Skip to main content

Bereavement

Last Updated: Friday, 06 February 2026

Guidance on what to do following a death

Part 1 – Practical matters

Following a death, responsibility for arrangements often falls to the person closest to the deceased. As this individual is likely to be emotionally distressed, it is recommended that a relative or friend supports them with making the necessary arrangements.

Throughout this webpage, the term “relative” is used to refer to those close to the deceased, be they a member of the family, partner, friend or significant other.

Information within this leaflet was sourced from the GOV.UK: What to do when someone dies guidance.

Step 1

 Register the death

Following a death, the medical examiner’s office will contact you to explain the cause of death and answer any questions you may have or confirm that the death has been reported to a coroner. The medical examiner’s office will also ask you to confirm you can register the death. In England and Wales, the death must be registered within five days of being contacted; this includes bank holidays and weekends. When a death is reported to a coroner, they will give you the documents you need, or they will send them direct to the registrar.

To find the nearest register office, use the webpage Find a register office and enter your postcode.

The documents required are:

 

Cause of death Documents issued by coroner
Natural causes Form 100A, or Pink Form 100B – if there is a postmortem these forms are sent to the registrar, but sometimes given to you

 

 
Unnatural causes/lack of evidence of natural causes Order for Burial (form 101) or Certificate for Cremation (form 6) will be given to you. Certificate After Inquest (form 99) states the cause of death and is registered by the registrar with no-one present

 

 

The registrar will explain the Tell Us Once Service which enables you to report a death to most government organisations in one go. The registrar will issue a unique reference number so you can use the service online or by phone (see Step 3).

Step 2

 Arrange the funeral

The funeral can only take place once the death has been registered and the registrar has issued the certificate stating that no post-mortem or inquest is required.

If you wish to organise a funeral yourself then contact your local council’s Cemeteries and Crematorium Department [add]. Some local councils also run their own funeral services, although these are usually non-religious.

A funeral expenses payment is available if you are in receipt of certain benefits and need help to pay for a funeral you are arranging. Funeral expenses claimant forms and notes are available to download and all claims must be made within six months of the funeral.

Should any assistance be required to complete the forms, the Bereavement Service helpline, 0800 731 0469, may help. Alternatively, should you not be able to hear or speak on the phone then use Relay UK.

Most people use a funeral director’s services who is a member of either:

 Step 3

 Tell the government about the death

The Tell Us Once service allows you to report a death to most government departments with one communication, including:

  • HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to deal with personal tax (you will have tocontact HMRC separately for business taxes such as VAT)
  • The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to cancel benefits and entitlements, for example universal credit or state pension
  • The Passport Office to cancel a British passport
  • The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) to cancel a licence and remove the person as the keeper of up to five vehicles (contact DVLA separately if you keep or sella vehicle or keep a personalised number plate)
  • The local council to cancel housing benefit, council tax reduction (sometimes called council tax support) or a blue badge, to inform council housing services and to remove the person from the electoral register
  • Veterans UK to cancel Armed Forces Compensation Scheme payments

The unique reference code issued by the registrar must be used within 84 days.

Before contacting the Tell Us Once service, you will need the following details of the person who died:

  • Date of birth
  • National Insurance number
  • Driving licence number
  • Vehicle registration number
  • Passport number

and any:

  • Benefits or entitlements they were receiving – for example, a state pension
  • Local council services they were receiving – for example, a blue badge
  • Details of any public sector or armed forces pension schemes they were receiving or paying into

as well as:

  • The name, address, telephone number and the National Insurance number or date of birth of any surviving spouse or civil partner
  • The name and address of their next of kin – if there is no surviving spouse or civil partner or their spouse or civil partner cannot deal with their affairs
  • The name, address and contact details of the person or company dealing with their estate (property, belongings, and money), known as their ‘executor’ or ‘administrator’

Should the Tell Us Once service not be available in your area or you do not wish to use it, then you will have to inform the various government departments yourself. This is in addition to banks, building societies, insurance companies, television companies, utility companies and landlords or housing associations.

 Step 4

 Check if you can receive bereavement benefits

 The following financial assistance may be available:

  1. Bereavement Support Payment (BSP) claims must be made within three months of a partner’s death to receive the full amount. Claims may be made up to 21 months after their death, but fewer monthly payments will be made.

To be eligible, your partner must:

  • Have paid National Insurance contributions for a least 25 weeks in any one tax year
  • Have died because of an accident or a disease caused at work, e.g., asbestosis
  • Be under state pension age
  • Be living in the UK or a country that pays bereavement benefits

However, there are exceptions to the 21 months rule, e.g., the cause of death was confirmed more than 21 months after the death.  Speak to the Bereavement Service helpline on 0800 731 0469

You cannot claim BSP if you are in prison.

Bereavement claim forms are available online along with BSP notes. Alternatively, applications can be made by phone on 0800 731 0469 or forms can be collected from the nearest Jobcentre Plus

  1. Guardian’s Allowance if you are bringing up a child whose parents or one of whose parents have died.

To receive Guardian’s Allowance all the following must apply:

  • You are bringing up someone else’s child
  • The child’s parents are dead (see conditions for one surviving parent below)
  • You qualify for Child Benefit
  • One of the parents was born in the UK (or was living in the UK since the age of 16 for at least 52 weeks in any two-year period)
  • If you adopt a child, you may still receive Guardian’s Allowance if you were receiving it before you adopted the child

If there is one surviving parent, you could receive Guardian’s Allowance if one of the following is true:

  • You do not know where the surviving parent is
  • The parents are divorced, or their civil partnership has been dissolved
  • The surviving parent does not have custody and is not maintaining the child and there is not a court order in place stating that they should do so
  • The parents were not married, the mother has died, and the father is unknown
  • The surviving parent will be in prison for at least two years from the date of the death of the other parent
  • The surviving parent is in a hospital by court order

 Deal with your own benefits, pension and taxes

Depending on your relationship with the person who died, your tax benefit claims and tax may change. For details, see Your benefits, tax and pension after the death of a spouse

Check if you need to apply to stay in the UK

If your right to live in the UK depended on your relationship with someone who has died, you may have to apply for a new visa. You should check the rules if:

For other rules on visas, check UK Visas and Immigration.