If Death Occurs At Home
1. Telephone the doctor who will visit to confirm that death has taken place.
2. Contact a funeral director.
3. Arrange to collect the doctor's Medical Certificate of Death (usually from the surgery).
4. Take this to the Registrars 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 Registrars Office but certificates will not be available as these will have to be posted to you a few days later.
5. 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
1. Contact a funeral director to inform him his services are required.
2. 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.
Bereavement Help
If you require any help following bereavement then the NHS have some useful self help pages - advice following bereavement
alternatively Cruse Bereavement Care is the leading national charity for bereaved people. They offer support, advice and information to children, young people and adults when someone dies, and work to enhance society’s care of bereaved people.
For help and support and for details of your local Cruse service: www.cruse.org.uk
National helpline 0808 808 1677
(Mondays and Fridays 0930-1700, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays 0930-2000)
Email – helpline@cruse.org.uk
For children and young people www.hopeagain.org.uk