In England and Wales, you normally need to register the death within five days. It's best to go to the registration office in the area where the person died, as otherwise it may take longer to get the documents you need and this could delay the funeral. To find the district where the deceased person died, use the council finder.
It will take about half an hour to register the death. If you wish to also take advantage of the Tell Us Once service you may wish to check out the benefits the service offers before booking your appointment.
Make an appointment to register a death
If there is an error in a death record, details can be changed or added. The person who registered the death should complete the application form below and return it to the office where the death was registered. Please read the guidance notes as you will be asked for evidence to prove an error was made and the documents required will depend on the mistake made.
Moving a body out of England or Wales
There is no restriction on moving a body within England and Wales, but you need to tell the coroner for the district if you want to move a body to Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands, or overseas.
To do this you will need to fill out a form, which you can get from a coroner. You will need to give the completed form to the coroner, along with any certificate for burial or cremation.
The coroner will let you know when the body can be moved - usually after four days. However, in urgent situations, the whole process can usually be fast-tracked.
If the death is referred to a coroner
In a small number of cases - where the cause of death is unclear, sudden or suspicious - the doctor, hospital or registrar will report the death to the coroner. The coroner must then decide if there should be further investigation. The registrar cannot register the death until the coroner's decision is made. For more information, please see the Coroners Service and Work of the coroner webpage.
Out of hours contact
Very few circumstances require an urgent (out of hours) death registration (see example below).
Unless such an example applies simply use the link above to make an appointment on-line to register a death during our normal opening hours. If the death occured in Cambridgeshire then please note you can make an appointment to attend any of our Registration Offices, so by changing the location you select you may secure an early appointment than is available at your nearest office. (Discussions on funeral arrangements can be held before a death is registered).
An example of an urgent death registration (perhaps requiring registration outside our normal opening hours) would be where the faith of the deceased requires burial within 24 hours of death, and timing is such that the death needs to be registered over a weekend.
If you need to contact us regarding such an urgent matter at a time when the County Council's contact centre is closed (it is open from 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday and 9am to 1pm on a Saturday, excluding Bank Holidays) then please telephone Cambridgeshire Constabulary on 101.