Death Registration

How to Register a Death

When?

A death occurring in Scotland must be registered within 8 days. The body cannot be cremated until the death has been registered.

Who May Register a Death?

A death may be registered by any relative, any person present at the death, the deceased's executor or other legal representative, the occupier of the premises where the death took place or, finally, any other person possessing the information needed for registration.

Where? A death occurring in Scotland may be registered in any registration District, regardless of where the death occurred. There is a full list of Registration Offices, with contact details, available as an Adobe Acrobat PDF file (16KB).

What Documents are Required?

The doctor or hospital will normally issue a Medical Certificate of Death (Form 11). The registrar will require this to register the death. In addition, the following documents will help ensure that the registration is completed swiftly and accurately:

The birth certificate for the deceased
Any marriage certificates for the deceased
The deceased's NHS medical card
Any pension book, documents or details relating to any pensions or allowances which the deceased received from public funds.

What Information is Required?

If the documents above are available, the death should be registered without any problem. If none of these documents are available, the registrar will require the following information about the deceased:

Full name
Date and place of birth
Occupation
Address
The full names of all spouses and their occupations
Father's full name and usual occupation
Mother's full name and usual occupation
Name and address of the registered NHS doctor

The Documents You Will Receive

When the death has been registered, the registrar will give you the following documents:

A Certificate of Registration of Death (Form 14), which is required by the undertaker
A form for Social Security (Form 334 S1), which is required for obtaining or adjusting Social Security Benefits and for National Insurance purposes
An extract, or certificate, of the death, which is required for purposes such as, bank, life insurance, shares, mortgage, superannuation etc. The fee for each extract is currently £8.50, and you may purchase as many certificates as you wish

Deaths Occurring Abroad

A death occurring outside Scotland must be registered with the local authorities in the country where it occurred, according to local regulations of that country. You should ensure that you receive a certificate of death at the time, as this may be difficult to obtain later. If the death occurred outside the UK, you can register the death with the British Consul. If the deceased was Scottish, this will ensure that a record of the death is recorded in Scotland, allowing certificates to be obtained from the Registrar General in Edinburgh, at a later date.

« Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages

This information is provided by the Support Services Department