REGISTERING THE DEATH

The death must be registered with the local Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages and it is essential to have a doctor’s certificate of death. This sometimes can be delayed if a post-mortem or inquest is required. It may be that an interim death certificate will be issued. (The information the undertakers need to know is whether the deceased is to be cremated or buried.) Usually you need to make an appointment to register the death.

Information relating to the deceased that you need to take to register a death, although not necessarily in this order is as follows:-

1. Surname
2. Forename in full
3. Previous names e.g. change of name by deed poll, marriage or partnership; that the deceased was given when he/she was born i.e. on their birth certificate
4. Date of death
5. Place of death
6. Last permanent address i.e. where the deceased usually lived on a permanent basis and had the majority of their belongings. This could for example, be a rest home.
7. Occupation, of if retired, occupation prior to retirement
8. Religion e.g. Catholic, C of E, Jew, Muslim, Humanist
9. Date of birth
10. Place of birth

You will be asked how many copies of the certificate you require and will need to pay the appropriate fee. Consider how many will be required to enable administration of the estate, as not everyone accepts photocopies of the certificate issued by the Registrar. It may be appropriate to discuss how many copies to obtain with the solicitors or person likely to be involved with the administration of the deceased’s estate, if they are familiar with the deceased’s financial position.

There are some occasions when you may wish, for one reason or another, to have Meaby and Co assist with co-ordinating matters with the undertakers and to help with arranging the service.

It is prudent to check 48 hours prior to the burial/cremation that all the arrangements have been put into place to ensure everything goes smoothly at this difficult time.