Registration of Death

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Any death which happens in Scotland must be registered within 8 days.  An appointment to Register is required, the registration will last approximately 1 hour and can be completed at any office in Scotland.

Registration can be completed over the telephone, should you prefer.

Who can register the death:

• Any person present at the death.
• Any relative of the deceased.
• The deceased’s executor.
• The occupier at the time of death of the premises where the death took place, for example, a nursing home manager.
• If there is none of the above, anyone who knows the details of the deceased, for example, a neighbour.

Documents to take to the Registrar's:

• Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (Form 11).
• The deceased's Birth Certificate.
• Marriage or Civil Partnership Certificate (if applicable).
• Divorce papers (if applicable).
• The deceased's NHS Medical Card.

Documents you will receive from the Registrar: 

• Certificate of Registration of Death (Form 14).
• Form BD8 to tell the Department for Work and Pensions about the death.
• An abbreviated certificate (extract), which is free.

Full certificates can be purchased at the time (£10) or at a later date (£15). These may be needed for business and financial purposes.

Tell Us Once: 

A service that allows you to report a death to most government organisations in one go.

To use the service please also bring along these documents, the deceased's:

• National Insurance Number
• Passport Number
• Driving Licence Number
• Vehicle Registration (V5)
• Blue Badge

You’ll also need:

• Details of their benefits 
• Details of their public sector or armed forces pension
• Civil Service Pension
• NHS Pension Scheme
• Armed Forces Pension Scheme
• Pension schemes for NHS staff, teachers, police and firefighters in Scotland

Tell Us Once will notify:

• HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) - to deal with personal tax (contact HMRC separately for business taxes)
• Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) - to cancel benefits, for example Income Support
• Passport Office - to cancel a British passport
• Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) - to cancel a licence and remove the person as the keeper of up to 5 vehicles (contact DVLA separately if you keep or sell a vehicle).
• Cancel Housing Benefit, Council Tax Reduction, Blue Badge, inform council housing services and remove the person from the electoral register
• Veterans UK - to cancel Armed Forces Compensation Scheme payments

 For more information about this service, visit www.gov.uk/tell-us-once