How many death certificates do you need?

[insadtimes]

Will be registering my father's death this week. The website says you can ask for extra certificates. Is this a useful thing? Do you need to send them off places?

How many do should we get?

You may need to send them off for insurance etc, I think we got two extra copies. We went to banks in person and as far as I remember they took photocopies. It’s probably easier to get a couple of extras at the time than to have to go back if you need more. When I registered my father’s death the registrar was really helpful, I’m sure they will give some advice of what people usually do. Sorry for your loss.

Thank you

I got ten as I didn't want to have to go back. So far those I've sent have been returned.

We got 5 for DF and ended up going back to buy 5 more. (They're cheaper if you buy extras initially I think).
For DM I think we managed with 5 but she had a lot less to sort out than DF.

We had ten (and needed all of them), not everyone returns them.

It's cheaper if you get extra at the time, and more convenient than having to purchase extra copies later on.
I got six extra copies, and only had one or two left at the end.

So sorry for your loss.

We had 4 when registering mums death, the registrar had a system whereby many companies such were informed once registered we only needed certificates for bank accounts.

No idea where the such came from sorry.

We needed 5. Three where never returned.

so sorry for your loss.

Did he have multiple pensions? my DF did as he had a coupld of private ones plus 3 work based pensions. every one needed an original and took weeks to return before DM could get her window's portion. If we had to do them one after the other it would have left her with real cash flow problems.

If your DM is reliant on income from things related to your DF, get several.

biggest problem we had was with his mobile provider who felt that him being dead was not sufficient justification for ending his mobile phone contract

Sorry for your loss OP.
We needed 5 for my dgf. As a pp said our local area also has a Tell Us Once system, so the registrar then lets the council know for housing/council tax/housing benefit etc. We needed one for the bank, one for the life insurance company, one for a separate bank account. We didn't get those 3 returned, so it's best if you can think how many places you need to inform then decide how many copies to get.

It really depends how many bank accounts, insurances, pensions etc. We on,y needed two for my dad. His affairs were not complex

We needed 13. It speed things up to just send a copy everywhere.

Bills, banks, lawyers, pensions, etc

We got 15 for a very complicated estate.

Should have got more...😟😟

Sorry for your loss yes extra copies can be useful to settle matters quickly and are much cheaper to purchase at the time of registering, they can be expensive to order at a later date.

We got a few when dad died, but didn’t need many. The tells us once service took care of most things and only needed then for insurance. Mum is still with us so think that made it much simpler. We visited the bank with mum and the original and they just photo copied it.

For my mum we got 6 & were only ever without one at a time. For my dad I got 4 & one wasn't returned.

They do have the tell us once service.

He had a public sector pension.
I don't know if he had more than one bank account.
Insurance of various kinds.
Not all utilities etc were in joint names with my mum, some were just in his name.

I work in the finance industry and we recommend 10. Makes it easier to send off at once rather than waiting for them to be returned.

Depends on the complexity of the estate.

Sorry for your loss

I got 10.
Everyone seemed to want one.
I got them when I was there.
Non were returned.
Sorry for your loss

Sorry for your loss

We got 4 for my DF and used the tell us once service. DF had a couple of pensions. We are down to one spare now. As other people say not everyone returns them, which I was surprised by as they would be sending letters about pension etc so it would seem logical for them to return the death certificate at the same time. DM phoned one service provider to return it when we got down to our last one.

So I would probably get at least 5.

On a separate note you might need extra copies of your DF's will if he had things like life insurance. We have had to send at least one provider a copy of the will together with the death certificate. The solicitor let us have them free of charge

If you need to contact utility providers they usually have a Bereavement department. Always ask to speak to them if you can, they are usually quite efficient and sympathetic. It gets quite soul destroying sorting through paperwork etc.

We got 5. Some companies, particularly, share Companies Insurance Companies and private pension companies were really bad at sending them back. Always use ‘signed for’ delivery when sending them off. Keep the receipt given to you by the post office, as the number is used for tracking. Really useful when companies tell you they have not received them.

One other piece of advice is to set up a file with a header sheet listing everyone who needs to be notified. I was amazed at how many people had to be told. This made it easier, by noting when things were sent, phone numbers for chasing up etc.

The best people I found were the utility companies. They all have a probate department and will freeze the bills until the Estate is settled.

If you go into bank branches they should be able to take copies and then send them and the paperwork to the right department in their Head Office.