What to do after a death

You should contact people who knew the person who died as soon as possible. This includes their employer.

Within a few days of the death you should:

• register the death - you must do this within 5 days

• use the 'Tell Us Once' service to tell the government about the death

• start arranging the funeral

Within a couple of weeks of the death you might need to:

• tell other organisations, such as banks and utility companies

• redirect or stop the mail of the person who died

There are special rules about dealing with the money and property of someone who has died. Check how to deal with the financial affairs of someone who died.

If you need to check what you have coming in and going out, you can use our budgeting tool.

You should check if you can claim benefits or increase your current benefits. Check what benefits you can get. You could also get help with bills.

Check what to do immediately after a death

If the person died in hospital

If your relative dies in hospital, staff will contact you, lay out the body and arrange for it to be taken to the hospital mortuary. You will then be asked to arrange for the body to be collected by funeral directors, who will normally take it to their chapel of rest. At the same time, you will be asked to collect the person's personal possessions.

Before a death can be formally registered, a doctor will need to issue a medical certificate giving the cause of death. The hospital will usually send  the certificate to the Registrar of Births, Deaths, and Marriages. The Registrar will then contact you to arrange an appointment to register the death. You will also be given a notice, explaining how to register the death. There is no charge for either of these. If the person has not been seen by a hospital doctor, their GP may be able to issue a certificate instead.

A hospital may ask you for permission to carry out a post-mortem examination to learn more about the cause of death. You do not have to agree to this.

In some cases, a doctor may not be able to issue a medical certificate of the cause of death. There may be a number of reasons for this. If the doctor isn't able to issue a medical certificate, they will refer the death to the coroner. The coroner may order a post mortem examination. You do not have the right to object to a post-mortem ordered by the coroner, but you should tell the coroner if you have religious or other strong objections.

Find out more about when a death is reported to a coroner on GOV.UK. Where cremation is to take place, a second doctor will be needed to sign a certificate that the body has been examined. There will be a charge for this.

If the person died at home

When someone dies at home, their GP should be called as soon as possible. The GP will normally visit the house and, if the death was expected, should be able to issue a certificate giving the cause of death.

If you don't know the person's GP or can't contact them, call the NHS on 111.

A doctor isn't allowed to issue a certificate if they are unsure about the cause of death. When this happens the death must be reported to a coroner and the body will be taken to a hospital mortuary, where a post mortem may need to take place.

If the person died abroad

If a death takes place abroad it must be registered according to the law of that country. The death should also be reported to the British Consul who may be able to arrange for the death to be registered in the UK as well.

Returning a body to the UK is expensive but the cost may be covered by any travel insurance taken out by the person. If the death was on a package holiday the tour operator should be able to help with arrangements.

When a body is returned to the UK, the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages for the district where the funeral is to take place must be told and will need to issue a certificate before burial can take place. If cremation is to take place the Home Office also needs to give permission.

If the death wasn't due to natural causes the coroner for the district will also need to be told and an inquest may need to take place. 

Registering the death

Someone needs to register the death within 5 days - unless a coroner is investigating the death. A relative should usually register the death. It’s a criminal offence not to register a death.

Check how to register a death on GOV.UK.

The registrar will give you a certificate for burial. If you’ve chosen a funeral director, the registrar can send the certificate to them directly.

Check if a coroner will investigate the death

A coroner is a doctor or lawyer appointed by a local authority to investigate certain deaths.

A coroner can investigate a death if the body is in their district, even though the death took place somewhere else, for example, abroad.

The person who certifies the death will tell you if the death needs to be reported to the coroner.

A death must always be reported to a coroner if:

• the cause of death is unknown or uncertain

• the death was violent or unnatural (for example, suicide, accident or drug or alcohol overdose)

• the death was in any way suspicious

• the death took place in prison or police custody

A doctor or the police will usually report the death to a coroner if they need to investigate.

If you don’t agree with an official cause of a death, you can talk to a coroner about it - you might want to ask them to investigate. You can find the senior coroner for your area on the Courts and Tribunals Judiciary website.

In some cases the coroner will need to order a post-mortem, in which case the body will be taken to hospital for this to be carried out. You do not have the right to object to a post-mortem ordered by the coroner, but should tell the coroner if you have religious or other strong objections. In cases where a death is reported to a coroner because the person had not seen a doctor in the previous 28 days the coroner will consult with the person's GP and will usually not need to order a post-mortem.

You can find out more about post-mortems and your rights on the Human Tissue Authority website.

A death reported to a coroner cannot be registered until the coroner's investigations are complete and a certificate has been issued allowing registration to take place. This means that the funeral will usually also be delayed. Where a post-mortem has taken place the coroner must give permission for cremation.

