Birth, marriage, civil partnership, citizenship and death

Support if you've been affected by a stillbirth

If you’ve been affected by a stillbirth, you can get help and support from these organisations:

• Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Charity (SANDS)
• The Compassionate Friends
• Renfrewshire Bereavement Support
• Death and Bereavement Support
• NHS Pregnancy and birth / Stillbirth

You must register a stillbirth at any registration office in Scotland within 21 days. 

You can register by phone or in person at our registration office in Paisley, or in any other registration office in Scotland.  

If the parents are married or in a civil partnership

If the parents are married or in a civil partnership, the stillbirth can be registered by the mother, father, or other parent.

Both parents can attend the appointment at the registrar's office or if they wish. 
If the parents are not married or in a civil partnership

If the parents are not married or in a civil partnership

If the parents are not married or not in a civil partnership and they both want to be named on the stillbirth certificate, both parents need to attend the appointment at the office or over the phone.

Otherwise, the mother must register the stillbirth , but the other parent will not be named on the certificate.

If the father or other parent cannot attend the appointment, they can complete a declaration of parentage and sign it in the presence of a local councillor, justice of the peace or notary public.  

The registrar can provide you with the relevant form.

If the mother cannot register the birth

In exceptional circumstances – for example, if the mother is ill – we can arrange a short postponement.  

Contact us by email at registrar.cs@renfrewshire.gov.uk or phone us on 0300 300 0310 if you need to postpone the registration.

You'll need these documents and information with you for your appointment:

• the certificate of stillbirth (Form 6)
• your marriage certificate or civil partnership certificate (if this applies).
• your child’s first names and surname  , if you wish
• sex, date, place and exact time of stillbirth of the child
• mother's full name, maiden surname (if this applies), occupation, and date of birth.
• father or other parent's full name, occupation, and date of birth (if this applies)
• place and date of your marriage or civil partnership (if this applies).

If you do not have the certificate of stillbirth (Form 6), we’ll ask you to sign a form of declaration as to stillbirth (Form 7).

To register a stillbirth at our registrar office, you can make an appointment by:

• email at registrar.cs@renfrewshire.gov.uk
• phone at 0300 300 0310 [link]

Your appointment can be over the phone or in person.

We’re available by phone: 

• Mondays to Thursdays from 8:45am to 4:45pm
• Fridays from 8:45am to 3:55pm.

This does not include public holidays.

Following the registration, we’ll give you a Certificate of Registration of Stillbirth (Form 8). We can send this form to the funeral director or directly to you. 

You can also ask for an extract (certificate) of the stillbirth, which is free of charge.

We’ll send you the Certificate of Registration of Stillbirth (Form 8) by first class royal mail within 24 hours (excluding weekends and public holidays).

There are no costs for registering a stillbirth or getting a stillbirth certificate.

If your baby was born in Scotland, you should register the birth within 21 days if you can, or at the next available date after that. 

You can register by phone or in person at our registration office in Paisley, or in any other registration office in Scotland.  

You'll need to book an appointment to register the birth. 

Your appointment can be over the phone or in person.
If your baby was born outside of Scotland, you'll need to register the birth in that country instead.

If the parents are married or in a civil partnership

If the parents are married or in a civil partnership, only 1 parent has to register the birth.

This can be the mother, father, or other parent.

Both parents can attend the appointment at the registrar's office or over the phone if they wish. 

If the parents are not married or in a civil partnership

If the parents are not married or in a civil partnership and they both want to be named on the birth certificate, both parents need to attend the appointment at the office or over the phone.

Otherwise, the mother must register the birth , but the other parent will not be named on the birth certificate.

If this is not possible, please contact the registrar for advice on 0300 300 0310.

If the father or other parent has not been included

You can re-register a birth to include the father or other parent if:

• the parents' marriage or civil partnership took place after the birth was originally registered
• paternity or parentage has been shown in the Register of Corrections Etc. or granted by a court.

Re-register a birth [link]

Parental responsibilities

If both parents' names appear on the child's birth registration, they are both given equal parental responsibilities and rights.

You'll need these documents and information with you for your appointment:

• first names and surname of the child
• sex, date, place, and exact time of birth
• the birth registration card issued from the hospital or midwife
• mother's full name, maiden surname (if this applies), occupation, and date of birth
• father's or other parent's full name, occupation, and date of birth (if this applies)
• place and date of your marriage or civil partnership (if this applies)
• your marriage or civil partnership certificate (if this applies)
• your birth certificates, if you have them.

