Register a death

Death registrations are being carried out remotely. You will not be required to visit a registration office

Note: The law allows a death to be registered in any registration district in Scotland.

Please read the following guidelines.

• If you have had a bereavement or still birth, the certifying doctor will email the Medical Certificate Cause of Death or Still Birth Certificate with your contact details to the registration service. You may also be asked if you would like a copy.
• When we receive the Certificate, we will contact the informant given to us by the medical team.
• We will explain the process for registration to you at this point. If possible, have the relevant documents to hand at this time. i.e. birth, marriage or civil partnership certificates.
• You can pre-pay for any certificate(s) you need. 

The entire registration process will be completed over the telephone.

Tell Us Once

This is a free service we use to notify government departments, including Department for Work and Pensions and services in the council. 

You will be offered a unique reference number and contact link to Tell Us Once.

Documents we will issue

We will provide:

• an abbreviated death certificate. If you require a full certificate for legal purposes, this has a fee of £10.00 per extract.
• Form 14 for the funeral director will be emailed directly to the undertaker you request.
• registration privacy notice (tells you what happens to the personal information you provided).
• resource list of local and national services that can support bereavement and other services to help with health and wellbeing.

If you do not use the Tell Us Once service, you must inform the Department for Work and Pensions directly to stop any payments, 

For more information visit National Records of Scotland website.

Death Certification Review

The Death Certification Review service checks on the accuracy of a sample of MCCDs.

If the MCCD is selected, the registration cannot be completed until the review is finished.  The registrar will contact you when the review is complete.