Registration & The Coroner

If the death occurs at home, contact the GP as soon as possible, or if it is a nursing home the staff will notify the GP on your behalf. If the death occurs in hospital, the Bereavement Office will contact you to discuss the next steps.

Medical Examiner
All deaths in England and Wales not investigated by a coroner must be independently reviewed by a medical examiner.
Once the relevant attending practitioner and the medical examiner have completed their declarations and the cause of death is confirmed, the MCCD will be sent to the registrar by the medical examiner.

HM Coroner
The coroner investigates any deaths which appear to be due to violence, are unnatural, are of sudden and of unknown cause or occur in legal custody.

Enquiries not requiring an inquest
If a death is reported which does not need an inquest – when death resulted from natural causes – a certificate giving the cause of death will be sent to the registrar of deaths.

Inquests
The medical and legal enquiry held in public is called an inquest. It is not a trial, it is aimed at finding out who the deceased was, and how, when and where they died.
At the end of the session, the next of kin will be provided with an explanation about how, where and when a copy of the death certificate can be obtained.

Registration
It is a legal requirement to register a death within five calendar days of the Coroner or Medical Examiner sending the relevant paperwork to the Register Office.
The Coroner or Medical Examiner will notify the family of the deceased person when this has been done, so that an appointment to register the death can be booked.

You can make an appointment at the Registration Office by calling 0345 241 2489, or click here to be taken to their online booking system. When making an appointment with the Oxfordshire Registration Service you will be given the choice of the following seven offices:

Abingdon
Roysse Court
Bridge Street
Abingdon
OX14 3HU

Banbury
Bodicote House
Banbury
OX15 4AA

Bicester
The Garth
Launton Road
Bicester
OX26 6PS

Didcot
197 Broadway
Didcot
OX11 8RU

Henley
68 Northfield End
Henley-on-Thames
RG9 2JN

Oxford
1 Tidmarsh Lane
Oxford
OX1 1NS

Witney
Council Offices
Woodgreen
Witney
OX28 1NB

If the death occurred outside of Oxfordshire then you will need to contact the Registration Office for the sub-district in which the death occurred.

Who can register the death
A relative or partner of the deceased person should register the death.

If there is no relative or partner who can register the death, the following people can register:

• someone who was present at the death
• the person who is arranging the funeral is in charge of making and paying for funeral arrangements (this cannot be a funeral director)
• the occupier of the establishment where the death took place, such as an administrator from the hospital (if the person died in hospital)
• a ‘representative of the deceased’ (a person appointed by and acting on behalf of the family)

The information you will need to give the registrar

About the deceased:

• the date and place of death
• their full name and any other names they are known by or have been known by (including the maiden name of a woman who has been married)
• their sex
• their date and place of birth
• their occupation, or most recent occupation if they were retired
• if married, widowed, or a civil partner, the full name and occupation of their husband, wife or civil partner
• their usual address
• date of birth of surviving husband, wife or civil partner
• whether they were in receipt of any public sector pension, e.g. civil service, teacher, armed forces

About the person registering:

• your relationship to the deceased
• your full name
• your usual address

What to take to the appointment
The registrar will record information directly from the person attending the appointment. It is helpful to take the deceased’s documents, such as their passport, birth or marriage/civil partnership certificates, and name change deeds. These documents can help verify details like place of birth and name spelling.

If you can’t access these documents, you can still complete the registration without them.

The documents that are issued:

• Certificate for burial or cremation
• After recording the information in the death register, the registrar will issue a certificate for burial or cremation, known as Form 9 or the green form. With your permission, the registrar can email this form directly to the funeral director unless the coroner has already provided the necessary paperwork for the burial or cremation.

Death certificates
You may need death certificates to administer the Will or probate and notify banks, building societies, and insurance companies. There is a charge for each copy of the Death Certificate.

If you want a death certificate issued at the appointment, you must pay when booking your appointment using your debit or credit card.

Alternatively, you can order certificates after the appointment. They are usually posted to you within 15 days of ordering.

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

You can use this to inform multiple local and central government departments of the death in one contact. You can access the service online or by telephone after the registration appointment.