Registering a death
A death should be registered by a relative of the deceased whenever this is possible. A relative includes someone whom the deceased was married to. Or they can have had registered a civil partnership with. Unfortunately, an unmarried partner is not deemed as a relative. This is for registration purposes.
There may be the case where no relative is available to register the death. Someone who was present at the time of the death can carry out the registration instead.
If this is not possible, the person organising the funeral may register the death. This does not include the funeral director.
Important information before requesting an appointment
Before a death can be registered, Hull Register Office must receive documents from either, the -
- doctors practice
- hospital
- medical examiner
or the Coroner’s Office. Without this document confirming the medical cause of death, the death cannot be registered. It is essential to have this document.
This document issued by the doctor is usually emailed to the Register Office. If the deceased died in Hull Royal Infirmary, staff at the hospital will do this. It will be after the Medical Examiner has agreed that paperwork can be issued. We cannot accept an emailed image of this document from anyone other than the doctor or surgery that issued it.
When the paperwork is emailed to the Register Office, contact details for the next of kin are provided. The registrars will use this information to make contact. They will arrange an appointment. There is usually no need to contact the Register Office. They will contact you when they have all necessary paperwork.
If you have been advised that paperwork has been issued but you have not been contacted, or if you have missed a call from the Registrars, use the form below. It can be used to request an appointment. Do not request an appointment unless you have been told that the information has been sent.
If you have the original paper copy of the Medical Cause of death Certificate, the Registrars may ask you to send a photograph of the document. This is so that they can check it before making the appointment.