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Register a death

 Deaths must be registered in person by appointment at one of our registration offices.

You should not book an appointment to register until you have been advised that a doctor has issued a medical certificate of cause of death and sent this to the registration service (or the coroner has issued paperwork instead).

The registration should be completed within five days from the date of the death, and we ask that you nominate a funeral director before the appointment.

Please read the information on this page before booking your appointment.

You should not book an appointment to register until you have been advised that a doctor has issued a medical certificate of cause of death and sent this to the registration service (or the Coroner has issued paperwork instead).

To book a death registration appointment call us on 0344 800 8020.

To complete the appointment, you will need to provide the registrar with the following information:

  • Date and place of death
  • Full name of the person who has died, and any previous or maiden names where appropriate
  • Date and place of birth of the person who has died
  • Occupation (prior to retirement if applicable) and usual address of the person who has died
  • If the person who has died was married or in a civil partnership, details of the deceased's most recent spouse or legal civil partner including:
    • Their full name
    • Their date of birth
    • Their most recent occupation and whether they're retired

If the deceased was receiving any pension, other than a state pension, please tell the registration officer.

Download full details of what you'll need to provide.

Having the correct information to hand will help ensure that the official record of the death is accurate and true. If you need to apply for a correction to a completed register entry you may need to pay a fee depending on the type of error. To minimise the risk of errors it can help if you have available documents which show the deceased’s name, date of birth and usual address.

Examples of the most useful documents (if they can easily be found) are passport, driving licence, birth certificate, deed poll, marriage/civil partnership certificates, a council tax bill, recent utility bill etc. Please note that finding/having these for the appointment is not mandatory.

We will process a range of information in order to complete this registration. View our information and privacy notice.

If you need to cancel an appointment, contact us as soon as possible.

At the appointment you can purchase as many death certificates as needed, at a cost of £11 each - payable at the time of registration (debit or credit card only) or you can order certificates online later.

We will email the Green Form (Certificate for Burial or Cremation) to your appointed funeral director and in some cases the place of burial or cremation. In some circumstances this form will be issued direct from the Coroner. Please note, if the place of burial or cremation is not known at the time of the registration, we must retain this form until notified of where this will be.

We will give you a leaflet explaining how to use the GOV.UK Tell Us Once service, which lets you tell various local and central government organisations of the death in one go.

We will give you a Form BD8 for state pension.

All the above will be clearly explained to you during the registration.

If the death occurred in Norfolk you will need to attend one of our registration offices to register the death. View the list of Norfolk registration offices.

If the death occurred outside of Norfolk, you may make a ‘declaration of the death’ at one of our offices if you, the informant, lives in Norfolk. This will be sent to the district where the death occurred. The receiving district will produce all death certificates and paperwork for the funeral director; there may be a delay in receiving these. Please contact us to book an appointment with us to register by declaration. We will need to discuss your individual circumstances and available paperwork prior to you attending an appointment.

Find the correct register office on GOV.UK.

There are several people who can legally register a death including:

  • A relative
  • A person present at the death
  • A senior member of the establishment (such as a nursing home) in which the death occurred
  • The occupier of the residence where the death occurred
  • The person arranging the funeral (not the funeral director - however, your chosen funeral director may contact us on your behalf to make an appointment for you to register)

Other people may be able to register in specific circumstances. In this case contact us on 0344 800 8020.

Note that in registration there is a difference between a legal ‘civil partner’ and a ‘partner’.  A ‘civil partner’ is someone with whom you have been through a legal ceremony of formation.

There is no provision for a partner who is not married to or in a civil partnership with the deceased to be recorded as the deceased’s partner on the death registration. However, a non-legal partner can register the death if they were 'present at the death', are 'causing the body to be buried/cremated' or occupied the residence where the death occurred.

To make a change or a correction to a death registration and certificate contact us and you will be directed to a full-time office.

You may need to pay a fee, depending on the type of error that needs correcting.

For deaths that occur abroad visit GOV.UK for more information.

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