Registering a death

Our registrars will help you register a death as simply and easily as possible. Please read all of this page, as well as the Death Certification Review Service and the Tell Us Once pages before you book an appointment.

Where and when to register a death

Registrations will be carried out remotely which means we can complete the registration over the phone. If you wish to attend our Registration Office at Council Headquarters in Hamilton to please email licensing@southlanarkshire.gov.uk or phone 0303 123 1015 (select option 7). If you are making an appointment on behalf of the informant please make sure an appointment has not already been made.

By law, a death must be registered within eight days. A death which takes place in Scotland can be registered at any registration office in Scotland. We cannot register a death which did not take place in Scotland.

If you need to contact the registrars in an emergency outwith office hours, for example where the deceased has to be taken out of the country, phone the emergency out of hours number 0800 242024. 

What documents do you need?

To register a death the GP or hospital doctor, if the death occurred in hospital, will need to email the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCD) (Form 11) to the Registrar where you intend to register the death. It would be helpful if the contact details of the informant, for example, family member or funeral director, could be included with the medical certificate in case of any queries. 

The GP or hospital doctor should post the original MCCD to the registration office. We must be in receipt of a fully completed and signed MCCD before the registration process can start.

We may need to contact you more than once to complete the registration process.

If you intend to register the death in South Lanarkshire, the MCCD should be emailed to licensing@southlanarkshire.gov.uk

The original MCCD should be posted to Licensing and Registration Section, Floor 11, Council Offices, Almada Street, Hamilton ML3 0AA.

Please do not send the MCCD to several registration offices. 

A death is normally registered by a relative or close friend of the deceased but anyone can register a death as long as they know details about the death. You will be asked for information about the deceased’s birth and marriage(s)/civil partnership(s) (where applicable) in order for the registrar to look for any entries on the Scottish Family History System prior to the phone appointment.

If the birth and/or marriage(s)/civil partnership(s) took place outside Scotland, you will be asked if you have any documents which can be scanned or photographed and emailed to licensing@southlanarkshire.gov.uk 

How much does it cost?

There is no charge for registering a death. As part of the process the registrar will provide free of charge: 

• a Certificate of Registration of Death (Form 14) which will be emailed to the person arranging the funeral, for example, a funeral director 
• an abbreviated death certificate which shows the deceased’s name, sex, date of birth, date and place of death
• confirmation of the Tell Us Once unique reference number.

The abbreviated death certificate and Tell Us Once notification will be posted to you once the registration is complete. 

If you want a full death certificate which also shows the cause of death, parent and partner’s details, this costs £10 at the time of registration. Any request for a full or abbreviated death certificate made after one month of the date of registration will cost £15 (a £5 search fee is included in this).  You can order copy certificates for a full death or abbreviated death certificate