If Death Occurs At Home

• Telephone the doctor who will visit to confirm that death has taken place.
• Contact a funeral director.
• Arrange to collect the doctor’s medical certificate of death, usually from the surgery. However, during the Covid-19 pandemic a change of process saw the certificate completed and sent electronically so please check with reception who will explain the current process to you.
• Book an appointment with the registrar once you have received the death certificate. Take this to the register office, (together with the deceased’s medical card and birth certificate, if available) for the area in which the death took place. Alternatively, you can register by declaration at any convenient register office but certificates will not be available as these will have to be posted to you a few days later.
• The registrar will normally issue a green coloured certificate for you to give to your funeral director who will look after necessary arrangements for the funeral. The registrar will also issue a white notification certificate for the DSS. They will also enquire as to the number of certified copies you require for dealing with the deceased finances (a fee is payable for each copy).

If The Death Occurs In Hospital

• Contact a funeral director to inform him his services are required.
• Collect the certificate from the hospital then follow 4 – 5 as above.

Note For Cremation

Your funeral director will usually liaise directly with the surgery regarding the additional certification required.