What to do when someone has died

Contents


Register a death

You must register a death within eight days at any registration office in Scotland.

Making an appointment

Most deaths are registered over the phone.

You can book an appointment to register the death using the link on this page. You can choose the date and time for your appointment.

If you cannot attend a phone appointment, you can book an in-person appointment.

When to make an appointment

Please wait two working days after the date of death before making an appointment to register the death.

This will allow time for the certifying doctor to send us a copy of the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCD).

We can’t schedule an appointment until we have a copy of the MCCD.

How to make an appointment

To make a phone or in-person appointment, complete our online form. The form will ask for your contact details. It will also ask for information about the person who died (the deceased) including:

  • their 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.

Book an appointment to register a death


At your appointment

Please have the following items to hand if you have them:

  • 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

If you haven't got any of these documents, 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.

The registrar will have a copy of the medical certificate of cause of death already. We won't ask you to bring this to the appointment.


Post-registration documents

After the death has been registered, the registrar will give or send you the following documents free of charge:

  • a Certificate of Registration of Death which is required by the funeral director
  • a form which is required for obtaining or adjusting Social Security Benefits and for National Insurance purposes
  • 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.


Tell Us Once

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.


Help with expenses

For advice on benefit entitlements, bereavement support payments or funeral expense payments contact our welfare rights service.


Further information

You can find more information on registering a death on the National Records of Scotland website.