Registration of Births, Deaths, Marriages and Civil Partnerships: Birth Certificates

The Government understands that it must be difficult for a surviving parent or family in these circumstances however there are no plans to take steps to enable registrars to make a declaration of parentage on a birth certificate where one parent is deceased.

In the unfortunate circumstance of the death of a parent before the birth of a child, a person can apply for a declaration of parentage to the High Court or the family court. The court will decide whether to make a declaration that a person named in the application was the parent of the child. If such a declaration is made, the court will inform the Registrar General, who is then responsible for authorising the re-registration of the birth to include the name of the deceased parent.