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Dying Wishes
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Making your Will
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Registering a Death - details needed
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It is worth remembering that 'dying wishes' or messages can assume extreme importance for those you leave behind. It gives them a way of giving to you when you are no longer there. It may be a focus for meaningful or constructive activity when everything is falling to pieces.
It can be a creative and humorous act of warmth, which proves long enduring. Death has an uncanny way of freezing certain memories and moments; if they are happy and loving they will prove repeated comfort for the people who mourn you. A difficult request ('I want to be buried in Bolivia') or prohibition ('Don't marry that ghastly man') will stick too!
Your family will have to make certain decisions as to your funeral arrangements: should you be buried or cremated or buried at sea? What sort of casket should they use? What sort of service? What should be the tone of the wake, if there is one? If your spouse, partner or family is aware of your wishes, at least in general, it could save them considerable distress about 'getting it right'.
Local Registrars
(to register deaths)
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For those in good health there is one obvious and practical preparation for death. Make a will ! Some of us avoid doing this because it is an admission that we are going to die. For that reason alone it is a valuable spiritual exercise as well as a highly practical and normalising procedure.
click here to download our informative guide on making a will
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Address and phone number of the local registry office (under 'R' in the phone book); your full name (exactly as on birth or marriage certificate); maiden name if a married woman; date and place of birth; home address; (last) occupation; full name and occupation of the husband (and in Scotland, the names and occupations of the spouse, male or female, and of all previous spouses and of the deceased's father; and whether the parents are alive); your NHS number; date of birth of your spouse; information about state or war pensions and allowances.
Your birth and marriage certificates and NHS medical card (or at least its number) should also if possible be in this dossier, for taking along to the Registry office in due course. Other helpful information you could leave for your relatives after your death could include some of the following:
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Addresses | telephone number | account numbers, etc for your bank/ building society | credit cards | hire purchase agreements | mortgage | house insurance council rent department | local gas, electricity, water and telephone offices | life insurance | hire purchase agreements | debts or loans | car details | share certificate details (or the originals of these certificates) | premium bonds | pension details | your doctor | your solicitor | your accountant | your stockbroker | your local inspector of taxes and your tax district and tax district reference number | your employers and professional associations | your main clients | your local priest or rabbi or British Humanist officiant or similar, depending on your religion or lack of it | those friends and relatives you would like invited to your funeral | which newspaper, if any, you would like your death announced in | what kind of funeral you would like | your preferred undertaker, if any; your burial rights if pre-bought.
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NORTH TYNESIDE DISTRICT
Maritime chambers
1 Howard Street
North Shields
Tel: 0191 2006117
Monday to Friday
(Appointment only)
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NEWCASTLE DISTRICT
Civic Centre
Barras Bridge
Newcastle Upon Tyne
Tel: 0191 2328520
Monday to Friday
(Appointment only)
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NORTHUMBERLAND CENTRAL REGISTRATION DISTRICT
Post Office Chambers
Station Road
Ashington
Tel: 01670 812243
107A Waterloo Road
Blyth
Tel: 01670 513232
Monday to Saturday (Appointment only)
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