Registration of a passing...
Here is a guide to registering the passing. The registration must take place in the district where the death took place. (Note: Swindon is a separate district to Wiltshire). You can attend a Registrars Office in another county. This is called 'registration by declaration' however this will usually cause a delay in getting the certificates you require and subsequently the funeral date. We are here to help and advise you every step of the way so please call if you need any guidance.
We are here for help and advice 24 hours a day 01666 822200
Register a passing
Contact the Doctor's Surgery and request the issue of the 'Medical Cause of Death Certificate' electronically to the Registrar so that you can make an appointment to register the passing. If a person passes in hospital, you will need to contact the Bereavement Team at the hospital rather than the Doctors Surgery.
Contact the Registrar (see useful numbers below) to make an appointment to register. The passing must be registered in the county it occurred (if a person passes away in Great Western Hospital the passing must be registered in Swindon)
The registrar will ask for the following information:
Date and place of the death
The address of the person
Their full names (including the maiden name of a married woman). Any former married names or other names by which the deceased was known can also be recorded.
Date and place they were born (the town or county is sufficient if the exact address is not known).
Their occupation
Details of their wife, husband or civil partner
Whether they had any government pension or other benefits
It is helpful to take as many of the following as possible to your appointment to help the registrar gather this information:
NHS card
Birth certificate
Driving licence
Council tax bill
Marriage or civil partnership certificate
National Insurance number of the deceased and the number of a surviving spouse or civil partner.
Passport
Proof of address such as a utility bill or bank statement
The Registrar will issue you with:
Registrar’s certificate for burial or cremation.
We will require this document, also known as the ‘Green Form', to carry out the funeral.
Death Certificate
You can obtain more than one copy of this ‘Certified Copy of Entry’ and we would recommend doing so to enable you to deal with banks, building societies, etc., simultaneously.
Tell us Once code
The ‘Tell us Once’ service is to report the passing to all government agencies in one go. The Registrar will take you through this process.
When the Coroner is Involved
Where the Coroner is involved, there are several different courses of action that can take place. We can advise you on this along with the Coroners Officer looking after the case. It is not always clear what process will be followed until investigations are underway.