Inquests

An inquest is a legal inquiry into a death. Only a coroner can order an inquest and relatives have no right to insist on one.

It is held in public (sometimes with a jury) by a coroner where the death was violent or unnatural or took place in prison or police custody or where the cause of death is still uncertain after a post-mortem. 

An inquest may take place into a death which took place abroad if the body has been returned to the UK.

Relatives may attend an inquest and ask questions of witnesses. Legal aid may be available for legal advice on inquests. An organisation called INQUEST may sometimes be able to arrange legal representation, either free or for a reduced charge. The address of INQUEST is:

The inquest should provide more information about how and why the death took place and whether anyone else was responsible. In some cases, a criminal prosecution may later take place.

Once the inquest has been held the death can be registered and the funeral can take place. In some cases the coroner might allow the funeral to go ahead before the inquest is over).

Arrange the funeral

A funeral can take place any time after death. Anyone close to the person can arrange the funeral.

Find out how to arrange a funeral and get help with funeral costs.

Donation of organs for transplant or the body for medical research

Donation of organs

The person who died may have wanted to donate organs for transplant. This will be easier if they were on the NHS Organ Donor Register, carried a donor card and had discussed the donation plans with their family. Relatives will still be asked to give their consent before donation. Most organ donations come from people who have died while on a ventilator in a hospital intensive care unit. For more information about organ donation and transplantation, contact:

Donation of the body for medical education or research

If you wish to leave your body for medical education or research, you must arrange to give consent before you die. You can get a consent form from your nearest medical school. You should keep a copy of the consent form with your will and tell your family, close friends and GP that you wish to donate your body. Go the Human Tissue Authority website to find out your local medical school at www.hta.gov.uk.

You can get more information about body donation from the Human Tissue Authority website.

If the body is accepted, the medical school will arrange for eventual cremation or burial.

Miscarriages, stillbirths, neonatal and perinatal deaths

Miscarriages

A miscarriage is the loss of a baby before the 24th week of pregnancy. No registration is needed.  But if the baby lives for even a short time after being born, you might need to register the birth and death. For more information, see Neonatal and perinatal deaths.

Stillbirths

A stillbirth is a birth after the 24th week of pregnancy where the child is not born alive. A doctor or midwife will issue a medical certificate of stillbirth, giving the cause.

The parents must present the certificate to the Registrar of Births and Deaths within 42 days of the baby's delivery. In Scotland, the time limit is 21 days. 

If the parents are married, the registrar will need details of both parents. If the parents are not married, only the details of the mother are required but the father can give his details.

If you're in a female civil partnership and the child was born by assisted reproduction, the registrar will need details of both partners.

The registrar can issue a death certificate but only to the mother, to the father or mother's civil partner if their details appear on the registration or to siblings if the parents are deceased.

Many funeral directors make no charge for arranging the funeral of a stillborn baby and many cemeteries and crematoria also make no charge for burial or cremation.

Neonatal and perinatal deaths

If the baby lives for even a short time after being born and then dies, this is called a neonatal or perinatal death.

A neonatal death is where is the baby dies within 28 days of being born, whatever the length of the pregnancy.

A perinatal death is where the baby is born after the 24th week of pregnancy, but dies within 7 days of being born.  

If there is a neonatal or a perinatal death, both the birth and death must be registered. When a baby has died within a month of being born, the birth and death can be registered at the same time.

The birth is registered in the normal way.  The death is registered by taking the medical certificate of death to the Registrar of Births and Deaths within five days of the death (eight days in Scotland).  If this is not possible, the hospital or parent should telephone the registrar and explain the situation, for example, that the mother is too ill to attend.

If the parents are married, the registrar will need details of both parents.  If the parents are not married, only the details of the mother are required but the father can give his details.

If you're in a female civil partnership and the child was born by assisted reproduction, the registrar will need details of both partners.

The parents may still be able to get benefits like Child Benefit and Child Tax Credit for eight weeks after the death of the baby.

Find out what happens to your Child Benefit when your baby dies on GOV.UK.

Find out what happens to your Child Tax Credit when your baby dies on GOV.UK.

Telling the government about the death

When someone dies, you usually have to tell several departments of local and central government, as well as other government agencies, so that they can update their records.

In England and Wales, you can use the Tell Us Once service to report a death to several government departments, agencies and the local authority in one go. For example, Tell us Once will help you to report the death to most of the offices that were paying benefits to the person who died, as well as to other government agencies such as the Passport Service and the DVLA.

