Taking care of important paperwork

Registering the death

If you haven’t done so already, registering the death is a legal process that you’re required to do within five days of your child’s death, or eight in Scotland. You’ll need to visit the registrar that deals with births, deaths and marriages.

Find out what you’ll need to do.

Tell government departments, once

To help with this overwhelming task you can speak to your local registrar about the Tell Us Once service. This will give you the opportunity to report your child’s death to several places in one go and stop the benefits your child was receiving.

A number of government departments and agencies will be informed on your behalf, like The Passport service, the DVLA, and most offices that were paying benefits to your child. Check with the person you speak to about which departments will be notified.

The service is available in most areas of England, Scotland and Wales. You can choose to do it online, face-to-face or by phone. When you register your child’s death, the registrar will let you know the next steps. If this service isn’t available where you live, you will need to contact the agencies and departments individually.

In Northern Ireland, you can contact the Bereavement Service on 0800 085 2463

Sorting out benefits

If your child was receiving benefits via their bank account, the payments may continue and cause problems when you have to pay them back later, so it’s important to tell the benefits agency of your child’s death.

You can call the DWP’s Bereavement Service on 0800 731 0469 (or Social Security in Northern Ireland on 0800 085 2463) to inform them that your child has died and manage any benefit payments. This is done over the phone, and covers any DWP benefits your child was getting – this doesn’t include any received through HMRC or the local authority.

You don’t have to use the Bereavement Service if you have already used Tell Us Once, but it can be helpful if you need to make a claim for bereavement benefits.

They will check whether your child’s partner or next of kin is entitled, and can take claims for bereavement benefits or a Funeral Expenses Payment.

You’ll also need to return any order books or cheques to the relevant office, local Jobcentre Plus or Jobs and Benefits Office (Northern Ireland).

Returning other documents

If your child had a driving licence, passport or any National Insurance paperwork, these will have to be returned. Someone also needs to tell any clubs or organisations where your child was a member, and cancel any season tickets, library cards, and so on.

See who else you might need to inform.