What the registrar will give you

When the registrar has all the information that they need and this has been entered in the register, they will give you a:

Death Certificate

This is a certified copy of the death entry in the register and proves that the death has been registered. These have to be purchased.

It is important to ask for additional copies of the death certificate if it is possible that the person's estate will have to go through probate. Even if you do not need probate you will need to have a copy of the death certificate for each asset holder, e.g. for each bank or building society where there are accounts, each pension or insurance policy. Without a sufficient number of death certificates, sorting out the estate takes longer and extra certificates are more expensive to purchase at a later stage.

The cost of certified copies of the death certificate at the time of registering the death vary from one country to another. The cost per copy is: £11.00 in England and Wales, £8.00 in Northern Ireland and £10.00 in Scotland.

Photocopies of the certificate are not normally accepted for legal, financial and insurance companies and are a breach of copyright.

Certificate for Burial or Cremation (GR021 in N.Ireland)

This is often called the 'green form'. The registrar will issue a certificate for the burial or cremation of the body, which is normally passed to the funeral director by the person making the arrangements. The funeral cannot happen until this certificate is given to the burial authority or the crematorium. This will not be issued in certain circumstances when the coroner has been involved. This form is free.

Certificate for Department of Work & Pensions benefits (BD8 form Registration or Notification of Death in England & Form 3344SI in Scotland, form 36/BD8 in N.Ireland)

A certificate to send to the Department of Work & Pensions. Some register offices also issue an envelope with this form but it can also be returned to the office from which any pension or benefit has been issued or to a local Jobcentre Plus office.

If the person who has died was a pensioner, the death can be notified to the Pensions Service with a telephone call. Depending on the relationship of the person making the call it may not be necessary for the BD8 to be posted.

Details of the death are given on one side and on the reverse side is a form to be completed with further details of the person who has died and the person dealing with the estate.

This form is also free.