Death Certification Review Service: advance registration

Usually a Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCD) cannot be registered until the review is complete.

But when the funeral has to take place within a set timescale, you can apply for an advance registration. This is done through your local authority registrar.

When to apply for an advance registration

We consider applications for advance registration in special circumstances such as:

  • religious/cultural (such as faith requirements to bury or cremate a person’s body within a set timescale)
  • compassionate (where delays would cause significant and unnecessary distress)
  • practical/administrative (for example, family have travelled from abroad to attend the funeral)

Application process for an advance registration

  • Local authority registrars are responsible for these applications
  • The registrar will help you complete the application form
  • The registrar will then contact us
  • A DCRS medical reviewer will assess the application and content of the MCCD
  • We aim to confirm if the funeral can proceed within two hours of receiving the request. However where this may take longer, or we are unable to approve the application, we will notify the registrar of the reasons for this. 
  • Advance registration requests can be made outwith normal working hours
  • The registrar will contact the person making the application with the decision

Resources