Registering a death

You can register a death face-to-face or, if you meet the requirements for remote registration, by telephone or Microsoft Teams. Appointments are offered on a next available appointment basis for all appointment types.

If you attend in person, you can pay for and receive certificates at your appointment. If your appointment is by telephone or Microsoft Teams, you can order certificates online before or after your appointment and they will be sent to you by post.

Face-to-face appointments take place at Sandwell Register Office, Highfields House, High Street, West Bromwich, B70 8RJ.

For telephone and Microsoft Teams appointments, we will contact you at your scheduled appointment time. Please try to be somewhere quiet and private where you are comfortable discussing the information needed to register the death.

Legally, a death must be registered within five days in the registration district where the death occurred. If the death is referred to the coroner this may be extended and the Coroner’s Office will be in touch with you to confirm what will happen next.

Deaths not referred to the coroner

A Medical Examiner (ME) is a senior medical doctor who provides independent scrutiny of deaths that are not referred to the coroner.

Form 66 MCCD must be completed by the attending medical practitioner and the Medical Examiner to confirm the cause of death. Once completed, it will be sent directly to Sandwell Register Office.

We can only register the death once we have received the completed Form 66 MCCD. When it is received, the Register Office will contact you and offer you the next available appointment. You can choose a face-to-face appointment or, if you meet the requirements for remote registration, a telephone or Microsoft Teams appointment.

Deaths referred to the coroner

Where a death is referred to the coroner, the coroner's team will be in touch with you to discuss your loved one's death and advise you what is going to happen and will be happy to answer any questions you may have.

When the coroner has completed their investigation he/she will issue paperwork to the Register Office to enable the registration to go ahead.

The Register Office will be in touch with you to make an appointment to register the death as soon as the paperwork is received.

We usually have contact details for the next of kin, but to avoid any delays it would be helpful if you could email Registrars_Westbromwich@sandwell.gov.uk to let us know that you wish to register a death. When you contact us, please let us know your name, the name of the person who will complete the registration and their relationship to the deceased person along with best contact details.

Alternatively call us on 0121 569 7474.

Registration of death by declaration

If you are unable to attend a register office in the district where the death occurred and are unable or not eligible to register by telephone or Microsoft Teams, you may be able to register the death by declaration. Once we have received the documents needed to complete the registration, a Registrar will contact you to discuss the available options, including registration by declaration where appropriate.

You can attend your local register office to provide the information needed to register the death. A declaration will be taken and sent to the register office in the district where the death occurred. T

Once the death has been registered, the Green Form will be sent directly to your chosen funeral director, with your agreement, to allow the funeral arrangements to proceed.

If you require death certificates, these can be ordered online. Each certificate costs £12.50 and will be issued within four working days of receiving the application.

Request a copy certificate

Other key bereavement related services

Sandwell Council provides other services you may find helpful when making funeral arrangements including Sandwell’s Funeral Service and catering at our reception suite.

Our Bereavement Team will be happy to provide information on the services we provide with no obligation. They can be contacted on 0121 569 6700, alternatively you may find the link below useful which provides information related to the council's funeral, wakes and memorial-related services

Sandwell funeral service

What to do when someone dies

In the unfortunate event of a death, the following document provides useful information on what will happen next

What to do when someone dies

Other services provided by Sandwell Council that may be useful

Bereavement can make a big difference to how much money you have coming in and it is always a good idea to check to see what you may be entitled to.

Sandwell Council has a Welfare Rights Team which provides free and confidential advice during this difficult time.

Baby Loss Certificate

This is a voluntary scheme introduced from 22 February 2024 which fulfils a government commitment in the Women’s Health Strategy for England.
It is a voluntary scheme to support parents who have experienced a pregnancy loss before 24 weeks and the certificate is an important acknowledgement of a life lost but it is not a legal document.
Either parent can apply for a Baby Loss Certificate if they have experienced a loss under 24 weeks since 1 September 2018; are at least 16 years of age; currently live in England and were living in England at the time of the loss.
Should you wish to apply please use this link: Request a baby loss certificate.

The appointment and information will you need to register the death?

The registration appointment will take approximately 45 minutes. The registrar will ask for the following information in relation to the deceased:

Date and place of death and usual address
Details of their wife or husband or civil partner
Full name and surname and maiden name if ever married
Date and place of birth
Occupation and occupation of spouse or civil partner if appropriate.

The Green Form

To plan for the funeral, you will need to have a certificate for burial or cremation (Also known as the Green Form) which is issued by the Registrar following the registration. This form will be sent electronically to the funeral director you have chosen on the day of the registration. If you should change funeral director, we will ask for the form to be returned to the Register Office and will contact you for the new arrangements.

How much are certificates?

Death certificates cost £12.50 each, you can order and pay for as many certificates as you need during the appointment. After the appointment if you need to order additional certificates they can be ordered via our online application service.

Order and pay online for a death certificate

Tell Us Once

You can save you a great deal of time and effort using our Tell Us Once service where we inform government departments about somebody's death for you.

Further information

Urgent registration of a death

An out of hours death registrations and burial service is available for families who need to register a death so that an urgent burial can take place either at a weekend or a Bank Holiday. The hours for the out of hours service are 9am until 1pm on Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays (excluding Christmas Day).

The out-of-hours death registration service is available by calling 07810 152159.