A welcome loosening of the rules around the registration of a death

Before Covid-19 made its unwelcome appearance it was necessary to attend the bereavement office at the hospital to collect relevant paperwork and then make an appointment to go to the local register office to register the death. This was often time-consuming at best and, of course, highly undesirable in the current circumstances.

Now,  however,  to avoid  personal attendance the hospital will arrange to send this paperwork directly to the Registrar. It is advisable to have already chosen an undertaker as the Registrar will require details.

Whoever is registering the death should then contact the Registrar to arrange a telephone appointment. As usual, it is necessary to supply the full name and last address of the deceased, their date and place of birth, the date of death, marital status, occupation, the details of undertakers and confirmation as to whether the deceased was in receipt of a pension.

At the moment they will only issue up to two death certificates (£11 each). The Registrar might be persuaded to scan the death certificate but will only guarantee posting it at the present time.

There are also new rules concerning the number of mourners at the funeral and the undertakers will give full advice on these.

It does, of course, remain to be seen whether the change of rules on registration will survive the pandemic, but they are most welcome in our present crisis.