Register a death

Who can register a death

Any death which happens in Scotland must be registered within 8 days of the death. In some cases, it may not be possible to register the death within 8 days, for example, if it has been referred to the procurator fiscal.

You can register a death if you:

are related to someone who has died
were there when the person died
are an executor or solicitor of the person who has died
lived with the person who died, if they died at home

If you're none of the above, but no one else can register the death, you can register the death as long as you:

know the details of the person who has died
have the right documents

Documents you'll need

The registrar will need a medical certificate of cause of death (MCCD) to register the death. This is normally issued by a doctor and sent to the registrar, but you’ll need to know which registration office it’s been sent to.

You can't register a death without a medical certificate of cause of death.

You should also take:

their birth and marriage certificate
their NHS medical card
anything you have that confirms they had a pension or payment from government funds

If you only have the medical certificate a registrar can still register the death.

How to register a death

You can register a death at any registration office in Scotland. It does not need to be the district where the person lived or died.

Get information about your registration office on your local council's website

When the registration is complete

The registrar will give you:

a certificate of registration of death – you'll need to show this to the funeral director
a shorter, known as 'abbreviated', copy of the full death entry made in the national register

There is no charge for these documents.

If the death happens outside of the UK

You must register the death according to the laws of the country where the person died.

Once you get a death certificate, you can use it in the UK if you need to confirm the person has died. For example with a bank or a funeral director.

If the certificate is not in English

You may need to get a certified translation of the death certificate.

Find out more on gov.uk about:

You can also apply to register the death in the UK. This lets you order a consular death registration certificate, if you need one. You do not have to do this.

Find out more about how to register a death overseas.

Review of Medical Certificates of Cause of Death

Some medical certificates will be randomly selected for review and you will be informed if a review is taking place when you attend the registration office. This is done to help check that medical certificates are correct.

When a medical certificate is chosen for review, it means there could be a delay in registering a person's death. If you're trying to arrange a funeral for someone, the funeral cannot go ahead until their death has been registered. The delay should be no more than 1 to 3 working days.

If the funeral has to take place within a certain timescale, you can apply for advance registration. Contact the registration office as soon as possible to request an advance registration.

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