House Clearance Help & Advice: Registering the death of your loved one

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When a loved one dies you will normally have around five days in which to register it. Once you have registered the death then you will be issued with a death certificate, however the registration process may be delayed if a coroner is involved. While usually it will be a relative who registers the death, in certain cases it could one of the people listed below if there is no relative.

If the person dies at home or in the hospital then the death can be registered by :

A relative

Whoever was present at the time of death

An official from the hospital or resident who lived in the house

Whoever is making the arrangements with the funeral director

If your loved one died anywhere else then the death could be registered by:

A relative

Whoever was present at the time the person passed away

Whoever found the body

Whoever is in charge of the body

Whoever is making the arrangements with the funeral director

When the death of your loved one should be registered

When a loved one dies you should register the death within a period of five days, to make the process quicker where possible you should register the death in the same area in which the person lived. If you do register the death in another area this could have an effect of delaying the funeral arrangements. In some cases you will have to make an appointment beforehand and the whole process should take no longer than a half hour.

Documents you will need to take with you:

The registrar who is registering the death of your loved one will need to ask you certain information and require several things from you.

The death certificate which has been signed by a Doctor

The marriage certificate if applicable

National Health Service medical card

Some of the information which the registrar could ask you includes:

The full name of your loved one at the time of their death

Any names that your loved one previously had

The place of birth and the exact date of birth

The date of birth, full name and occupation of any surviving spouse

If your loved one was receiving any state benefits or pensions at the time of death

Documents that you will receive

Providing a post mortem is not to be held then the registrar will present you with a certificate called a green form, which means that you can go ahead and make the funeral arrangements. If you are going to have a cremation then the hospital will arrange for a Doctors second signature on the cremation form.

You will also be given a certificate of registration of death for social security purposes if your loved one was receiving any state benefit or pension. During this time you will be able to purchases more death certificates which will be needed for sorting out your loved ones affairs.

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