You'll need to have these whether your appointment is in person or over the phone.

Book an appointment online

If you cannot book an appointment online, phone us on 0300 300 0310.

We’re available by phone: 

• Mondays to Thursdays from 8:45am to 4:45pm
• Fridays from 8:45am to 3:55pm.

This does not include public holidays.

Your appointment

Appointments usually take about 30 minutes.

If your appointment is by phone, please be ready 5 minutes before we call you. If you're not able to take the call, you'll probably have to reschedule your appointment.

If your appointment is at one of our registration offices, please come to our registration office 5 minutes before your meeting time.

If you need to cancel or reschedule your appointment, you can:

• log in to MyAccount and change it online, if you booked your appointment online
• phone 0300 300 0310 if you booked your appointment over the phone.

If you have any other questions about your appointment, you can:

• email registrar.cs@renfrewshire.gov.uk
• phone 0300 300 0310.

After you’ve registered the birth, you’ll get:

• an abbreviated (short) birth certificate
• a form (EC58) to register your child with a doctor.

If you’ve registered the birth over the phone, we’ll send you the abbreviated birth certificate and EC58 form by post.  

If you’ve registered the birth in person, we’ll give you the abbreviated birth certificate at your appointment.

If you want a full birth certificate more than 1 month after the registration, you’ll need to order a full birth certificate.

We’ll give you an abbreviated (short) birth certificate when you register the birth, which is free of charge. This only includes the child’s full name, date and place of birth.

If you want a full birth certificate, you can pay for one by debit or credit card for £10 when you book your appointment to register.

A full birth certificate includes the:

• child’s full name, date and place of birth
• parent’s names, occupations, and address.

If you want a full birth certificate more than 1 month after the registration, it will cost £15.

Order a full birth certificate.

Cost of a lair

Cost for interment and other services

There is no charge if the lair is for a child under 18 years old. There are also no charges for their interment (their burial) or for headstone permits and foundations. 

Cemetery services

How to apply

Your memorial mason will apply on your behalf.

See our list of memorial masons who are registered to work in our cemeteries, and find out about the Registration Scheme for Memorial Masons.

All memorials, including plaques, headstones, and monuments in our cemeteries must be authorised by the lair holder and approved by us. 

Your headstone or memorial must be installed by a memorial mason on our qualified contractor list. 

It's your choice if you want to install a headstone or memorial.

The lair holder needs to apply for permission or approve an application on their behalf.

Headstones and memorials must be installed to industry standards and will be included in our memorial safety inspection programme. 

The lair holder owns the memorials and headstones on their lair and is liable for all associated costs. 

One floral container (glass or ceramic is prohibited) or a plaque or tablet may be laid at the head of the lair or immediately in front of the memorial headstone.

What you cannot use it for

You cannot install kerbs, artificial wreaths, pall stones, globes and the like or the planting of trees, shrubs, bushes or similar planting, and such items will be removed after lair holders have been advised and given three months to remove them.  

You cannot have a memorial or headstone on a lair in a woodland setting. Instead, families have the option to purchase a memorial plaque within the burial site or plant seeds of wildflowers for the benefits of biodiversity.

All new headstones or memorials must be installed by contractors who are on our Memorial Masons list. These installations must meet approved industry standards and include a guarantee of works to be reviewed in line with periodic memorial safety inspections.  

Only contractors who are members of the approved scheme are permitted to erect, re-erect, or carry out any works on memorials within Council-managed burial grounds. Membership requires strict adherence to the scheme's conditions, guaranteeing compliance with established safety guidelines.

How to apply

If you are arranging a funeral through an undertaker, the undertaker will contact our office on your behalf to provide the information we require for the burial.

Some interments such as cremated remains can be arranged privately.

If you're arranging a private burial, please contact us.

Forms to complete when a burial is to take place

Contact us for guidance about which form is correct for your situation.

A burial in an existing lair must be approved by the lair holder. The lair holder has the Exclusive Right of Burial (ERoB). Relevant paperwork and a fee is required for the burial to go ahead. Your undertaker can assist with this.

You can only buy a new lair at the same time as you arrange a burial. You cannot buy a lair to use in the future.

If you're the lair holder, you need to apply to make a burial in the lair. 

