We recognise the many challenges you may face at this difficult time. The following information guides you on what to do after a bereavement.
Bereavement is a personal experience and can affect people in different ways. You can find information about understanding and managing grief from the following organisations:
- NHS advice on dealing with bereavement, grief and loss
- Cruse Bereavement Support to learn more about the grieving process
- National Bereavement Service for ways to manage grief
- The Good Grief Trust for support if you are newly bereaved
What to do when someone dies: step by step
The GOV UK website includes more information about
- arranging the funeral
- checking if you can get bereavement benefits
- checking if you need to apply for probate
Death overseas
Where a death occurs abroad or on a foreign ship or aircraft, you should register the death according to the country's local regulations and get a death certificate. Depending upon the circumstances of the death, this may have to be reported to a coroner (or equivalent) in the same way as if the death occurred in England or Wales.
You can arrange a burial or cremation in the country where the person died. You may also be able to bring the body back to England or Wales. Most funeral directors can advise you on the practicalities and likely cost. You can also ask for advice from the British consulate, embassy or high commission in the country where the person died.
For more information please see what to do when someone dies abroad.
How to contact us
If you have any questions about what to do when someone dies please contact us.
Tell Us Once
Tell Us Once is a free service offered by HM Government
When someone has died, many things need to be done when you probably least feel like doing them.
Tell Us Once is voluntary to use and very helpful. It enables you to report a death only once, telling central and local government services securely and confidentially without you having to inform them individually.
Many services can be notified, and these include:
- the local council - to update services such as council housing, Housing Benefit, Council Tax, Blue Badge and remove the person from the electoral register
- HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) - to deal with personal tax and to update regarding Child Benefit and Tax Credits claims (contact HMRC separately for business taxes, like VAT)
- Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) - to update benefits information, for example, State Pension, Universal Credit
- Passport Office - to cancel a British passport
- Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) - to cancel a driving licence and to remove registered keeper details, possibly for up to five vehicles
- public sector or Armed Forces Pension Schemes - to update pension records.
How to access the service
The Registrar will provide you with a unique Tell Us Once reference number, enabling you to access the Tell Us Once service online via GOV.UK.
If you have been issued a Coroners Fact of Death (Interim Death Certificate), you may still be able to use the service.
Tell Us Once reference numbers are valid for 28 days. If this time period has expired and you have not used the reference number provided at the Registration appointment, use our form to request a further Tell Us Once reference number to be generated.
Request a Tell Us Once reference number
It will help you to have all the relevant information listed below about the person before using Tell Us Once:
- date of birth
- address of the deceased
- National Insurance number
- driving licence number
- vehicle registration number(s)
- passport number
You will also need the following:
- details of any benefits or entitlements they were receiving, for example, State Pension, Universal Credit
- details of any local council services they were receiving, for example, Adult Social Services, Blue Badge, travel pass
- the name and address of their next of kin
- the name and address of any surviving spouse or civil partner
- 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.'
- details of any public sector or armed forces pension schemes they were getting or paying into
Please note:
- permission is required from the next of kin, the executor, the administrator and anyone claiming benefits or entitlements jointly with the person who died before you give their details.
- follow-up contact after using Tell Us Once is optional unless you do not receive a confirmation from the relevant department after a reasonable period, in most cases, a calendar month.
- once the various agencies informed by Tell Us Once have received notification of the death, they will make any further contact, if necessary, with the bereaved family.
- Tell Us Once is not a claim to benefit. Therefore please get in touch with GOV.UK or the relevant department for advice.
- Tell Us Once does not notify commercial organisations of the death and cannot arrange for post redirection.