Legally a death must be registered within 5 days in the Registration District where the death occurred. If the death is referred to the Coroner this may be extended.

You will need to make an appointment to register a death, as soon as you have confirmed that the medical certificate of cause of death has been emailed to the Register Office from the relevant doctor / hospital.

All Wolverhampton deaths will be referred to the Medical Examiner Service based at New Cross Hospital prior to the certifying Doctor issuing the medical cause of death certificate.  This shouldn’t cause any delays and you should still be able to register your loved one’s death within the statutory 5 days period.

More information regarding the Medical Examiner Service can be found under Downloads.

Death registration appointments will be carried out face to face and you will need to attend your appointment at the Register Office. If you are in possession of the medical certificate you will need to hand this in at the Register Office before your appointment.

The quickest and easiest way to book an appointment is online. 

Book an appointment

Costs

Death certificates are £11.00 and can be paid for at the time of registration. All payments must be by debit or credit card.

If details are recorded inaccurately, there is a charge £75 or £90 depending on the error.

Who can register a death?

You can register a death if you are:

  • a relative of the deceased

or if there are no relatives

  • someone who was present at the death
  • the occupier of the premises where the death occurred (if the occupier is aware)
  • the person arranging the funeral
Where should a death be registered?

You must register a death in the district where the death occurred. If it occurred within Wolverhampton, you will need to register in person at Wolverhampton Register Office.

  • If a death occurs at New Cross hospital, staff from NHS Bereavement Services will forward the relevant paperwork to us and we will contact you in due course to register over the telephone
  • If a death happens anywhere else in Wolverhampton, the GP will forward the relevant paperwork to us and we will contact you in due course to register over the telephone

Unable to attend Wolverhampton Register Office

A death has to be registered in the district where it occurred, but if there are no relatives local to the area it is possible to arrange an appointment any register office within England or Wales. This will then be sent to us to enable Wolverhampton to register the death.

Once you have been informed by the certifying GP or by New Cross hospital that the medical cause of death certificate has been emailed to us you can contact your local register office to arrange an appointment to attend there and attest the declaration.

Please be aware that Wolverhampton will have to issue the green form for the Funeral Directors and issue any certificates that you require once the declaration has arrived here and the death has been registered so there will be a delay in the process by at least a couple of days.

Your appointment

The doctor or hospital will send the relevant paperwork to us via email along with next of kin contact details. You will need to make an appointment to register a death as soon as the certifying doctor has confirmed that the medical certificate of cause of death has been emailed to the Register Office. Once the paperwork has been received we will contact the next of kin and the death registration will be carried out over the telephone.

Please note: We cannot register a death until we have received:

  • a signed Medical Cause of Death certificate from the GP / hospital

OR

  • the coroner has completed their investigation

 

What to bring to your appointment

At the appointment the registrar will ask the following relating to the deceased:

  • The date and place of death.
  • The full name and surname of the deceased person (and the maiden surname if the deceased was a married woman/civil partner).
  • The date and place of birth.
  • The occupation of the deceased and, if the deceased was married, the full name and occupation of their spouse / civil partner.
  • Their usual address.
  • The date of birth of a surviving spouse or civil partner.
  • the name and address of the person registering the death
Tell Us Once

Tell Us Once Service
We will offer Tell Us Once capture only at all death registrations. Customers will be given a reference number and contact details to go away and complete the full Tell Us Once Service online or over the telephone.

Tell Us Once is a free service offered by HM Government. 

When someone has died, there are lots of things that need to be done, at a time when you probably least feel like doing them. 

Tell Us Once is voluntary to use and very helpful. It enables you to report a death only once, telling central and local government services securely and confidentially without you having to inform them individually. Many services can be notified and these include: 

  • the local council - to update services such as Council Housing, Housing Benefit, Council Tax, Blue Badge and remove the person from the Electoral Register 
  • HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC)- to deal with personal tax and to update regarding Child Benefit and Tax Credits claims (contact HMRC separately for business taxes, like VAT) 
  • Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) - to update benefits information for example: State Pension, Universal Credit 
  • Passport Office - to cancel a British passport 
  • Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency {DVLA) - to cancel a driving licence and to remove registered keeper details, possibly for up to five vehicles 
  • Public Sector or Armed Forces Pension Schemes - to update pension records 

How do I use the service?

The Registrar will provide you with a unique Tell Us Once reference number, which will enable you to access the service

  • Online via GOV.UK
  • via our telephony service 0800 085 7308. 

If you have been issued with a Coroners Fact of Death {Interim Death Certificate) you may still be able to use the service and the Registrar will advise you how to do so. 