Most people will arrange for an undertaker to organise all the details of a burial. 

You need to provide the lair certificate along with all applications. You can get a duplicate certificate if you cannot find your copy. It costs £33.85 to get a duplicate copy of the lair certificate. 

If the lair holder is unable to apply

If the lair holder is not able to apply, or approve, or you are applying on their behalf, other supplementary forms will be required. Your funeral director can assist you with the process.

Burial fees are: 

• coffin (Renfrewshire resident), £1056.95
• coffin (from outside of Renfrewshire), £3170.75
• cremated remains (Renfrewshire resident), £298.70
• cremated remains (from outside of Renfrewshire), £896.05.

We'll consider someone to be a Renfrewshire resident if they lived in Renfrewshire for 50 years or more, even if they have since moved out of Renfrewshire.

There are no fees for a child under 18 years of age, for either a coffin or cremated remains.

How to apply for this service

In most cases your undertaker will apply for this on your behalf.

Change of details or transfer of title deeds

You must tell us of any changes to the lair holder's name, address and contact details. 

When the lair holder dies, the lair should be transferred to maintain a point of contact for any issues which may arise regarding the lair or memorial. 

It costs £33.85 for a registration of transfer.

If you need help to apply

Contact Parks and Cemeteries:

Renewing a right to burial  

From 1 March 2026 a new right of burial will last for 25 years. Then:

• after 25 years, it may be renewed for 10 years at a time. This is likely to attract an associated fee which will be determined at the time
• there is no limit to the number of renewals, subject to our approval
• a renewal can only be completed by the current lair holder, or by a person to whom the right has been formally transferred through Renfrewshire Council’s Transfer of Burial process.

When a renewal will be refused

Renewal would only be refused in limited circumstances.

For example, if the lair holder of the right to burial has died and the right has not been transferred following the required process, the right automatically returns to us.

If the right of burial is not renewed:

• the right of burial will expire
• no further burials may take place in that lair unless Rights have been extended
• no new memorial may be installed, and no additional works may be carried out on an existing memorial without our prior consent and approval
• if the lair has not been used, we may sell it again.

Reminder before the right ends

We'll contact the lair holder at least 3 months before the right is due to expire. It's important that contact details are kept up to date. We'll tell you:

• when the right of burial expires
• how to renew it
• what happens if you choose not to renew.

What the Exclusive Right of Burial (ERoB) is

Purchasing the Exclusive Right of Burial (ERoB) gives you the right to bury human remains within a lair. Also known as the Lair Right Holder, it is your responsibility to keep the contact details we hold for the lair holder up to date. 

What a lair is

A lair is a Scottish term for a burial plot in a cemetery. A lair can have more than one burial cremated remains. These are known as interments. 

Being the lair holder and having the Right of Burial does not mean that you own this land. The cemetery grounds are owned by the Council.

The lair holder will also need to approve a burial within their lair. 

They'll also need to use a stonemason who is on our Registration Scheme for Memorial Masons to erect any headstones or memorials. Find out about our headstones safety inspections. 

A lair holder can pass on ownership of the lair to an heir or a person they choose as the owner.

Lairs bought after 1 March 2026 come with a 25 year right of burial.

What you can use it for

We cannot guarantee the number of interments possible in any lair. Often, a lair can have a maximum of 3 coffin interments and 6 cremated remains. However, this is subject to ground conditions, coffin dimensions and any other associated factors.  

You need to apply for each interment you want to make on your lair. 

You can place one floral container (this cannot be made of glass or ceramic), or a plaque or tablet, at the head of the lair or immediately in front of the memorial headstone. 

What you cannot use it for

We need access for grounds maintenance, for future interments, and to install and maintain headstones. To allow access to the lair, you: 

• cannot plant any tree, shrub or plant
• cannot install fencing, kerbing, gravel, or lighting
• cannot lay kerbs, artificial wreaths, pall stones, globes.

Where contact details are available we'll contact you asking you to remove any of these items.

Excessive memorabilia can also affect grounds maintenance, lead to complaints from other lair holders, and are at risk of being stolen or damaged.

It costs £1157.10 for a lair, if you are a Renfrewshire resident and have lived in Renfrewshire for 50 years or more. 

It costs £3471.20 for a lair, if you are a resident from outside Renfrewshire and have lived here for less than 50 years. 

There is no charge if the lair is for a child under 18 years old. There are also no charges for their interment (their burial) or for headstone permits and foundations. 

