What happens
You cannot register a death until medical evidence paperwork has been issued.
You do not need to contact us. We will contact the next of kin once we have received the medical evidence paperwork of the deceased from either the Medical Examiner or the Coroner.
We will then call the next of kin of the deceased to come in to register the death at a face-to-face appointment where we can issue you with a:
- death certificate, you may need this to close off certain accounts and policies held by the deceased
- burial and cremation form also known as ‘Form 9’ or ‘the green form’, you will need this to make funeral arrangements. You will need to find and an appoint a funeral director to help you with funeral arrangements
- reference number needed to use our Tell Us Once service to notify government agencies and departments.
A death should be registered within five working days. If a coroner is investigating the circumstances leading to the death, then they will give you further advice.
The death should be registered in the district where the person died as only that district can issue a death certificate. Visit the government's website to find the right register office.
Medical evidence paperwork is needed first
If the person died in Slough, either at home or in a communal establishment then typically the family doctor or hospital doctor will sign the medical evidence paperwork, followed by the medical examiner. The medical examiner will then call the next of kin of the deceased to let them know they will send the medical evidence paperwork to us, at the Slough Register Office.
Once we have received the medical evidence paperwork, we will call you to book a face-to-face appointment so you can register the death.
If a post-mortem is needed
Sometimes the coroner needs to do a post-mortem to understand the death. For information about post-mortems in Berkshire, visit Reading Borough Council’s website.
When the coroner's office has completed a post-mortem, they will contact the next of kin of the deceased to let them know that they will send the medical evidence paperwork to us, at the Slough Register Office.
Once we have received the medical evidence paperwork, we will call you to book a face-to-face appointment with you so you can register the death.
If an inquest is needed
The coroner will open an inquest if the death is:
- a sudden, unexpected death
- not by natural causes.
Once the coroner’s office has concluded the inquest, they will contact the next of kin of the deceased to let them know that they will send the inquest paperwork to us, at the Slough Register Office. Five working days after you receive the call from the coroner please call us at Slough Register Office on 01753 787600 to purchase the full death certificate.
Our phone call to you once we have the medical evidence paperwork
We will only call the next of kin when we have received the medical evidence paperwork, as a death cannot be registered without one. On that phone call we will arrange the appointment for you to come in and register the death. All death registrations in Slough must be completed in person.
If you miss our call, then where possible, we will leave a message for you to call us back on 01753 787600. Or you can book an appoint to register a death through the Stopford Online Booking System. Please do not use the booking system or call to register a death unless you have heard from us first.
Urgent burial requirements
In Slough, we can arrange for a quick registration of death if a burial is needed quickly for religious reasons and we have the medical evidence paperwork. Let your funeral director know you want to arrange a burial quickly and they can contact us.
If the death did not happen in Slough
To avoid delays with paperwork, we advise you contact the district the person died at to register a death.
However, a ‘declaration of the death’ can be made for the deceased in any district in England and Wales.
If you wish to make a declaration of the death in Slough, then you must be the next of kin of the deceased. You can call us on 01753 787600 to discuss the circumstances and available paperwork.
We will then request the medical evidence paperwork from the district where the death occurred. When we have that we will contact you to make an appointment for you to register the death in person. After the appointment, we will send the death registration and all medical evidence paperwork back to the district where the death occurred. When that district receives everything they will contact you to issue you with the death certificate, burial and cremation form also known as ‘Form 9’ or ‘the green form’, and the reference number needed to use our Tell Us Once service to notify government agencies and departments.
There will be a delay with this process, please do allow for that.