Start to contact the various organisations listed where accounts are in place under My Life. Note for a number of the organisations such as Financial Institutions, they will not be able to do anything for you without you providing a Death Certificate. Registering a death is free, however there is a small charge for the issue of all death certificates. Certificates can be issued for social welfare purposes at a reduced cost.
You may find that you require a number of original death certificates depending on the organisations you will have to deal with as part of MY Life.
With the exception of the main joint working account held by partners/spouses, once the financial institution are notified of a persons death withdrawals are not permitted and all direct debits and standing orders will be returned unpaid. So an alternative payment method should be found for the likes of gas, electricity, insurance, etc.
A Multilingual Standard Form (MSF) is a translation and authentication document which is accepted throughout the EU. When ordering an MSF you must also order the certificate which needs to be translated/authenticated for use in another EU member state. This can save you considerable expense in translation and legal fees where another jurisdiction is involved.
Register a death
All deaths must be registered at any Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages office within three months of the death and the Register of Deaths signed by a relative.
This can only be done by a relative who knows the details in relation to the death. If there is no such relative, any person who was present at the death or in charge of premises where the death occurred or has any knowledge of the death may become a qualified informant as the person to register the death.
1. Where no post-mortem or for a consent post-mortem you must register the death (on-line during COVID) at any office of the Register of Births, Deaths and Marriages by providing a medical certificate stating the cause of death from the Doctor who attended the deceased during their last illness. An example of a Death Notification Form is attached which states the cause of death. The second part of form will have to be completed by a relative or person capable of acting as qualified informant and includes:
- Medical Certificate/Death notification form with the cause of death.
- Full name and surname of deceased.
- Date and place of death.
- Sex, Marital Status, Occupation.
- Date of birth or age of the deceased.
- Parents’ names.
- The deceased’s Personal Public Service No
If in-person is possible then you must then sign the Register in the presence of the Registrar. You will need to bring photo ID with you.
If online, then you will need to include a copy of one of the following valid photo IDs for the person registering the death:
- passport.
- driver’s licence.
- refugee asylum card.
- national ID card from a country where it is an accepted form of travel document.
- public services card.
2. Cases involving the Coroner will automatically be registered at the Register of Births, Deaths and Marriages office, however, you will need to collect the death certificate yourself.
In the UK two service are offered which we believe would help families in Ireland at this difficult time by reducing the number of organisations they must contact.
Death Notification Service – a free service which allows you to notify a number of banks and building societies (financial institutions) of a person’s death, at the same time.
Tell Us Once – a government service that lets you report a death to a number of government organisations at once.
We would ask your support in campaigning to have similar or better services introduced in Ireland.