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Service Update
Death registration appointments can be carried out with customers over the phone. Please make an appointment by phoning 03451 55 00 77 or via your Funeral Director. Appointments are available Monday to Friday.A Registrar will phone you on the day and time of your appointment to go through the registration process. The appointment will take around 60 minutes but you won't be on the phone for the full appointment time - a few phone calls and emails may be required during this time.
A death occurring in Scotland must be registered within eight days.
When someone dies in Scotland, you can register their death anywhere in Scotland. No burial or cremation can take place without the death having first been registered.
When you register a death, you will be issued with:
- A free abbreviated death certificate
- A Certificate of Registration of Death (Form 14), to be given to the funeral director so that the funeral can go ahead
To register a death you will need:
- Medical Certificate of Cause of Death issued by doctor or hospital.
It is helpful if you can provide the deceased person's:
- Birth certificate
- Marriage certificate(s)
- Medical card
Due to the introduction of the ‘Certification of Death (Scotland) Act 2011’ the death you are registering may be selected for medical review and you may not immediately be able to complete the death registration. You can still make provisional funeral arrangements while the medical review is underway, however, the funeral cannot take place until the medical review has been completed. The registrar will explain the review process and timescales in more detail at your appointment. You can read more about the medical review process by visiting www.healthcareimprovementscotland.org/deathcertification.
When you are registering a death, the registrar will be able to help you with advice about the certificates you might need, and about other Council services.
You can also use our bereavement service Tell Us Once which informs many departments of both local and central government when someone has died. This service is usually carried out at the appointment to register the death. To use this service please bring with you:
- Deceased person's National Insurance number
- Their passport or passport number (if they had one)
- Their driving licence or driving licence number (if they had one)
- Surviving spouse's National Insurance number
- Their Blue Badge
This can be a difficult time for you and we all want to make things as straightforward as possible, so please ask if we can help in any way.
Costs: There is no charge to register a death. However, if you want a full death certificate, which shows the cause(s) of death, this costs £10 at the time of registration.
Useful Links
| Contact: | Registration of births, deaths, marriages and civil partnerships (lines open 8 a.m. - 6 p.m.) |
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| Tel: | 03451 55 00 77 |