If the death occurs at home
1. Telephone the doctor who will visit to confirm that death has taken place.
2. Contact a funeral director.
3. Arrange to collect the doctor's Medical Certificate of Death (usually from the surgery).
4. Take this to the Registrar's Office (together with the deceased's birth certificate, if available) for the area in which the death took place. Alternatively you can register by declaration at any convenient Registrar's Office but certificates will not be available as these will have to be posted to you a few days later.
5. The Registrar will normally issue a green coloured certificate for you to give to your funeral director who will look after necessary arrangements for the funeral. The Registrar will also issue a white notification certificate for the DSS. They will also enquire as to the number of Certified Copies you require for dealing with the deceased's finances (a fee is payable for each copy).
If the death occurs in hospital
1. Contact a funeral director to inform him his services are required.
2. Collect the certificate from the hospital then follow 4 - 5 as above
Note for cremation
Your funeral director will usually liaise directly with the surgery regarding the additional certification required.
To make an appointment to register a death that happened in Bath and North East Somerset please call 01225 477234. The law requires a death to be registered within 5 calendar days. This includes weekends and bank holidays and applies to all deaths with no coroner involvement.
Visit www.gov.uk/after-a-death for a step by step guide on what to do when someone dies.