A death must be registered within five days unless the Coroner is involved.
For information on stillbirth registration, please visit our register a stillbirth page.
Who can register a death?
A relative should register the death. A relative is someone who is related to the deceased by blood, marriage, civil partnership, legal adoption or surrogacy.
Unfortunately, if you are not married to, or have not formed a legal civil partnership with the deceased, you are not recognised as a relative.
If there are no relatives, you can only register a death if:
How do I register a death?
A death must be registered in the district where it took place. You can check your local Register Office on GOV.UK.
If the death took place in Bedford Borough, it must be registered in person with a Registrar at our offices in Borough Hall on Cauldwell Street, Bedford.
Step 1 – Medical certificate of cause of death
The GP, hospital or coroner uploads the medical certificate of cause of death (MCCD) to the Registrar’s online system. You can help by providing the GP or hospital with your email address and asking them to include it when they upload the MCCD.
Appointments to register a death cannot be booked until we have received and reviewed the MCCD.
Step 2 – Online pre-registration form
The informant (the person who will register the death) must complete the pre-registration form below. This form provides the Registrars with your contact details, if they have not been provided by the hospital or GP, together with the details of the deceased.
Complete the pre-registration form
Step 3 – Book an appointment to register a death
Once we have checked the pre-registration form and received the electronic copy of the MCCD from the GP or hospital (and Coroner's paperwork if relevant), we will send the informant an email to invite them to book an appointment to register the death.
Step 4 – Confirmation of the registration appointment
Once you have booked the appointment, we will send you a confirmation email which will explain what information you will need to give to the registrar at the appointment.
More information about registering a death
We have pulled together answers to the most frequently asked questions about the death registration process. To see the answer to a question, please click on the question heading or the + symbol.