General Advice

What to do when someone dies?

We can be contacted 24 hours a day to provide advice and assistance when someone dies. If the death occurs in hospital, the hospital staff will contact the next of kin and make arrangements for the doctor to sign the Medical Certificate of cause of death. If the death occurs at home, you should first contact the deceased’s doctor. When they have attended, you may then contact the funeral director who will make arrangements to attend at the place of death. If the death occurs in a nursing home, the staff will contact both the doctor and us on your behalf.

Registering the death:

A death must be registered within five days with the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages. A doctor will issue a certificate stating the cause of death and this should be taken to the registrars, who require you to make an appointment to register the death. The registrar will issue you with a certificate for Burial or Cremation (Green Form) which should be handed to the funeral director; copies of the entry in the register for insurance policies, probate, banks, building societies etc.; and a white form for the D.S.S. with regard to pensions.

The registrar will ask you for the following details:

• date and place of death
• name and surname of the deceased
• maiden surname, if the deceased was a woman who had married
• date and place of birth
• occupation
• name and occupation of spouse, where the deceased was married or widowed
• name and occupation of civil partner, where the deceased was in a civil partnership or was a surviving civil partner
• usual address
• whether the deceased received a pension or allowance from public funds
• if the deceased was married or in a civil partnership, the date of birth of the surviving spouse or civil partner

Bognor Regis Registrar
Durban House, Durban Road
Bognor Regis
01243 642210
9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
By appointment

Chichester Registrar
‘Greyfriars,’ 61 North Street
Chichester
01243 782723
9:00am - 5:00pm
By Appointment

Unexpected Deaths:

If a doctor cannot state with certainty the medical cause of death, the death may have to be reported to the Coroner. An examination of the deceased’s body may be necessary. Relatives will be kept informed of the situation by a Coroner’s Officer, and when the inquiry is completed will be advised of the cause of death and how they may then register the death.