to the coroner. You must wait to get the Order for Burial or Certificate for Cremation before you can arrange a funeral.

The coroner will issue a Certificate After Inquest directly to the registrar. The registrar will register the death with no-one present. The family can apply for a death certificate after the death has been registered.

When there is no inquest (form CN2 is issued)

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