Death Certificates.

grimsdyke

I'm settling my late father's estate with his bank, Post Office, NS&I & his former employers pension scheme. In their requirments for documents needed they refer to "Death Certificate", "Original Death Certificate" and "Certified Copy of the Death Certificate". Are they all the same thing?

When I registered the death at the registry office I received a "Certificate for Burial or Cremation" and a "Registration or notification of death" both of which were free and 5 copies of "Certified Copy Of An Entry" all of which I had to pay for.

Anyone knowledgeable about this?

Yorkshireman99

grimsdyke wrote: »

I'm settling my late father's estate with his bank, Post Office, NS&I & his former employers pension scheme. In their requirments for documents needed they refer to "Death Certificate", "Original Death Certificate" and "Certified Copy of the Death Certificate". Are they all the same thing?

When I registered the death at the registry office I received a "Certificate for Burial or Cremation" and a "Registration or notification of death" both of which were free and 5 copies of "Certified Copy Of An Entry" all of which I had to pay for.

Anyone knowledgeable about this?

For the purposes you ask about the paid for original copies are certified copies. That might no stop some stupid bureaucrat asking for a certified copy!

Margot123

Certified copies also include those copied from the original, and signed as being true by a solicitor.

Your post asks if they are all the same; yes, they are all valid. It's just that homemade photocopies aren't usually accepted.

Torry_Quine

Always send the original certificates signed for and companies will return them the same way.

Flugelhorn

one of the 5 you paid for is fine as a certified copy of the certificate

Yorkshireman99

Margot123 wrote: »

Certified copies also include those copied from the original, and signed as being true by a solicitor.

Your post asks if they are all the same; yes, they are all valid. It's just that homemade photocopies aren't usually accepted.

It annoys the hell out of me when companies insist on it being certified as one is issued by the registrar is alreadycertified as genuien by the registar. Damned jobsworths! Eant off!

TonyMMM

There is no such thing as an "original certificate".

The only original document is the register entry you signed when you registered the death. That gets locked away in a vault and you will never see it again.

All death certificates, whether issued on the day of registration, a week later, or ten years later are signed by a registrar to confirm that they are a true copy of that one regsiter entry. So the five you have are all equally valid and should be accepted by any organisation needing to see one.

If you need more, then you can buy as many as you like from the registration office. Or, if more convenient (and possibly slightly cheaper), you can take one of your certificates to a solicitor who will photocopy it and then certify it to be a true copy. What you can't do is just photocopy one yourself and send it off.

Yorkshireman99

TonyMMM wrote: »

There is no such thing as an "original certificate".

The only original document is the register entry you signed when you registered the death. That gets locked away in a vault and you will never see it again.

All death certificates, whether issued on the day of registration, a week later, or ten years later are signed by a registrar to confirm that they are a true copy of that one regsiter entry. So the five you have are all equally valid and should be accepted by any organisation needing to see one.

If you need more, then you can buy as many as you like from the registration office. Or, if more convenient (and possibly slightly cheaper), you can take one of your certificates to a solicitor who will photocopy it and then certify it to be a true copy. What you can't do is just photocopy one yourself and send it off.

Solicitors are not excempt from the copyright laws that prohibit photocopies being made.

TonyMMM

Yorkshireman99 wrote: »

Solicitors are not excempt from the copyright laws that prohibit photocopies being made.

The layout of BMD certificates is Crown Copyright, the contents and information on them is not. GRO have no objection to photocopying such certificates for many uses (and publish clear guidance that allows it) but they do state that it is not government policy to authorise certification of copies by "solicitors, notary or other organisations"

However all solicitors will happily provide such certified copies,and most organisations will accept them.

The official line is that you should obtain any extra certificates needed from the registration office.

Yorkshireman99

TonyMMM wrote: »

The layout of BMD certificates is Crown Copyright, the contents and information on them is not. GRO have no objection to photocopying such certificates for many uses (and publish clear guidance that allows it) but they do state that it is not government policy to authorise certification of copies by "solicitors, notary or other organisations"

However all solicitors will happily provide such certified copies,and most organisations will accept them.

The official line is that you should obtain any extra certificates needed from the registration office.

The point being missed is that an official copy is in itself certified so it needs no further verification. However, as it says on each one it is no proof of identity. A typical Civil Service conundrum!

grimsdyke

Thanks for the info everyone.