1. Telephone the doctor who will visit to confirm that death has taken place.
2. Contact a funeral director.
3. Arrange to collect the doctor's Medical Certificate of Death (usually from the surgery). A member of the reception team will require some information in order for the GP to complete the form and may need to contact you for further information. Delay in the certificate being processed may occur if the patient was not seen by the GP within the last two weeks or the GP is away. In this instance the GP on call may have to liaise with the coroners office and the certificate will be completed asap. The GP dealing with the request or the receptionist will inform the person requesting the form when the certificate is ready to be collected.
4. Take this to the Registrars Office, (together with the deceased's Medical Card and Birth Certificate, if available) for the area in which the death took place. Alternatively you can register by declaration at any convenient Registrars Office but certificates will not be available as these will have to be posted to you a few days later.
5. The Registrar will normally issue a Green coloured certificate for you to give to your funeral director who will look after necessary arrangements for the funeral. The Registrar will also issue a white notification certificate for the DSS. They will also enquire as to the number of Certified Copies you require for dealing with the deceased finances (a fee is payable for each copy).
If The Death Occurs In Hospital
1. Contact a funeral director to inform him his services are required.
2. Collect the certificate from the hospital then follow 4 - 5 as above
Note For Cremation
Your funeral director will usually liaise directly with the surgery regarding the additional certification required.