Do you need help replacing a Death Certificate? We are here to help!

Order a Copy Death Certificate, suitable for both legal and family history uses. If you have lost a death certificate, or need one for family history purposes, this replacement copy will help you.

Copy Death Certificates are essential documents when processing claim to the estate of a deceased person. Whether you need to confirm the passing of a relative/friend or are looking for additional genealogy research material. Death Certificates are often essential to prove identity when applying for:

Probate
Pension Administration
Social Security Administration
Estate Administration
Overseas Property Administration
Divorce

Before issuing a death certificate, the authorities usually require a certificate from a physician or coroner to validate the cause of death and the identity of the deceased. In cases where it is not completely clear that a person is dead (usually because their body is being sustained by life support), a neurologist is often called in to verify brain death and to fill out the appropriate documentation.

The death certificate contains when and where a person died, the name and surname, sex, date of birth (or age on older certificates), occupation, address, cause of death, as well as information about the person who reported the death. Beginning in 1874, a doctor's certificate was necessary for the issuance of a death certificate (prior to that, no cause of death needed to be given). Stillbirths only had to be registered after 1927, and it wasn't until 1960 that a cause of death had to be listed.

Lost a Death Certificate

All copy death certificates we supply are fully certified copies which are suitable for all official purposes. Some reasons for obtaining a certificate include an application for Pension Administration and estate management. One of the most common reasons is that the original certificate was lost or mislaid.

We can additionally supply a certificate for any UK death registered overseas at a Consulate, High Commission, or with the Armed Forces.

Replacement death certificates do not require a signed release or similar for the order to be processed. Nor does further documentation (e.g. driver's licence or passport) have to produced.
Generally, there will be no special needs for the order to be completed, beyond the initial supplying of information and payment.

Types of replacement death certificates

There is no choice between non certified and certified - all certificates issued are certified. All certificates issued are issued with an official seal, some certificates have a raised seal or a stamped seal.

We can supply birth certificates from the United Kingdom (UK) of Great Britain (GB) England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, and many overseas births where the location was once a British territory, or if the event was registered with a British consulate.

I live outside the UK. Will the replacement British death certificate be accepted for use outside the UK?

If you are using the death certificate for Probate purposes in the UK, regardless of where you reside, you can use the death certificate without any legalisation process.

For overseas clients, that need to validate the authenticity of the certificate as having been produced in the UK, we also offer an apostille/legalisation service, whereby an apostille is attached to the reverse of the certificate. We always recommend checking with whoever you are presenting the certificate to, to identify if the apostille stamp is needed.

The Apostille Certificate (Apostille) is normally requested by foreign authorities and organisations so that the certificate can be used for official purposes outside of the UK. This means that the documents have to be legalised correctly before you travel and often within a specific time period.

Legalisation is usually required by foreign authorities before they will allow a UK certificate to be used for official purposes in their country. Apostille Certificates issued in the UK will be accepted but for the following countries they would require further legalisation. Obtain further Legalisation for the Middle East, UAE Legalisation Service,  Qatar Legalisation Service or Kuwait Legalisation Service or Egypt Legalisation Service.

Replacement of a lost death certificate

The minimum information we will require for a death record search is:

• Did the event take place in the UK?
• Full name of the deceased
• Year of Birth
• Year of Death

Searches of death records

Searches of the records in UKOS's Office for details of death usually for copy certificates. Copy certificates can only be obtained via the online order form, the certificate would contain the death details first registered. The minimum information needed to find an entry is the name of the person, place of death and year the death was registered.

Why would I need a copy of a death certificate?

If you have lost a death certificate ? or Need a new death certificate, or just require a replacement death certificates, copy death certiifcate, or a certified death certificates, or a duplicate death certificate, simply complete our online form, make a payment and we will do the rest.

Further Information

Copies of marriage certificates

Copies of birth certificates

Copies of death certificates

Apply via the Post

To apply via the post write to the following address:

UK RECORDS OFFICE
(Replacement Death Certificate)
4200 Waterside Centre
B 3 7 7 Y N