Legally a death must be registered within 5 days in the Registration District where the death actually occurred. If the death is referred to the Coroner this may be extended.
Book an appointment online
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.
You are required to register a death at the register office for the district where the death occurred. You can obtain the burial form and purchase death certificates at the appointment. At the end of the appointment, the registrar will record the details of the death into the DWP Tell us once service for you to notify government departments of the death afterwards.
The quickest and easiest way to book an appointment is online.
Please download the 'information required for a death registration' form above before your appointment. This will enable you to prepare the answers to the questions you will be asked during the registration process.
If you are unable to book online, please telephone Dudley Council Plus on 0300 555 2345 for assistance. Lines are open Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays) 9am to 5pm.
If the person who is legally required to register the death is unable to attend the relevant Register Office, they can register the death by declaration at another, more convenient, Register Office. This means they would give the relevant information to that Registrar who would then post it to the Registrar in the district where the death occurred to be entered into the register. Persons choosing to do this must understand that the posting of the documents to the registering Registrar may delay the funeral arrangements. We will also send you form 344 for social security purposes and any death certificates requested.
If the death occurred within Dudley borough, you can register at either Dudley Register Office or Stourbridge Registration Office. If you are not sure in which district the death occurred, if you have the post code for the address you can check on Gov.uk using the post code for the address. If you are still unsure, please contact us for advice.
It is best if a relative of the person who has died registers the death. If there are no relatives, other people can register the death. Those people may include someone present at the death, a senior administrator of the establishment in which the death happened, or the person instructing the funeral director.
You should allow about 30 minutes to register the death. However, in some cases the registration may take longer. The registrar will need the following information.
The medical certificate of cause of death (you must bring this document to the appointment)
The date and place of death
The full name of the person who has died (and maiden name or any other names used if appropriate).
Their place and date of birth.
Their occupation.
The full names of their spouse if they were married or in a civil partnership.
The usual address of the person who has died.
Whether they received a pension from public funds.
If they were married or in a civil partnership, the date of birth of their spouse/civil partner.
You should give the National Health Service number of the person who has died, if know, or the medical card itself, if available, to the registrar. Please do not delay registering the death if you do not have the medical card.
A death certificate is a certified copy of the entry of death in the register.
You may need these for banks, building societies, solicitors or for pension claims and some insurance claims. You may want to obtain several copies of the death certificate at the time of registration, payment is only accepted by card.
From 9 September a short death certificate will also be available for the same fee. The short death certificate does not include the cause of death or the sex of the deceased and may be preferred if this information is sensitive. Please note that the short death certificate may not be acceptable for all purposes.
When you make an appointment to register a death this will include the DWP tell us once service. The service means that when you register a death the registrar will capture the details into the tell us once system. Afterwards you can complete the process online or by telephone using the reference number supplied by the registrar. It can tell all government agencies and council departments that need to know of the death, on your behalf, saving you time, stress and effort contacting individual organisations.
To use the tell us once service, you will need to have a little extra information to hand. You will need:
Details of any benefits or services the deceased was receiving
The deceased's driving licence
The deceased's passport
The deceased's 'blue' badge
The name, address and telephone number of the next of kin (closest relative by blood or marriage to the deceased), as well as their national insurance number and/or date of birth (this is because their entitlement to benefits may change as a consequence of the death)
The national insurance number of the deceased and of any surviving spouse or partner
The name and address of the person dealing with the estate (if different)
The verbal permissions of the last three people listed above must be obtained before you provide this information about them.
Please see Gov.UK for further information about this service. The video explains the service.
If English is not your first language, please feel free to bring a friend or relative with you to help, but the death must be registered by a qualified informant. You cannot ask a friend to attend instead of you.
In certain circumstances, legally the death will have to be referred to the Coroner by the doctor or registrar. The Coroner may do one of three things.
They may decide that no action is necessary and let us know.
They may decide to hold a post-mortem examination, in which case they will issue a form 100 instead of the medical certificate.
They may decide to hold an inquest. The Coroner’s Officer we will let you know what to do in these circumstances.
If a death is referred to the Coroner, we cannot make an appointment for the death to be registered until the Coroner has sent the necessary paperwork to the register office. Please note the requirement to register within 5 days is extended in this circumstance.
When a relative has died abroad (while staying/living there/on holiday) and you want them to be buried or cremated here:
Firstly the Coroner for this district has to be informed. This is absolutely essential.
If this has not been done please refer to the Coroner as the death must be cleared by him.
Once the Coroner has cleared the death you can obtain a Certificate of No Liability to Register ONLY from a Registrar for the District where the body is to be buried/cremated, on production of all related paperwork (death certificate etc.)
If you wish to register a death, but the body is to be taken abroad for burial/cremation -
You must contact the Coroner to give NOTICE and obtain the necessary form 104 (REV) for removing the body from England.
You must register the death at the Register Office for the District where the death occurred in the usual way and inform the Registrar that the Coroner has authorised the removal of the body from England.
There is no restriction on moving bodies within England and Wales, but you need to notify the Coroner for the district in which the body is lying if you want to move the body of the deceased to Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man or the Channel Island, or overseas.
An out-of-hours service is available for families who need to register a death so that an urgent burial can take place either at the weekend or on a Bank Holiday. The hours for the out of hours service are 9am until 10am Sunday and Bank Holidays (excluding Good Friday, Easter Sunday and Christmas Day). Dudley Register Office is open on Saturday mornings.
This service is for when a burial needs to take place on the day of death or the next day.
Please call 0300 555 2345 if you require this service. The doctor will need to email the medical certificate of cause of death to register.office@dudley.gov.uk in line with our normal process before the death can be registered.
If you are looking for an alternative to a traditional funeral you may like to hold a Life Celebration for your loved one instead. The Thomas Robinson Building offers the perfect location for such a ceremony. It is a former chapel building that has been lovingly restored and is now home to Stourbridge Registration Office. The building is available to be booked for life celebrations on Tuesdays and Thursdays for a fee of £155.
Each ceremony, led by a professional and experienced celebrant, is written individually for your family. It gives a focus for family and friends to gather together to remember your family member who has sadly passed away. A life celebration remembers the good times and happy memories rather than dwelling on their passing.
If you would like to book a life celebration or need more information, please contact us at the Register Office in Dudley. Due to Covid-19 we are not currently booking any ceremonies, once business returns to normal we will be able to take bookings again.
A civil funeral ceremony is, above all, a ceremony that reflects the wishes of the family and is focused on celebrating the life of the deceased. It is both a dignified tribute and a highly personal memoir, created by a professional celebrant in consultation with the family or executor. Experienced celebrants from Dudley register office can help you to arrange a civil funeral.
When someone close to you dies, there are many decisions and arrangements you will have to make, often at a time of personal distress. The GOV.UK what to do after a death page gives help and guidance about what to do when someone dies. Further information is available to download from this page.
If you need help organising a funeral please visit www.yourfuneralchoice.com for a wealth of information and details on furnerals and local funeral directors.
When someone you love dies, how can you grieve while looking after yourself? For National Grief Awareness Week, Dudley Public Health has published a ‘Grief self-help toolkit’.
Bereavement is hard and grief can be overwhelming. But for your emotional health it is important to allow yourself to grieve. There is no right way to mourn. To give guidance when it is needed most, Dudley Public Health has drafted some tips on how to be kind to you.
The advice ranges from planning your day to give yourself structure, to remembering to ask people for help.
For more advice and information on bereavement support, go to Healthy Dudley.
The Bereavement Journey website is their to support anyone who has been bereaved at any time.
