Death Certificates

Dear Mr Whittle

Thank you for your letter of 22 December about death registration procedures in cases concerning transsexuals.

The particulars concerning a death required to be registered are those prescribed in Form 13 of the Registration of Births and Deaths Regulations 1987. This includes “Name and surname” and “Sex” of the deceased, neither of which are prescribed in more detail within the regulations. As the registration of a death (or birth or marriage) is a record of the event, the particulars recorded are those which were relevant at the time of the death as supplied to the registrar by the informant.

In the case of the death of a transsexual, as with any other person, the name and surname recorded should therefore be those by which the deceased was known at the time of death. The record of the death is used largely in connection with the settling of the deceased’s estate, for example in claims for inheritance, insurance, pension and probate. The facility exists, therefore, to record any other names by which the deceased is or has been known, where these are provided by the informant. Birth, death and marriage records are not linked or cross referenced in England and Wales.

Neither the Act nor the regulations define sex. The only legal definition available is that given by Justice Ormerod in the case of Corbett v Corbet , where he found that the biological sex of an individual is determined at birth according to chromosomal, gonadal and genital tests where these are congruent and without regard to any surgical intervention.

Information about the sex of the deceased is provided by the informant. The registrar would generally expect this information to correspond with the sex recorded on the medical certificate of cause of death issued by the doctor who certified the cause of death.

Registrars are required to obtain information from the informant as described above, and record it in the death register accordingly. In turn, the informant is obliged to give the particulars about themselves ie name and surname, qualification and usual address, for entry in the registration of the death. The informant must make a declaration that the information given is true to the best of the informant’s knowledge and belief. The informant obviously needs to consider the use he or she will need to make of certificates of the death for probate purposes.

Yours sincerely

Richard Woodward
General Section
Room D209
Office of National Statistics
Smedley Hydro, Trafalgar Road, Birkdale, Southport, PR8 2HH