This is a legal document required to register a death. It is not a ‘death certificate,’ which is an official record of the death retained by local authorities, a copy of which is issued to the family after registering the death. Please refer to our guide to registering a death.
The MCCD is issued by the Medical Examiner Office (MEO) and sent electronically to the Registrars. The MEO will advise you of the fact.
When circumstances surrounding the death are unclear; for example, if it was an unexpected or violent death, or if it resulted from a workplace accident, the doctor may not be able to definitively determine the cause of death and will refer the case to the Senior Coroner (SC). The MCCD will not be released.
Sometimes, further investigations by the Coroner may still not provide a definitive conclusion on the cause of death, in which case the Coroner may call an inquest and the MCCD will not be released until the inquest has reached its conclusion. In either case, the coroner themselves will sign the certificate once they have determined the cause of death. Please refer to our guide to Coroner Involvement for more information.
The Registrar will contact you to arrange an appointment to register the death on receipt of the MCCD from the Medical Examiner.