General Chat

Is it possible for a Death Certificate to have the wrong place of death.
Of course there are vast numbers of correct Death Certs but that doesn't preclude rare mistakes.
No system is perfect, so surely mistakes are possible. I'll explain how some mistakes can arise.

In most case the Death Cert is the only information you have on the place of death, so there is no way of verifying if it is accurate. There are often other ways of establishing the age at death, so it's much more likely an error in the age could be spotted.
How might mistakes arise? When registering a death a few years ago, the registrar suggested I bring in the birth and marriage certificate. When I registered the death I had all the information and offered the certificates. The registrar said they weren't really needed as I was sure of all the information. She told me they sometimes get distressed relatives reporting deaths who get the information confused.
Another possible cause of error is an illiterate person reporting the death. As they would be unable to check what the registrar wrote down so misunderstandings could go uncorrected. Illiteracy was very common when death certs were introduced, although it's quite rare now.

My brother almost literally dropped dead in a hotel

The ambulance people said they thought he was dead but had to take him to hospital

He was declared dead at the hospital, so the hospital is shown as his place of death.

Even though he had been receiving treatment for a major heart condition and was supposed to be having surgery one week later, the coroner had to be involved.

It took about 10 days to sort it all out .................

he lived in one jurisdiction

the hotel was in another

and the hospital was in a third



If I didn't already have his death certificate, I wouldn't know where to start looking for it!

Slightly different but my MiL who was very ill died at home in bed at 10pm but the doctor didn't arrive at the house until after midnight so the next day's date is shown on the cert.as the date of death.

Phyll

well if she died at home but was taken to the hospital thats where she was certified at dead

as in my mums case ,she died at my brothers house but was taken by ambulance to the hospital so that's where she was certified as dead by the certified doctor .

Its how things are done for deaths at home that are taken to a hospital to be certified as deceased .

so yes your cert is correct in that in falls in the guidelines but the family know that she did indeed pass away at home but was certified as deceased at the hospital

Thank you all for your responses.
We are going to look at the electoral register to see if that will help although I doubt it.
Regards
Phyll

Sometimes a Probate calendar entry will give the true place of death.

In the case of my grt grandfather it gave an address different to the one on the DC. That ties in with where family lore said it happened, and were the GP went (home address) to refer the death to the Coroner.

My dads stepdad died in Hertfordshire .he had been transferred to a specialist hospital from SE. London for an operation from which he didn't recover

His death is reg in Hertfordshire. But also shows his home address
He was brought back to SE London from burial

Took some searching to find the death as I wasnt aware of the circumstances surrounding his death .but i did know he died in 1941 so that was a help .

My mum collapsed and died at my brothers house and she was taken to hospital where she was pronounced dead on arrival,

Her death certificate too give place of death at the hospital and the causes as certified by the coroner without inquest.

My elder sister was given papers by the hospital so she could register the death and also the coroner sent paperwork to the registry office so it could tie up with the registration . Sister was told to wait a few days after she got the paperwork before going to register mum

My great grandfather died in Reigate Surrey where he was being looked after by his eldest daughter, a geriatric nurse.

But his death was registered in Westminster by his youngest daughter, my gran,where he normally lived.

I have the cert, from Westminster stating where he normally lived and where he died. And he iscburied the Reigate cemetery.

I did wonder about that Gwyn as my mum died at home
but its down as she died in Hospital :-(

As stated, death is only confirmed when a medical opinion has been given.

My great grandfather collapsed and died whilst gardening at someone's house in their village. Neighbours carried him quickly home, a doctor was called and he confirmed death.
It was the home address which was shown as place of death on his certificate, as that is where death was confirmed.

Similarly, my own father collapsed and died on the quayside in Southampton and an ambulance took him to hospital.It is the hospital where death was verified and is therefore shown as place of death.

my father died in my home - cert. gives his home address, address at which he died, informant and who was present at death.


Info was my home address and was also the place of death, I was the informant and I was present at his death.

Forgot to say our GP dashed in and shook his head, told me to get my mother - so he certified Dad's death.

I was just 21 so I could register his death.

The death certs I have all say the person registering the death was present at the time of death, does yours? If it does then it's the end of the argument :-D

My husband and I are 100% sure that we have the correct place of death. SIL says a different address but in the same Registration area. A daughter (now deceased) was the informant.
We even visited the address prior to her death but the seeds of doubt have been sown by SIL who has to always be right.

It depends on whether your sister thinks that granny died in a completely different area, or just at as different address in the place where the death is registered.

Personally, I have never known a place of death be wrong, but things like middle names, age at death etc. can sometimes be wrong.

Why is your sister-in-law so sure she knows the place of death if she hasn't got the death certificate?

EDIT - the following is copied from the Citizen's Advice website:-

"When someone dies at home, the death should be registered at the register office for the district where they lived. If the death took place in hospital or in a nursing home it must be registered at the register office for the district in which the hospital or home is situated. ***In England and Wales, if it is convenient, you can go to a different office to register the death and the details will be passed on to the correct office***. You should check the opening hours of the office you wish to go to. Some offices have an appointments system."

The place of death should still be correct on the certificate. Are you absolutely certain that you have the correct certificate? Was the informant someone you know so that you can be certain it is the correct certificate?

Kath. x

I believe a death has to be registered in the area in which it occurred.

There is no hard and fast link between BMD records and the place of registration. The cert may have further details but as already said that information is not verified it is just what the informant ( who may not even be a relative) said.

In cases of violent death in the UK there is very often a record in local newspapers.

A cert info is only as good as is told to the registrar.

Having said that, a family friend was killed by a drunk driver on the pavement outside his home. His father said he knew he was dead by the extent of his injuries the moment he saw him. The ambulance took him and the father to hospital but he wasn't declared dead until a doctor saw him so he was registered as dying at the hospital. He had fatal head injuries and could not have survived them, the inquest said he died instantly.

It is often the case that the registration office is a long way from an actual event (lots of variations in birthplace from certificates, censuses, baptisms etc.) And if a death takes place away from home it might be registered in either place. You might get the actual death place from the probate record

is it possible for a Death Certificate to have the wrong place of death on it.
I am having a right royal row with my sister-in-law over this. She says Granny died blah blah but I have a cert to disprove her.