You must register a death within eight days at any registration office in Scotland.
Making an appointment
Please note our registrars offices operate by appointment only.
To make an appointment to register a death call ACCESSLine on 03452 777 778 and leave your details.
A member of registration staff will get back to you to arrange a suitable appointment to register the death remotely.
If necessary we can schedule an in-person appointment.
At your appointment
Please have the following items to hand:
- the deceased's birth and marriage certificate
- the deceased's NHS medical card
- any documents relating to the receipt of a pension or allowance from government funds
The registrar will have a copy of the medical certificate of cause of death already. You will not be asked to bring this to the appointment.
If none of these documents are available, please have the following information available about the deceased:
- full name
- date and place of birth
- occupation
- address
- the full names of all spouses and civil partners and their occupations
- father's full name and usual occupation
- mother's full name, maiden name and usual occupation
- name and address of the registered NHS doctor.
After the death has been registered, the registrar will give you the following documents free of charge:
- a Certificate of Registration of Death which is required by the undertaker
- a form which is required for obtaining or adjusting Social Security Benefits and for National Insurance purpose
- an abbreviated extract of the death entry
Full certificates are available at a cost of £10 each at the time of registration or within a month.
After one month the cost is £15 for the first extract, then £10 per subsequent extract.
We offer a Tell Us Once service. This means we can collect the relevant information to share with government and council departments who need to be informed of the death, without you having to tell each separately.
You can find more information on registering a death on the National Records of Scotland website.
For advice on benefit entitlements, bereavement support payments or funeral expense payments contact our welfare rights service.
