Freeman Brothers has been established as a Funeral Director since 1855. Our local communities in Sussex and Surrey often use us as a resource, when they have questions around funerals.
Today we will be looking at some of the questions which we are often asked about the registering of a death – something which everyone must do as part of making the funeral arrangements – although not always at the time that the person has died.
Registering the death can be considered the ‘tying up’ of everything official which has accrued during a person’s life. Imagine that when someone is born and their birth is registered, this is the start of a large ball of string. Everything ‘official’ which happens to them during their lives – medical records; social security- first child benefit for them, then working life benefits, then state pension; passport; driving license; criminal record if they commit an offence; tax records; – is attached to this one length of string. Registering the death could be seen as snipping the string and tying the ends in a knot – all the person’s official information is enclosed inside the loop.
When the death is expected to take place (which means there is a doctor who is able to identify the cause of the death and to complete a Medical Certificate of the Cause of Death (MCCD)), the death can be registered as soon as an appointment is available. The doctor may be the person’s own GP, or a doctor where they have been an inpatient at a hospital or hospice. This doesn’t matter, if they are prepared to say why the person has died. The MCCD is the necessary document which the Registrar will need, as it confirms that the person has died and the cause, and so that must be available before the Registration can take place. After the MCCD has been completed, it is sent to the local Medical Examiner. The Medical Examiner is a senior, independent doctor, who looks at the attributed cause of death and discusses it with the representatives of the person who has died. This process ensures the information on the MCCD is accurate. This is helpful at a national level for statistical purposes but, at the individual level, people often find it useful to understand the circumstances leading to a death, as well as being reassured by the opportunity to express any concerns.
The Medical Examiner passes the MCCD to Registration Services, and then the death should be registered within 5 days Although this is not always possible when appointments are scarce. While it is true that not registering the death is an offence, it would only be deemed as wrongdoing where no efforts had been made to do so, which only usually happens if there is an attempt to conceal the death itself for some reason.
Ideally, the death will be registered in the district where the person has died. ‘District’ is an arbitrary term which has changed over time. Once, a person who died in Crawley District would have had to have their death registered in Crawley, and so on, but most counties or unitary authorities have been designated as one District for this purpose. However, it is quite common in our local area that a death might take place outside of West Sussex, leading to the need to register in a different county. It is definitely worthwhile doing that because, if not, it by far extends the length of time of the overall registration process.
The role of the Registrar is to ask the person registering, called the ‘informant’, a series of questions about the person who has died, to ensure the information captured is accurate. The informant is ideally a close family member of the person who has died but there is a hierarchy of eligibility to register the death and, ultimately, it can be done by anyone if they are declaring themselves ‘responsible’ for the subsequent funeral. However, the information the Registrar requires – date and place of birth, previous surnames, and details about a surviving spouse or civil partner – are normally easiest able to be provided by someone who knows the person who has died, well.
Once the Registrar has gathered the information they need, they will provide what is colloquially known as the ‘Green Form’ (because it’s printed on pale green paper, and is one of the only pieces of paperwork used for funerals which isn’t white). The proper name of this paperwork is ‘Certificate for Burial or Cremation’. The Registrar often emails this to the Funeral Director, although they may provide a hard copy as well. Part of the Funeral Director’s role is to pass this to the Crematorium, Cemetery, Burial Ground or Churchyard so the relevant authority can be assured there were no concerns about the cause of death (as registration would not have happened if there had been) and so allow the burial or cremation of the body. The Registrar will also give as many copies of the Death Certificate (actually called the ‘Certified copy of an Entry of Death’) as are required, but these come at a cost – albeit a lower one at the time of death than purchasing them later. These are used to put the Deceased person’s affairs in order, for example with the bank or insurance company, and it’s usually recommended to obtain a few copies. If you Register by Declaration– which is the term used when you register the death outside of the district where it took place – the Registrar you see will post all of the information to the District where the death took place. You can therefore see why, as mentioned above, it makes sense to go to that District if you can. Because the Green Form is needed for the funeral, Registration by Declaration delays this by up to a week.
During the pandemic, registration of the death took place by phone. This provision has been removed but a campaign in underway to reinstate it, as everyone (including Registrars) found benefits in it, especially in avoiding Registration by Declaration, long journeys for informants where the death was elsewhere, and difficulties in access to Registry Offices.
If the Death is unexpected, it will not be registered until after the Coroner has finished their investigations into the death. You can read more about the process when a Coroner is involved here (hyperlink to previous blog). If the investigation is concluded without an Inquest, the death will be registered after it in the same way as outlined above, with the difference that there is no MCCD provided by a doctor or Medical Examiner – instead the Registrar is provided with the pertinent information by the Coroner’s Office.
When there is an Inquest, the death is not able to be registered until it is concluded, which can often be several months after the funeral has taken place. In the meantime, the Coroner’s Office will provide a document called Certificate of the Fact of Death, which acts in the same way as the Death Certificate and enables the affairs of the Deceased person to be put in order rather than waiting until after the Inquest has taken place.
Hopefully this post clarifies answers to the majority of questions regarding registering a death – if you are still unsure, we will be happy to assist.
