Death - registration

Registering a death

We have two registration offices in East Renfrewshire - one based in Barrhead and the other in Giffnock. The details are:

Council Headquarters
Eastwood Park,
Rouken Glen Road

Telephone: (0141) 577 3120/1
Fax: (0141) 577 3892

Senior Registration Officer: James A. Clarke

Telephone: (0141) 577 3126
Fax: (0141) 577 3892
Email:

Barrhead Registration Office
13 Lowndes St
Barrhead
G78 2QX

Telephone: (0141) 577 3551/2
Fax: (0141) 577 3553

Registrar/Administration Officer: Patricia Mathieson

Telephone: (0141) 577 3551
Email:

Registration Office opening hours - Monday to Thursday from 9am to 4.15pm and on Friday from 9am to 3.30pm.

How to register a death

Every death must be registered with an official registrar of births, deaths and marriages within a maximum of eight days. It should be registered as soon as possible and before a cremation takes place. From 1st January 2007, a death may be registered at any registration office in Scotland.

A doctor will normally issue a medical certificate detailing the cause of death (Form 11). This certificate should be given to the registrar. If available, it helps if you can produce the person's birth certificate, NHS medical card and, if appropriate, marriage certificate.

The people who can register a death are a relative, or, if a relative cannot do it, then:

  • someone who was with the person when he or she died

  • the executor or other legal representative

  • someone who lives at the address where the person died

  • any other person with the information needed for registration

The registrar needs a range of information about the person to register the death:

  • the date and time of death

  • where he or she died

  • full name

  • date of birth

  • occupation

  • full address

  • parents' names and occupations

  • doctor's name and address

If the person was married at any time, the registrar needs:

  • spouse's name (and wife's maiden name)

  • spouse's occupation

  • the same details for each spouse, if he or she was married more than once

After you've registered

You will be issued with an abbreviated death certificate free of charge, which will just confirm the death and the fact that it has been registered. However if you want to have a full death certificate giving cause of death and other details, you need to pay a statutory fee, which currently is £8.50 per copy. You may need full death certificates for banks, building societies or insurance companies.

The registrar will give you two other certificates:

  • certificate 334/S1 which you should use to let the Department of Social Security know about the death

  • certificate of registration of death (Form 14) which you need to give to the undertaker to allow the funeral to take place

These two certificates are free of charge.

If you need any assistance from the registrar, please don't hesitate to get in touch.