Registering a death over Christmas

[TangoCharlieWhiskey]

Sorry for the sad subject but I'm wondering if anyone has any experience of this please?
My step-aunt passed away yesterday & the bereavement services are closed until the 28th Dec by which time I have to of registered her death.
However I can't make an appointment without a death certificate and can't get a death certificate because the bereavement team aren't back in the office until the 28th.
My understanding is that I have to register her death in 5 days or face some sort of prosecution. Is there flexibility at this time of year? Should I book an appointment, even though I don't have any paperwork?
Any shared experiences would be most welcome.
Thanks

Absolutely don’t worry. I used to work in the bereavement office and they don’t prosecute unless it’s way more than a week, I’ve never known it happen tbh. Sometimes it takes weeks to find NOK or the NOK is on holiday or unavailable for a week or so and it’s okay. They just want deaths registered quickly to prevent fraud and keep everything moving in the system, please don’t worry.

My dad died in hospital on Thursday 8th Dec, the paperwork wasn't issued from the hospital until the 14th and I was only able to register his death on the 15th.

Don't worry about it op, you can't do anything until you get the paperwork from the hospital /gp

It was a good 10 days before I could register a death. Death in hospital on Friday evening, couldn’t get the hospital certificate until the Tuesday, register office had no availability until the following week. Nothing happened.

My Register told me the hospital will delay the certificate if a doctor is off shift and there are no consequences if they delay which makes a joke of the fine.

@user1471553275 @DoraSpenlow
I am so sorry to hear your experiences and for your loss. Losing someone is an extremely emotional and stress time and to have these issues on top only makes matters worse. My father passed away in 2015 and I've been looking after my step-aunt since 2017 as well as my extremely poorly mum.
I have encountered so many less than satisfactory performances by social services, GPs, care staff and medical staff along the way, but I am know none of them were intentional. All these sectors are under such extreme pressure and their workloads simply make it impossible for them to do their jobs as they would wish. I can only imagine how heartbreaking and moral draining it must be for all these people knowing that they simply can't do things the way they would wish, because the don't have the time or resources anymore.
It makes it no less distressing for the relatives or the patients involved, but at least goes some way to mitigating it.

Thank you for sharing and putting my mind at rest. I do very much appreciate it.

The registrar rang me to make an appointment, it was within the 5 days

mu mum died recently. There was a delay of 5 days to get the certificate from the hospital. Death was registered in 7 days. No issues

My MIL was over the 5 days due to hospital delays died on a Friday, then lack of appointments at registrars. I would attempt to call an emergency number but then call first thing on 28th.

Was it a hospital death? You won’t be able to do anything until the bereavement office is open on the 28th if so as they need to coordinate the paperwork between the mortuary and funeral directors. Delays are common at this time of year unfortunately, partly because of bank holidays but also as there tend to be a spike of deaths at this time of year and it can be difficult to get hold of staff as a lot are on leave between Christmas and new year. There’s usually a plea in hospital for doctors to go to help sort the paperwork to get people transferred in the days after Christmas as the mortuary reaches capacity. You have 5 working days so off the top of my head that takes you to early January to sort. I really hope you can get it sorted out quickly

My stepdad died this year and it took much longer than 5 days to get the certificate and appointment. It was at least a week after his death.
I'm sure it will be fine.