New death certification reforms will become statutory from Monday 9th September 2024.
The new death certification reforms require an independent review to be carried out for all deaths in England and Wales, without exception. This will either be provided by independent scrutiny by a medical examiner or by investigation by a coroner.
More information regarding the Medical Examiner Service can be found under Downloads.
If the death occurred in Wolverhampton you will need to arrange an appointment to attend at the civic centre to complete the registration, as soon as the Medical Examiner or Coroner have spoken with you to confirm the cause of death and have let you know that the medical cause of death certificate or Coroner’s paperwork has been scanned to the register office.
Legally, a death should be registered within 5 days of the register office receiving the medical cause of death certificate from the Medical Examiner at New Cross Hospital.
This may be extended if the Coroner is investigating the death.
Death registration appointments will be carried out face to face and you will need to attend at the register office, civic centre, St Peter’s Square, Wolverhampton.
The quickest and easiest way to book an appointment is online.
Alternatively, you can book an appointment by calling our customer services team on 01902 551234.
All certificates are £12.50 each and should an application to correct details in the entry be necessary after registration the correct consideration fees are £83 or £99 depending on the information that is incorrect.
You can register a death if you are:
- A relative of the deceased
Or if there are no relatives:
- Partner of the deceased (defined as ‘a couple who were living as partners in an enduring relationship at the time of the deceased person’s death.’ )
- Someone who was present at the death
- The occupier of the premises where the death occurred (if the occupier is aware)
- The person arranging the funeral
- Personal representative - a person appointed by and acting on behalf of the deceased person’s family (such as a solicitor).
The death must be registered in the district where the death occurred. If the death occurred in Wolverhampton, you will need to make an appointment to register in person at Wolverhampton Register Office.
Next of kin will receive a telephone call from the Medical Examiner Service based at New Cross Hospital or from the Coroner’s office if they are investigating to discuss the medical cause of death and to confirm that the death can now be registered. You can then arrange your appointment online or by contacting our Customer Services Team on 01902 551234.
Unable to attend Wolverhampton Register Office
If there are no relatives or other qualified informants local to the area it is possible to attend at your local register office within England or Wales to make a declaration. This will be then sent to us electronically to enable us to register the death.
Please be aware that Wolverhampton will issue the form for the funeral directors once the declaration has been received and you will need to order and pay for death certificates with us. This will result in a delay of the issuing of these forms/certificates by at least a couple of days following the declaration being made.
Once you have received confirmation from the Medical Examiner Service or Coroner that the paperwork has been emailed over to us you will need to make an appointment to register the death within the next 5 days.
At the appointment the registrar will ask the following relating to the deceased:
- 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 was married, the full name and occupation of their spouse / civil partner.
- Their usual address.
- The date of birth of a surviving spouse or civil partner.
- the name and address of the person registering the death
Tell Us Once Service
We will offer Tell Us Once capture only at all death registrations. Customers will be given a reference number and contact details to go away and complete the full Tell Us Once Service online or over the telephone.
Tell Us Once is a free service offered by HM Government.
When someone has died, there are lots of things that need to be done, at a time when you probably least feel like doing them.
Tell Us Once is voluntary to use and very helpful. It enables you to report a death only once, telling central and local government services securely and confidentially without you having to inform them individually. Many services can be notified and these include:
- the local council - to update services such as Council Housing, Housing Benefit, Council Tax, Blue Badge and remove the person from the Electoral Register
- HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC)- to deal with personal tax and to update regarding Child Benefit and Tax Credits claims (contact HMRC separately for business taxes, like VAT)
- Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) - to update benefits information for example: State Pension, Universal Credit
- Passport Office - to cancel a British passport
- Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency {DVLA) - to cancel a driving licence and to remove registered keeper details, possibly for up to five vehicles
- Public Sector or Armed Forces Pension Schemes - to update pension records
How do I use the service?
The Registrar will provide you with a unique Tell Us Once reference number, which will enable you to access the service
- Online via GOV.UK
- via our telephony service 0800 085 7308.
If you have been issued with a Coroners Fact of Death {Interim Death Certificate) you may still be able to use the service and the Registrar will advise you how to do so.
