How to register a death

When someone dies, it is a legal requirement for the death to be registered within five days of the Registration Service receiving the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death from the Medical Examiner. The exception to this is if the death has been referred to the Coroner for investigation.

You can register a death by booking a face to face appointment at our register offices in either Weston-super-Mare or Clevedon. Appointments to register a death are normally allocated 45 minutes.

If the death took place outside of North Somerset

If you're registering a death from outside North Somerset or Somerset, it should be registered in the district where the death occurred. If you cannot get there, you can register the death ‘by declaration’ at any register office in England and Wales. This means that the details you give to the registrar will be sent to the correct district to be registered.

You can then apply directly to the registering office for certificates.

What you’ll need

To register a death, the Registration Service will need the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death which will be forwarded directly to us from the medical examiner. They should let you know when the paperwork has been completed.

If a death has been reported to the coroner, we’ll need documents from them before we can register the death.

At the appointment we will ask you

• date and place of death
• full name, date and place of birth, last occupation, marital status and usual address of the deceased person
• whether the deceased person received any pension or benefits

If the deceased person was married or widowed we’ll need to know the full name and last occupation of their spouse. We’ll also need to know the date of birth of their surviving spouse.

Once the registration is complete we’ll produce the form for the burial or cremation, unless the coroner has already issued one. This will be forwarded directly to the cemetery or crematorium and can also be sent to your funeral director if you would like. 

You can buy as many copies of the death certificate as you need. The cost of a death certificate is £12.50.

There is an order of who is preferred to register the death of the deceased: 

1. a relative or partner of the deceased
2. a personal representative of the deceased either appointed by and acting on behalf of the family, or appointed by the deceased person before their death
3. a person present at the death
4. the occupier or senior member of staff where the person died for example a care home or hospital
5. the person carrying out the burial or cremation

The full name and address of the person making the registration will be added to the register.

After you have registered a death, you will be given a Tell Us Once unique reference number. This will allow you to inform local and national government departments about the death all at once.

The information provided about births, deaths and marriage is for guidance only and is not a full expression of the law.