REGISTERING A DEATH
For immediate help or advice please call us on 01604 637852
(24 hours a day, 7 days a week) where our funeral director or one of our friendly staff will talk with you. For your peace of mind you know that when calling this number you will speak directly to a member of our family and not to a call centre operative. You will be guided and helped through the next stages and we will answer any questions you may have.
A death must be registered by law, usually within the Registration County or area in which it occurred and usually within 5 days.
The funeral cannot take place before the registration, however provisional funeral arrangements can be put into place but must not be treated as confirmed. Under normal circumstances the Medical Cause of Death Certificate, stating the cause of death, should be collected from the Bereavement Officer, at the hospital or hospice, or the deceased’s GP’s surgery. This certificate will need to be taken to the Registrar’s Office when you attend.
If the death has to be reported to the Coroner a Medical Cause of Death Certificate may not be given to the family without investigation. When this happens the Registrar cannot go ahead with the registration until the Coroner has decided whether any further investigation is needed. In the vast majority of cases no further investigation is necessary and the registration can be carried out. The Coroner will either issue the relevant paperwork for the Registrar or will allow the doctor to issue a Medical Cause of Death Certificate with their permission.
The registration of the deceased’s death can then take place.
You can register a death if you are:
- a relative of the deceased
- a person who was present at the death
- a person who lives in the house where the person died
- an administrator from the hospital where the person died
- a person arranging the funeral with the funeral director
You will need to make an appointment to register a death. It is not advisable to attend the Registrar’s Office without an appointment, you may have to wait for a long time, or not be seen at all. You will not be given an appointment until you know when the Medical Cause of Death Certificate will be available to you.
Arranging to register a death:
To make an appointment to register a death in Northamptonshire you may call the telephone number for the Registrars on
- 0300 126 7000 for West Northamptonshire
- 0300 126 3000 for North Northamptonshire
Lines are open Monday – Friday from 09:00am to 5:00pm
Or you can make an appointment via their website,
West Northamptonshire, Click here
North Northamptonshire, Click here
This is an easy process, at this stage the Registrar will ask you some simple questions about the deceased.
The registrars departments are located at:
- Northampton
Central Library, Abington Street, Northampton, NN1 2BA - Towcester
Council Offices, Sunny Banks, Mill Road, Towcester, NN12 6DH - Daventry
Daventry Library, North Street, Daventry, NN11 4GH - Wellingborough
Wellingborough Library, Pebble Lane, Wellingborough, NN8 1AS - Kettering
Haylock House, Kettering Parkway, Kettering, NN15 6EY - Corby
Corby Library, The Corby Cube, Parkland Gateway, George Street, Corby, NN17 1QG - Oundle
Oundle Library, Glapthorn Road, Oundle, PE8 4JA
Information required by the registrar:
- Medical Cause of Death Certificate
- Full name of the person who has died
- Their current home address
- Date and place of death
- Date and place of birth
- Occupation and if retired (in the case of a woman who is married or widowed the name and occupation of her husband) (in the case of a man, the name and occupation of his wife)
- Any names previously used eg. Maiden name
- Your full name, address and relationship to the deceased
IF IN DOUBT AT ANY TIME PLEASE CALL US ON 01604 637852
WHERE WE WILL ADVISE YOU ACCORDING TO YOUR INDIVIDUAL CIRCUMSTANCES AND GUIDE YOU THROUGH WHAT HAPPENS NEXT.