It will help you to have all the relevant information listed below about the person before using Tell Us Once:
- date of birth
- address of the deceased
- National Insurance number
- driving licence number
- vehicle registration number
- passport number
You will also need
- details of any benefits or entitlements they were receiving, for example State Pension, Universal Credit
- details of any local council services they were receiving, for example Adult Social Services, Blue Badge, travel pass
- the name and address of their next of kin
- the name and address of any surviving spouse or civil partner
- the name, address and contact details of the person or company dealing with their estate (property, belongings and money), known as their 'executor' or 'administrator'
- details of any public sector or armed forces pension schemes they were getting or paying into
Please note
- Permission is required from the next of kin, the executor, the administrator and anyone who was claiming benefits or entitlements jointly with the person who died, before you give their details.
- There is no need to follow-up contact after you have used Tell Us Once unless you don't receive a confirmation from the relevant department after a reasonable period of time, in most cases a calendar month.
- Once the various agencies informed by Tell Us Once have received notification of the death, they will make any further contact if necessary with the bereaved family.
- Tell Us Once is not a claim to benefit, therefore please contact GOV.UK or the relevant department for advice.
- Tell Us Once does not notify any commercial organisations of the death and cannot arrange for redirection of post.
Post Mortem
If there's a Post Mortem, the Coroner will issue the Cause of Death Certificate straight to the Register Office. They will then notify the family to book a death registration appointment.
The Hospital or GP will not issue a certificate.
Inquest
If an Inquest is being held as part of a Judicial Inquiry relatives of the deceased can't register the death.
The Coroner will issue an Interim Death Certificate. This allows the family to proceed with the funeral.
Once the inquest has finished, the corner will instruct the Register Office to register the death without the family being present.
Out of hours death registration service
An out-of-hours service is available for families to allow for an urgent burial to take place outside normal office hours.
This service is for when a burial needs to take place before our office re-opens.
Unfortunately, we are unable to offer an out-of-hours cremation service.
If you need to organise a burial service outside normal office hours:
- The death must have occurred in Wolverhampton and must not have been reported to the Coroner. For information about what the Coroner does, please see the Directgov website.
- A medical cause of death certificate must have been emailed to the register office from the Medical Examiner on call.
- Provisional funeral arrangements must be in place.
Out-of-hours burial enquiries
Our out-of-hours emergency service is available on 07717 733157 on weekends and Bank Holidays between 8am and 12pm.
What to do
Some of the main things to be done, other than registering the death and arranging the funeral, are listed below.
Please note, this is not a complete list covering everyone's individual circumstances.
Things to send back
The following items of the deceased should be returned. Include a note of explanation and the date of death with each of the documents. The items marked * can be dealt with at the Register Office’s 'Tell Us Once Service'.
- *any pension or benefit cheques to the office which issued the payment
- *library books and tickets
- *passport to the Passport Office
- *driving licence to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), Longview Road, Swansea SA6 7JL
- *Centro bus or travel pass
- Blue Badge to health and social care service
- Carelink alarm (and pendant, if applicable)
- National Insurance papers to the relevant office
- membership cards of clubs and associations
- NHS equipment such as wheelchairs, hearing aids and artificial limbs
People to tell
You should tell the following about the death. The organisations marked * can be contacted via the Register Office.
- *Health and social care department of the council if the person was getting meals-on-wheels, home help, or lived in a care home
- *Inland Revenue
- *the housing department of the council if the person who has died was living in a council house
- *Council Tax office and/ or Business Rates office
- *water suppliers (Severn Trent and/or South Staffs Water), if the deceased person was responsible for the water rates
- deceased’s landlord if living in rented accommodation.
- deceased’s family doctor
- deceased’s employer or trade union.
- deceased’s bank(s) or building society(s).
- the teacher, employer or college of a child or young person, if a parent, brother, sister, grandparent or close friend has died.
- deceased’s insurance company
- utility suppliers.
- Royal Mail so that they can re-direct the deceased person's mail to the person who will be responsible for the estate.
- any company or personal pension provider
Parents who have passed away overseas
If your parent has passed away overseas we would not be able to provide a copy of a certificate. We can only produce certificates for events that have occurred in Wolverhampton.
We can issue a reference number to enable you to use the Government’s Tell us Once Service where you can notify various Government and local authority departments of their passing.
Should you wish to receive a tell us once reference please make email register.office@wolverhampton.gov.uk or visit the civic centre.