Who can register a death?
People who have a legal responsibility to register a death include:
• A relative.
• A person present at the death.
• The occupier of the premises where the death occurred if he/she knew about of it.
• The person responsible for arranging the funeral (this does not include the funeral director).
A death should normally be registered within five days (unless a coroner is investigating the circumstances leading to a death). The death can be registered at either Southport or Crosby Register Office
How do I register a death?
When someone passes away within Sefton, the medical certificate will be sent from the doctor or hospital to the Registrar's Offices electronically.
Once this happens a member of our team will contact you by phone within 5 days to arrange an appointment for you to come to our offices and begin the registration process.
If you have not heard from us after 5 days please email us here
If you do not have email access please call 0151 934 3044 (select option 4)
What will the registrar ask me?
The Registrar will ask you for:
• 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 person was a married woman, the full name and occupation of her husband.
• Their usual address.
• Their last occupation.
• If the deceased was married, widowed or registered a formal civil partnership, the full name and occupation of their spouse or civil partner.
• The date of birth of a surviving spouse or civil partner.
• Details of any public sector pension e.g. civil service, teacher or armed forces.
What do I need to register a death?
The doctor or hospital should have sent documents to the Registrar's Office electronically to allow the registration to take place.
It will also be helpful (but not essential) to have the following documents to hand. All documents relate to the deceased unless otherwise stated.
• Birth/marriage/civil partnership certificates.
• Passport.
• Deed poll (name change).
• Driving licence.
• Medical card.
• Recent utility or Council Tax bill (to verify address).
• Your own passport, utility/council tax bill, driving licence.
Death certificates
Copies of death certificates are £11 each. You can purchase these at the time of your appointment. You can also purchase copies online anytime afterwards. To do so click here.
What if I lose a death certificate?
Duplicate or copy certificates can always be obtained at a later date if required.
Who will want to see a death certificate?
Examples of organisations that will require a death certificate include:
• Banks, building societies or other financial institutions such as mortgages, shares and Post Office accounts.
• Insurance companies
• Private pension funds (the state pension and many public pensions can be notified if you use the Tell Us Once service - see below for details.
• Probate court
Death certificates are not needed for:
• Funeral directors
• Social security purposes - you will be provided with a form or can notify them using the Tell Us Once service.
Tell Us Once
Tell Us Once is an optional free service that lets you report a death to most government organisations and council departments in one go.
When you register a death with us the registrar will ask if you want to use the Tell Us Once service. If you do they will give you a unique reference number to access the service online or over the phone.
This means you won't need to get in touch with individual organisations or send copies of death certificates to notify them of a death - Tell Us Once will do it all for you.
They can notify services such as the Department for Work and Pensions, HM Revenue and Customs and the Passport Office and more.
See here for a full list of services included in Tell Us Once and the details you'll need before using the service.
To log-in to the Tells Us Once service click here.