Registering a death

Every death must be reviewed by a medical examiner (ME). The ME will review all deaths not referred to the coroner and scrutinise the cause of death. Once the review is complete and the medical certificate for cause of death (MCCD) is approved, it will be sent to the register office. You'll be notified when the MCCD is forwarded, and advised to book an appointment through our online system to register the death. Please ensure that you have the medical examiner's name as you'll be asked to confirm this when making an appointment. Once you have this contact and the MCCD has been received by the registrars the death must be registered within five days. An appointment can't be booked until you've received this notification from the medical examiner.

We regret that legislation doesn't allow the death to be registered remotely, such as online, by email or by phone.

If you're not able to travel to one of our Shropshire register offices you can contact your local register office to enquire about making a declaration of registration.

Where can I register a death?

A death can be registered by a face to face appointment in the district in which the death occurred. After 9 November 2026, a death can be registered remotely.

After 9 November 2026, face-to-face death registration appointments will continue to be available. We're also planning to introduce remote registration appointments from December 2026. This will provide greater flexibility while ensuring the same standards of accuracy and legal compliance are maintained.

Please check when booking through our online system that you qualify as an informant before making a remote registration booking.

Who can register a death?

The people who are legally allowed to register a death will change from 9 November 2026.

If you choose to complete a remote registration after this date, you need to know how the changes in legislation will affect your ‘qualification’ as the informant in a registration.

Legislation for remote registrations state that for a death at home or in a communal establishment, the informant qualifies as a relative or partner of the deceased only if:

They were present at the death
They were in attendance during the last illness
They're in the district of Shropshire, at the time of providing the information for the registration
They're residing in Shropshire at the time of providing the information for the registration

Where the informant doesn't qualify as one of the above, it's likely that the alternative qualification to be used will be ‘causing the body to be buried or cremated’.

There are other possible qualifications that could be used. We'll update this page when we know more information. Please do call us if you have further questions regarding this.

How do I register a death?

You're able to register a death or make a declaration of particulars in Shropshire at one of our register offices, Monday to Friday. All registrations are by appointment only and some of our offices are staffed part time. You should receive a link either by email or via text message to book your appointment with us. Alternatively, if these options aren't applicable please wait for our call.

We'll need the following information in order to process the registration:

The date and place of death
The forename(s) and surname of the deceased and, if the deceased was a woman who had been married, her maiden name
The date and place of birth of the deceased
The occupation, and if the deceased was married or widowed or had a civil partner, the full name and occupation of their wife or husband
The usual address of the deceased
If the deceased was married or in a civil partnership, the date of birth of the surviving spouse
Whether the deceased was in receipt of a pension from public funds; for example, if they or their spouse were employed by a government department or the armed forces

What happens if an emergency death registration needs to take place out of hours?

If you need help out of hours (this includes weekends and bank holidays) with an emergency death registration (for those with particular cultural or religious beliefs), please contact your funeral director.

What information needs to be supplied to the registrar?

When you register the death, you will:

Complete the registration of death
Be issued with the certificates you ordered and pre-paid for when making your appointment

The informant will no longer sign a paper register. Instead, you'll review the details and make a verbal declaration that the information is true to the best of your knowledge and belief. This has the same legal importance as a signature.

Each death certificate cost £12.50. You can only pay by debit or credit card.

It's also useful if you have the deceased’s passport, birth certificate and (if applicable) marriage certificate to hand to bring with you, but these documents aren't essential if you're able to give the registrar the correct information.

Registering a death at short notice – Monday to Friday

We can't offer you an appointment until we've received the paperwork from the medical examiner or coroner. Once we're notified that you have an urgent need to register the death we'll contact you to discuss your requirements.

Documents provided by the registrar at your appointment

Please note that we'll only issue certificates ordered and paid for at the time your made your appointment. Any additional certificates you can order on our online certificate ordering system. The cost remains £12.50 per copy, with additional charges for postage.

The certificate for burial or cremation (form 9) is known as the 'green form' and gives permission for the body to be buried, or for an application for cremation to be made that will be transmitted electronically to the undertakers.

However, in certain circumstances the coroner may make one the following available in place of the above:

An order for burial (form 101)
A certificate for cremation (form E)

You'll be given a reference number enabling you to use the Tell Us Once service – a free and highly recommended service which will inform the main government agencies of the deceased’s death, all in one go. For more information visit the Tell Us Once page.

The coroner

When a death occurs in the following circumstances, it will be referred to the coroner:

The death is sudden and unexpected
The cause of death is industrially-related
The cause of death is unknown
There are suspicious circumstances surrounding the death
When a doctor has explained that they are unable to issue a medical certificate of cause of death

Deaths reported to the coroner

The coroner will investigate the circumstances of the death and do one of the following:

Issue a certificate, allowing the death to be registered
Arrange a post-mortem, and when it is complete, issue a cause of death certificate that allows the death to be registered
Arrange a post-mortem and hold an inquest; the coroner will then arrange for the death to be registered after the inquest has taken place