When you register a death, the Registar can help you use the Tell Us Once service or give you a reference number so you can do it yourself.

You can use the Tell Us Once service online on GOV.UK. You’ll need the reference number from the Registrar. You can also phone Tell Us Once - you can get the number from the Registrar.

DWP Bereavement Service

If the person who died got any benefits, you should report the death to the DWP. You should do this even if you’ve used the Tell Us Once service.

The DWP Bereavement Service allows you to report a death to the DWP in a single phone call, which will cover all the DWP benefits the person who died was getting. At the same time, the Bereavement Service can do a benefit check to find out if the next of kin can claim any benefits and take a claim for bereavement benefits or a funeral payment over the phone.

The contact details of the Bereavement Service are:

Calls to this number are free.

Bereavement benefits

Bereavement benefits are payments made by the Department for Work and Pensions to widows and widowers or to a surviving civil partner.

For more information about bereavement benefits, see Extra money you can get when someone dies.

If the person who died had a lasting power of attorney

The power of attorney ends when the person dies. You should contact anywhere the lasting power of attorney was registered with - for example banks or doctors.

Redirecting post after someone's death

You can redirect the post of someone who has died by filling in a 'special circumstances' form. You can do this at a post office or get a special circumstances form on the Royal Mail website. Click on ‘Apply for someone else’ to find the form. Send the completed form to:

Royal Mail Redirection Centre Cooper House Lakeside Festival Way Stoke on Trent ST1 5RY

You’ll have to pay to redirect the post. You can check out how much it will cost on the Royal Mail website.

Stop receiving unwanted mail

You can stop unsolicited post being sent to someone who has died by registering with the Mailing Preference Service (MPS) and The Bereavement Register for free.

Registering with MPS will stop post being sent to someone who has died by companies who are members of the Direct Marketing Association.

You can sign up with the Mailing Preference Service online or by writing to them - let them know the name and address of the person who has died.

You can sign up to The Bereavement Register by filling in their registration form, and then sending it through the post. Companies who check this register will stop sending post and leaflets to anyone listed.

It’ll take about 4 months to see a decrease in the amount of unwanted post received.

You’ll need to get in touch with companies directly to stop receiving post that the person who has died asked for.

Check who else to tell

You should talk to any organisations the person who died used to let them know they have died. This might include their: 

• bank

• utility companies - for example energy, water, phone, and internet

• insurance companies

• GP, dentist, optician and anyone else providing medical care 

• subscription services - for example Netflix

If you're managing the money and property of the person who died, ask for the accounts to be closed from the day they died. You'll need to use the money or assets of the person who died to pay anything they owe. If you inherit a property, you’re responsible for the bills from the day after the person died.

If the person’s home is going to be empty

You should make sure the home stays insured and keeps its basic utilities like electricity and water. 

Talk to the home insurance company as soon as you can. Tell them the person has died and ask them to keep insuring the property. If they won’t insure the home while no-one lives there, you should find another insurer who will. There are insurance companies that specialise in homes with no-one living in them.

Usually, no-one will have to pay council tax on the person's home for a while. The length of time depends on the council. You can find the local council on GOV.UK. Utility companies will keep providing services while the person’s money and property are being dealt with. They don’t usually expect to be paid during this time unless someone else starts living there or the home is sold.

If you’re dealing with the money and property of the person who died, you'll need to take meter readings to get a final bill. You'll need to use the money or assets of the person who died to pay the final amount.

If the person who died had a car

You should declare the car as off the road or update the car’s insurance to say the owner has died. Find out how to declare the car off the road on GOV.UK.

If you want to use the car or sell it, you need to tell the DVLA. You’ll need to add the new owner’s details to the car’s log book. The log book is sometimes called a V5C.

If you’re finding things difficult

Your mental health is as important as your physical health. You should talk to your GP if you are struggling with your mental health. 

You can find other ways to get help with your mental health on the Mind website.

If you need help with grief

You can call the Cruse Bereavement Care helpline or get help on their website.

If you need someone to talk to

You can speak to a trained volunteer at organisations like Samaritans or Shout.

Samaritans

Helpline: 116 123 (Monday to Sunday at any time)

Welsh Language Line: 0808 164 0123 (Monday to Sunday 7pm to 11pm)

Calls to Samaritans are free.

You can find other ways to get in touch with Samaritans on their website.

Shout

You can also text 'SHOUT' to 85258 to start a conversation with a trained Shout volunteer. Texts are free, anonymous and confidential from anywhere in the UK.

If you think it's an emergency

If you think your life or someone else’s is at risk, you should call 999 or go to A&E if you can.

You can also find a list of urgent mental health services on the Mind website.