Register the death

A funeral director can undertake many of the necessities involved with arranging a funeral but they can’t register the death of your loved one for you. Although we would be very glad to advise you on what you need to do, you need to register the death yourself.

Visiting the Registrar

Book an appointment

The Law requires that all deaths are registered in the District in which they occur. A funeral director isn’t able to do this for you, unfortunately.

To register a death you can either

phone the booking office on 01243 642122
visit the West Sussex County Council Registrars Website.

Both the phone number and the website cover all the Registrars in West Sussex.

You must make an appointment to register a death.

Before you go

The Cause of death medical certificates issued by the doctor or hospital will be emailed directly to the registrar from the Medical Examiners’ Office. You will not be required to collect the certificate in person.

If the death is referred to the Coroner, the Coroner’s officer will contact you when the paperwork has been completed so you can make an appointment to register the death. The death must be registered by one of the following:

A relative of the deceased who is present at death
A relative of the deceased who was in attendance during the illness
A relative residing or being in the District where the death occurred
A person present at death
The occupier of the house, if they knew of the happening of the death
Any inmate of the house, if they knew of the happening of the death
The person dealing with the disposal of the body
Not the Funeral Director

While you are there

Once you have an appointment and attend, the procedure is very straightforward and the following questions will be asked:

Date and place of birth and death
Full name of the deceased
Marriage status of the deceased
Home address of the deceased
If the deceased is male (even if retired), his last occupation
If the deceased is female (either married or a widow), her maiden name and her husband’s full name and occupation, and her own occupation
If married at date of death, the date of birth of the surviving partner

Certificates

The Registrar will then issue the following:

A Green Certificate which is required by the Funeral Director for either Cremation or Burial
A copy of the Certified Entry of Death (otherwise known as the Death Certificate). Additional copies of this may be obtained from the Registrar upon payment of the appropriate fee should they be required for legal purposes. The Registrar will advise on this.
A White Certificate of Death, which is required should you wish to claim any NI Benefits. NB: should the death be notified to the Coroner and the funeral service is to be a Cremation, then Registration can be affected after the funeral – see the section on the Coroner for more details.

Once you have this documentation, you can bring it with you when we see us and we can organise the funeral for you. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions or need any help.