What to Do When Someone Dies in Ireland

The First 48 Hours

The immediate hours after someone dies are consumed by a handful of urgent practical steps. Everything else — probate, banks, tax — can wait. These cannot.

Get the death certified. A registered medical practitioner must sign the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCD). If the person died at home under GP care, or in a hospital or nursing home, the attending doctor completes this. If no doctor attended the deceased within 28 days before death, or the cause of death is unclear or sudden, the case is referred to the Coroner — and you cannot proceed with registration until the Coroner releases the case.

Contact a funeral director if you are using one. They will arrange collection of the remains, guide you through burial or cremation options, and handle many of the practical logistics. Ireland has no legal requirement to use a funeral director — families can arrange everything privately — but most families engage one. Average funeral costs run approximately €6,252, so request an itemised quote upfront.

Locate the will. Check the deceased's home, any safe deposit boxes, and their solicitor's office. If there is a will, it names the executor who will manage everything from here. If there is no will, the intestacy rules apply and the nearest eligible relative will need to apply for Letters of Administration.

The First Week

Register the death. A qualified informant — typically the spouse, civil partner, adult child, or next of kin — must register the death with the HSE Civil Registration Service. You book an appointment (online or by phone) and attend a local registration office in person to sign the register.

You will need the completed Death Notification Form (Part 2), the deceased's PPS number, their parents' full names, and your own photo ID. Registration must happen within three months of death, with an absolute maximum of twelve months. Each certified copy of the death certificate costs €20 — order at least six, because you will need one for every bank, insurer, and government body.

Notify the Department of Social Protection. Contact the DSP to stop any pension, social welfare, or other ongoing payments to the deceased. If payments continue after death, the estate may owe overpayments.

Notify the deceased's employer, bank, and landlord (if renting) to prevent automatic payments going out or salary being paid into an account that will soon be frozen.

Claiming Bereavement Benefits

Ireland's bereavement supports are targeted and contribution-based — there is no universal bereavement grant (the €850 flat grant was abolished in 2014). What remains:

• Bereaved Partner's Contributory Pension: A weekly payment (up to €259.50 in 2026) for a surviving spouse, civil partner, or qualifying cohabitant. The deceased must have had enough PRSI contributions. Cohabitants qualify if they lived together for at least five years (or two years with dependent children).

• Bereaved Parent Grant: A once-off €8,000 payment for a surviving parent with dependent children under 18 (or up to 22 if in full-time education). Extended to qualifying cohabitants since July 2025. Apply on Form BPG1 via MyWelfare.ie or by post.

• Additional Needs Payment (funeral grant): If the family cannot meet funeral costs, a Community Welfare Officer can make a discretionary payment directly to the funeral director — typically €500 to €2,500, based on a means assessment of both the applicant and the deceased.

• Credit Union Death Benefit Insurance: If the deceased was a credit union member, check whether their membership included death benefit insurance — this can pay €1,000 to €3,250 directly towards funeral expenses, outside the estate.

The Bigger Administrative Picture

Once the funeral is behind you and the immediate notifications are done, the longer-term administration begins: gathering asset valuations, filing Form SA.2 with Revenue, applying for the Grant of Probate (or Letters of Administration), releasing bank accounts, settling debts, and distributing the estate. That process typically takes 6–12 months for a straightforward estate.

The Ireland End-of-Life Planning Guide provides the complete sequence — from these first-day tasks through to final distribution — in a single structured workflow, so nothing falls through the cracks during the most disorienting weeks of the process.

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