WHEN DEATH HAS OCCURRED

• If Death occurs at Home

  When someone dies at home and the death was expected and had been seen by their GP with 14 days your first call should be to the on-call doctor from their GP's surgery to attend and certify the death. If the death is unexpected the police must be notified, usually by ambulance staff if one is called. Once death has been certified by a doctor or another qualified person such as a paramedic we can attend and remove the deceased into our care, in most circumstances, if this is your wish.

• In a Nursing Home

  Much like a death at home, the death must be certified by a qualified person before we can attend. However, unless you have made specific instructions with the Nursing Home they may call a funeral director of their own choosing who may make an additional charge for their service.

• At Hospital

  Most hospitals, certainly the local one's, have very informative literature and will guide you through the documentation process. It is most usual to wait until death has been registered and we have the Green Certificate to authorise us to remove your loved one into our care, although some hospitals allow us to go before if you have given your permission.

• Registering the Death

  Registration must be in the borough where death occurred within five days of death unless referred to the coroner. An appointment must be made to attend the registrar's office

  • Birmingham:- 0121 675 2902 or 0121 675 1004 for more information click here
  • Worcestershire:- 01905 768181 for more information click here
  • Solihull:- 0121 704 8002. for more information click here
  • Solihull North:- 0121 0121 704 8002 for more information click here

  You can register the death if you're:

  • a relative of the deceased (the person who died)
  • an executor
  • someone present at the death
  • an administrator from the hospital
  • the person making arrangements with the funeral directors

  When you register a death you'll get:

  • a Certificate for Burial or Cremation (green form), which gives permission for burial or cremation
  • a Certificate of Registration of Death (form BD8), which you may need to fill in and return if the deceased was getting a state pension or benefits.

  You can buy additional death certificates on the day of registration for £4 each. Copy certificates then cost £7 each until the current register is full and has been archived. From then on copy certificates cost £10 each. You should receive these within 3 working days

  If you need extra copies urgently, you can ask for them the same day. This will cost you £50 per certificate.

• If Death was Sudden or Unexpected

  In the event of a sudden death it would most usual for the coroner to be involved. Further information for Birmingham/Solihull and Worcester coroner’s can be found on the links below

For more information about the Birmingham and Solihull Coroner click here
For more information about the Worcestershire Coroner click here