You must take the medical certificate showing the cause of death (signed by a doctor) with you. You will also need to tell the registrar:
date and place of death
name and surname of the deceased including any previous names, for example, maiden name
date and place of birth
occupation
Name and Occupation of surviving spouse or civil partner where the deceased was married, in a civil partnership or a widow/widower or surviving civil partner
usual address
whether the deceased was in receipt of a pension or allowance from public funds
if the deceased was married, the date of birth of the surviving widow or widower.
You should also take some form of identification for yourself (suggested documents: passport, council tax bill, driving licence, birth certificate, utility bill). For documents required relating to the deceased please see Tell Us Once below.
If available then you should also take the deceased’s NHS medical card, birth certificate and marriage or civil partnership certificate.
What documents will I be given?
A Certificate for Burial or Cremation. This will need to be given to the funeral director.
A Certificate of Registration of Death (form BD8). This form may need to be filled out if the person was getting a State Pension or any other benefits.
Death certificates may be purchased from the registrar on the day of registration. It is likely that you will need certificates when it comes to sorting out the person’s affairs. These are at a cost of £11.00 each
Tell Us Once
The Tell Us Once service allows you to report the death once, it means we can tell other government organisations on your behalf. At the end of your appointment you will have the opportunity to provide the registrar with information that they can use to inform these other organisations.
Take as many of the following documents as possible to your appointment:
Passport
Driving Licence
National Insurance Number
Blue Badge
National Bus Pass.

A small number of deaths have to be reported to the coroner before they may be registered and before documentation allowing the funeral to go ahead can be issued. In the following circumstances the registrar will report the death to the coroner if it has not already happened:

• where the cause of death is unknown
• where the cause of death is believed to be unnatural or suspicious
• where there is no doctor who can issue a medical certificate of cause of death
• where the deceased was not seen by the doctor issuing the medical certificate after death nor within 14 days before death
• where the death occurred during an operation or before recovery from an anesthetic
• where the death is due to industrial disease or industrial poisoning.

Once a death has been reported to the coroner, the registrar is unable to go ahead with the registration until the coroner has decided whether any further investigation into the death is necessary.