More than one individual can be registered as a lair holder, except in the case of a trustee. In the case where there are multiple individuals on the register, consent must be agreed by all parties to exercise the ERoB in respect of the lair to which it relates. This also applies to rights of ownership of a memorial at the lair and responsibilities relating to this. 

You cannot pre-purchase a lair or pick its location. To protect capacity across our cemeteries, we do not offer pre-purchase of lairs. We will select the location of a lair. Any specific requests can be considered but not guaranteed.

Why we carry out safety inspections

We're responsible for the safety of visitors and staff within our cemeteries and churchyards. 

We must have an inspection programme and take immediate action to make sure our burial sites are safe for all. This is described in regulation 4 of the Burial (Management) (Scotland) Regulations 2025.

Inspections are done by trained council staff or qualified contractors. 

When we do an inspection and find unsafe headstones and memorials, they are: 

• laid flat
• or temporarily barriered off until further assessment.

This is to make sure it cannot fall.

All inspections are in line with industry training delivered by external third-party trainers. 

Responsibilities of the lair holder

The lair holder is responsible for: 

• the safety of headstones and memorials on their lair
• any costs of re-erecting a headstone or memorial. 

During an inspection

If we find a headstone that is unsafe during an inspection, we must act immediately. We cannot wait to try to contact a lair holder. 

All actions are carried out with respect and dignity. When we lay a headstone flat: 

• we try to position it straight and align it with the lair
• we try to leave the inscription clearly visible
• it will be in a safe and secure position.

After an inspection

If we have up to date contact details for the lair holder, we'll send a letter telling them the inspection outcomes and any immediate action that was taken, or any defects noted. We'll also leave a small ticket at the headstone with our contact details. 

Any headstone that fails an inspection, including a relatively new one, will be laid flat. There are many factors that can lead to movement of a headstone. A qualified memorial mason will advise you on this and what repairs are required if you want it re-instated. 

All repairs must be carried out by a qualified memorial mason who is registered on our Qualified Contractor Scheme.  If not, your headstone is more likely to fail future inspections at an earlier stage.  

The full inspection process of headstones and memorials

We have a thorough process that follows agreed steps and includes a second opinion. This process means that we are making sure the monuments and headstones are safe for all people in the cemetery. 

Stage 1: visual inspection

A qualified memorial safety inspector performs a comprehensive visual examination of the memorial. 

During this inspection, the inspector assesses for:  

• visible cracks, chips, or damage to the stone
• evidence of structural instability or misalignment
• signs of environmental wear, such as erosion or corrosion of fixings.

All observations are documented in the inspection log, noting any immediate safety concerns. 

Stage 2: hand push test

The inspector carefully applies a small amount of force (a hand push) to the memorial stone to test its stability. 

The issues the inspector is looking at include:  

• the degree of movement in the stone
• whether internal pins or fixing mechanisms catch and stabilise the stone 
  evidence of internal pins being present.

If movement is detected and the pins fail to hold the stone securely: 

• a second qualified inspector is requested to perform an independent assessment.

Stage 3: second inspector review

A second qualified inspector conducts a full repeat of both the visual inspection and hand push test. 

The second inspector verifies the findings of the first inspector, paying close attention to the following:  

• the condition and movement of the stone
• the effectiveness of internal fixings and stability mechanisms.

Findings are compared against the initial inspection results, and a final determination is made. 

The second inspector ensures that all results and decisions are documented clearly and accurately. 

Stage 4: categorising risk

Following the inspection process, memorials will be categorised as follows: 

• Category 1 - immediate action to make safe following inspection. This category is used for memorials which pose a risk to the health and safety of visitors and members of staff.
• Category 2 - inspection shows signs of defect, however, does not pose the highest risk to health and safety. The memorial will be reinspected within 1 year.
• Category 3 - memorial is deemed to be safe (if no defects are present) and will be reinspected within 5 years.

You can read the full inspection process in the appendix of our policy. 

Complaints and compliments

If you want to make a complaint, you can use our complaints process. 

Make a complaint about Renfrewshire Council.  

This provides you with options for submitting a complaint and a summary of the stages of a complaint. It will also let you know how to submit a compliment. 

About the safety inspection, responsibilities of lair holders, details of how an inspection is carried out, and how to fix an unsafe memorial.

