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Death in a family is a tragedy which can leave you completely flummoxed. The magnitude of the loss is so overpowering that you won’t remember the important things you need to do.

One of the vital things you must attend to is register the death. You need to register a death within five days from the day of demise. Death registration is done in the registers office that covers the area where the person died. If you register it somewhere else, which is permissible under UK law, the process may get a bit longer. The hospital’s patient affairs manager can help you in this regard.

Most deaths are registered by a relative. If there is no relative the registrar would allow other people like someone present at the death, an occupant of the house or an official from the hospital to do the registration.

The documents mandatory for registering death is a signed medical certificate stating the cause of death. Other things which may be needed include birth certificate, marriage or civil partnership certificates and NHS medical card. Information like last known address, occupation at the time of death and whether the concerned person was getting state pension or not are also required.

The registrar will issue a certificate for burial or cremation, if a post-mortem is not being held. Also known as the “green form” it provides the application for cremation to be made or the consent letter for the body to be buried or cremated.

At the time of registration the registrar hands over a booklet about things to be done after death. It tells you on probate administration and other administrative issues that need to be attended to.

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