Correcting a registration
When you register a birth, marriage, civil partnership or death, the registrar will ask you to check the entry carefully before signing.
By signing the entry, you are confirming that you consider the information to be a true and accurate record.
Once signed, the entry is the legal record and can only be changed by a statutory process and on payment of the appropriate fee.
Corrections to a registration can only be made when it can be shown the information was wrong at the time it was registered.
You cannot apply for a correction to show new information which has changed after you have registered (e.g. if you change your address after registering). However, you can apply to re-register a birth if the natural parents get married at a later date, or if the father wasn't included on the original registration and you wish to add the details now.
| Correction type | Notes | Statutory fee |
|---|---|---|
| Application to correct a register on authority of the Registrar | Some birth and death corrections qualify for this fee. | £75 |
| Application to correct a register on authority of the Registrar General | Some birth and death corrections qualify for this fee. All marriage and civil partnership corrections qualify for this fee. | £90 |
The Registrar will be able to advise you which fee is applicable to the error.
The fee is charged for considering your application and is retained regardless of the success or failure of your application.
If you have discovered an error in a birth or death record, it may be possible to arrange for the entry to be corrected.
Who can apply for a correction?
Birth registration
The parents listed on the certificate should apply. If the parents are not available, email registrar@eastsusssex.gov.uk for advice.
Death registration
The person named as the Informant on the certificate should apply. If this person is not available, email registrar@eastsusssex.gov.uk for advice.
Provide evidence that there is an error
You need to show that the information in the register is wrong. You will have to produce documents, valid or dated around the time of the birth or death, that clearly show what the correct information should have been.
If you are applying to change the named parent on a birth certificate, you may need to provide DNA evidence.
How to apply for a correction
You should email registrar@eastsusssex.gov.uk explaining the error you have found.
You may be asked to complete an application form and pay the applicable statutory fee.
- Apply to correct a birth registration (gov.uk)
- Apply to correct a death registration (gov.uk)
What the correction will look like
The original information on the entry will not change but the corrected information will be written in the margin of the entry indicating what the information should have been and the date that it was changed.
You may need to witness and sign the correction.
Replacement certificates
You should surrender any original certificates to the registrar when the correction is made.
The correction application fee does not include replacement certificates.
New certificates, showing the updated registration are charged at the standard statutory fees.
Certificates issued after the correction will show the original information and the marginal note detailing the correction to the entry.
If you have discovered an error in a marriage or civil partnership certificate, it may be possible to arrange for the entry to be corrected.
Corrections to marriage or civil partnership registrations carry a £90 statutory fee.
Any correction to a marriage or civil partnership entry needs to be authorised by the General Register Office before it goes ahead.
Who can apply for a correction?
Either of the people who married each other or formed a civil partnership can apply for a correction.
If neither spouse or partner is alive, the Registrar General will not authorise a correction.
Provide evidence that there is an error
You need to show that the information in the register is wrong.
You will have to produce documents, valid or dated before the time of the marriage or civil partnership, that clearly show what the correct information should have been.
Documents from after the date of the marriage or civil partnership cannot be considered.
How to apply for a correction
You should email registrar@eastsusssex.gov.uk explaining the error you have found.
You may be asked to complete an application form and pay the applicable statutory fee.
What the correction will look like
The original information on the entry will not change but the corrected information will be written in the margin of the entry indicating what the information should have been and the date that it was changed.
You may need to witness and sign the correction.
Replacement certificates
You should surrender any original certificates to the registrar when the correction is made.
The correction application fee does not include replacement certificates.
New certificates, showing the updated registration are charged at the standard statutory fees.
Certificates issued after the correction will show the original information and the marginal note detailing the correction to the entry.
Any person who knowingly and wilfully gives false information to a registrar for the purposes of alteration to the registration of a birth, death, marriage or civil partnership is liable to prosecution for perjury.
Was this page helpful?
Click or tap the rating which best represents your experience.