It will help you to have all the relevant information listed below about the person before using Tell Us Once: 

  • date of birth 
  • address of the deceased 
  • National Insurance number 
  • driving licence number 
  • vehicle registration number 
  • passport number 

You will also need

  • details of any benefits or entitlements they were receiving, for example State Pension, Universal Credit 
  • details of any local council services they were receiving, for example Adult Social Services, Blue Badge, travel pass 
  • the name and address of their next of kin 
  • the name and address of any surviving spouse or civil partner 
  • the name, address and contact details of the person or company dealing with their estate (property, belongings and money), known as their 'executor' or 'administrator' 
  • details of any public sector or armed forces pension schemes they were getting or paying into

Please note

  • Permission is required from the next of kin, the executor, the administrator and anyone who was claiming benefits or entitlements jointly with the person who died, before you give their details. 
  • There is no need to follow-up contact after you have used Tell Us Once unless you don't receive a confirmation from the relevant department after a reasonable period of time, in most cases a calendar month. 
  • Once the various agencies informed by Tell Us Once have received notification of the death, they will make any further contact if necessary with the bereaved family. 
  • Tell Us Once is not a claim to benefit, therefore please contact GOV.UK or the relevant department for advice. 
  • Tell Us Once does not notify any commercial organisations of the death and cannot arrange for redirection of post. 
Post Mortems and Inquests

Post Mortem

If there's a Post Mortem, the Coroner will issue the Cause of Death Certificate straight to the Register Office. They will then notify the family to book a death registration appointment.

The Hospital or GP will not issue a certificate.

Inquest

If an Inquest is being held as part of a Judicial Inquiry relatives of the deceased can't register the death.

The Coroner will issue an Interim Death Certificate. This allows the family to proceed with the funeral.

Once the inquest has finished, the corner will instruct the Register Office to register the death without the family being present.

Urgent registration of a death

Out of hours death registration service

An out-of-hours service is available for families to allow for an urgent burial to take place outside normal office hours.

This service is for when a burial needs to take place before our office re-opens.

Unfortunately, we are unable to offer an out-of-hours cremation service.

If you need to organise a burial service outside normal office hours:

  • The death must have occurred in Wolverhampton and must not have been reported to the Coroner. For information about what the Coroner does, please see the Directgov website.
  • A medical certificate of cause of death must have been issued and emailed to the register office.
  • Provisional funeral arrangements must be in place.

Out-of-hours burial enquiries

Our out-of-hours emergency service is available on 07717 733157 on weekends and Bank Holidays between 8am and 12pm.

Settling the affairs of the deceased

What to do

Some of the main things to be done, other than registering the death and arranging the funeral, are listed below.

Please note, this is not a complete list covering everyone's individual circumstances.

Things to send back

The following items of the deceased should be returned. Include a note of explanation and the date of death with each of the documents. The items marked * can be dealt with at the Register Office’s 'Tell Us Once Service'.

  • *any pension or benefit cheques to the office which issued the payment
  • *library books and tickets
  • *passport to the Passport Office
  • *driving licence to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), Longview Road, Swansea SA6 7JL
  • *Centro bus or travel pass
  • Blue Badge to health and social care service
  • Carelink alarm (and pendant, if applicable)
  • National Insurance papers to the relevant office
  • membership cards of clubs and associations
  • NHS equipment such as wheelchairs, hearing aids and artificial limbs

People to tell

You should tell the following about the death. The organisations marked * can be contacted via the Register Office.

  • *Health and social care department of the council if the person was getting meals-on-wheels, home help, or lived in a care home
  • *Inland Revenue
  • *the housing department of the council if the person who has died was living in a council house
  • *Council Tax office and/ or Business Rates office
  • *water suppliers (Severn Trent and/or South Staffs Water), if the deceased person was responsible for the water rates
  • deceased’s landlord if living in rented accommodation.
  • deceased’s family doctor
  • deceased’s employer or trade union.
  • deceased’s bank(s) or building society(s).
  • the teacher, employer or college of a child or young person, if a parent, brother, sister, grandparent or close friend has died.
  • deceased’s insurance company
  • utility suppliers.
  • Royal Mail so that they can re-direct the deceased person's mail to the person who will be responsible for the estate.
  • any company or personal pension provider

Parents who have passed away overseas

If your parent has passed away overseas we would not be able to provide a copy of a certificate. We can only produce certificates for events that have occurred in Wolverhampton.

We can issue a reference number to enable you to use the Government’s Tell us Once Service where you can notify various Government and local authority departments of their passing.

Should you wish to receive a tell us once reference please make email register.office@wolverhampton.gov.uk or visit the civic centre.

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