Next steps

Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCOD)

When someone has died the cause of death must be determined before registration can be completed. If it’s clear why a person has and it was natural causes then the death can be registered. The certificate, from either the person’s GP practice or hospital bereavement office, will be emailed directly to the registrar’s office.

The information on this form is:

• Name of the deceased
• Their age
• Place of death
• Cause of death

Please do not wait for this form to be issued before contacting us. If the doctor is unsure as to the cause of death ie if they haven’t seen the patient for 28 days or more then the death will be referred to the coroner and the person taken to the hospital mortuary. The coroner may decide that a post-mortem is necessary to determine the cause of death before the MCOD can be issued.

Registering the Death

It is a legal requirement to register a death within 5 working days of the date of death.  Registration takes place at Wirral Register Office, Birkenhead.  However, firstly you must register your details via an online form  Visit https://my.wirral.gov.uk/service/Death_registration or telephone 0151 606 2020 once you know the medical cause of death certificate from the GP or bereavement office has been issued, or the coroner has informed the registrar the death can be registered. You will be contacted by the registrars office to arrange a date and time to attend their office to complete the process. If your situation differs from this we will advise you accordingly. The person registering the death is known as the informant.

In cases where a coroner’s inquest has been held, the coroner will act as the informant and provide the registrar with all the necessary details. In this case, there is no need for the family and relatives to register the death, but they will need to attend the register office if copies of the death certificate are needed, or to arrange for them to be sent home.

Information you will be asked

• Full name and any previous names
• Date and place of birth
• Date and place of death
• Date and place of marriage or civil partnership
• Occupation (and if the deceased was a married woman/widow the name and occupation of her husband)
• If the deceased was married, the date of birth of surviving partner
• Full name, address and qualification or person registering the death
• Usual address

Documents you will receive

• The Registrar’s Certificate for Burial or Cremation* (a green coloured form which will be emailed directly to us)
• A Certificate of Registration which is needed in order to claim benefits from the Department for Work and Pensions

• Copies of the entry in the register – on payment of a fee, £11.00 locally

*If a coroner has carried out a post-mortem examination and your relative or friend is going to be cremated, the green form is replaced by an authorisation from the coroner, which will be collected by us on your behalf.

Tell us Once service

Is a government run service which allows you to report the death of a person to most of their departments in one go. This saves having to contact each one separately. The registrar will give you a unique reference number to access the Tell Us Once service online or by phone.

When you contact them, you will need to give this information about the deceased:

• date of birth
• National Insurance number
• driving licence number
• passport number
• details of any benefits or services they were receiving

We may ask for information about:

• their next of kin
• any surviving husband/wife or civil partner
• anybody who is getting child benefit on their behalf
• the person dealing with their estate

You must get the agreement of any person you are going to provide information about. If you are not the next of kin, or the person dealing with the deceased’s estate, you can still use the service if you have the authority to act on their behalf.