Register a Death Ireland

When someone dies in Ireland, the death must be registered with the HSE Civil Registration Service within three months. In practice, you have up to twelve months without penalty, but beyond that, the General Register Office requires a written explanation before it will accept the registration. Getting this done promptly matters because almost everything else — probate, bank account access, benefit claims — requires a certified death certificate.

Who Can Register the Death

Only a "qualified informant" can register a death. This means the deceased's spouse or civil partner, an adult child, a parent, a relative who was present at the death or during the final illness, or any person present at the death. If no relative is available, the person in charge of the premises where the death occurred (such as a nursing home manager) can act as informant.

What You Need Before the Appointment

Before attending the civil registration office, gather:

• The completed Death Notification Form — the attending doctor fills in Part 1 (the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death), and you complete Part 2 with the deceased's personal details
• The deceased's PPS number
• Parents' full names (including the mother's birth surname)
• Your own photo ID as the informant

The attending doctor should issue the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death within 48 hours. If the doctor didn't attend the deceased within 28 days before death, or if the cause of death is uncertain, the case gets referred to the Coroner. This pauses the standard registration process until the Coroner releases the body and provides a certificate.

The Registration Appointment

Book an appointment at your nearest HSE Civil Registration Office — you can do this online or by phone. You must attend in person to sign the register. The registration itself is free.

At the appointment, the registrar will verify all details against official PPSN records. Name mismatches between what you provide and what's on the PPSN database are the most common reason for delays — check spellings carefully before you go.

Getting Death Certificates

Each certified copy of the death certificate costs €20. Order several copies at the registration appointment — you'll need them for banks, insurers, the Probate Office, the Department of Social Protection, and utility companies. Ordering multiple copies at the same time is cheaper and faster than requesting them individually later.

If you need additional copies after registration, you can order them from any civil registration office or from the General Register Office.

What to Do Next

With death certificates in hand, the immediate priorities are notifying the Department of Social Protection (to prevent overpayment of any benefits the deceased was receiving and to claim bereavement benefits you may be entitled to), contacting banks and financial institutions, and beginning the probate process if the deceased held sole-name assets.

The Ireland End-of-Life Planning Guide maps the full sequence of actions from the first 48 hours through to estate distribution, including the exact forms and deadlines that apply at each stage.

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