If you want to find out where someone is buried so that you can visit the lair, you'll need to give us time to search the records. We suggest you allow at least 10 working days for us to locate the lair.

Anyone can ask for the location of a lair.

It can take up to 10 working days if the search is difficult or you've asked for the details for many burials.

Depending on the accuracy of the information you provide, we may not charge you for a search. 

However, if you give us very little information to search with, or have multiple or extensive requests, we may ask you to pay for our time.

We'll let you know if you need to pay for your search.  

Each search costs £45.90 (excluding VAT). 

If we are charging you for the search, you'll need to pay before we start the search. We'll email you details of how to pay, or take a payment on the phone. 

It can take up to 10 working days if the search is difficult or you've asked for the details for many burials.

Our cemeteries

We provide a burial service and maintain 9 cemeteries in Renfrewshire. There is also 1 privately run cemetery in Paisley.

Cemetery opening hours

Our cemeteries are always open. For safety reasons and to ensure access for visitors, we do not lock the gates.

We advise against visiting a cemetery in hours of darkness or bad weather. Visitors should take care when in our cemeteries as they would in any outdoor space.

We may need to close, or partially close, a cemetery at any time.

Cemeteries can pose several hazards due to their natural landscape and memorials. You must not climb any tree, shrub, wall, fence or railing, any memorial or any other type of structure.

Children in the cemetery

Children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult.

Dogs in the cemetery

Well behaved dogs on a lead of no more than 2 metres in length are welcome in our cemeteries. Dog owners are responsible for controlling their dogs and disposing of dog waste. 
 
Please do not use the caged bins designed for disposal of flower arrangements to dispose of dog waste, as our staff manually tip these bins over their shoulder to empty them. There are other bins at the entrances or nearby outside the cemetery. 

Read the full details about access rules in the cemetery rules and regulations. 

Locations of the cemeteries

Abbey cemetery

Abbey Road, Elderslie, PA5 9UR.

Date Opened 21 January 1887. 

Arkleston cemetery

Arkleston Road, by North Arkleston Farm, Paisley, PA3 4JD.

Date opened 7 April 1902.

Bishopton cemetery

Houston Road, Bishopton, PA7 5NX.

Date opened 14 November 1938 and extended October 1994.

Broomward cemetery

Old Road, Elderslie, PA5 9EH.

Date opened 30 October 1991.

Hawkhead cemetery

133 Hawkhead Road, Paisley, PA2 7BE.

Date opened 13 April 1891.

There is a designated memorial garden for children under 18. You can have a memorial plaque inscribed with a personal message in the garden which is arranged by Council staff. 

There is a memorial to the Victoria Cross medal winners from the Renfrewshire area. 

Improvement works at Hawkhead cemetery in May 2026.

Houston cemetery

Crosslee Road, Houston, PA6 7EJ.

Date opened 19 November 1857 and extended 1999.

Inchinnan cemetery

Old Greenock Road, Inchinnan, PA4 9PH.

Date opened 22 January 1929 and extended 2019.

Kilbarchan cemetery

Bridge of Weir Road, Brookfield, PA5 8UP.

Date opened 12 February 1897 and extended 1997.

Lochwinnoch cemetery

Linthills Road, Lochwinnoch, PA12 4DJ.

Date opened 11 May 1895 and extended 2004 and woodland section 2006.

Woodland burial site at Lochwinnoch Cemetery

Our woodland burial site at Lochwinnoch cemetery offers a return to nature for those who wish to be buried in a woodland setting among wildlife and wildflowers.

The area is managed for the benefit and development of the wildflowers, trees and wildlife. It's an informal setting sloping down to the River Calder. It's not suitable for a burial in a formal layout with regularly maintained grass. 

Each lair holds one burial. You may be able to buy lairs beside each other for family members who wish to be buried together, depending on the ground conditions. These lairs cost the same price as conventional lairs. 

Memorials are not allowed. Once a section is filled up, suitable trees or wildflowers can be planted there.  

There are commemorative pillars at the entrance to the woodland burial site. Lair holders can arrange name plaques and messages on the commemorative walls. 

While the use of environmentally friendly coffins such as cardboard or wicker is preferred, we do not exclude burials in traditionally made coffins. 

Woodside cemetery and crematorium

Woodside cemetery and crematorium is a privately run business. 

You can phone them on 0141 889 2260 or view further info on the Woodside cemetery and crematorium website.

Cemetery policies and rules

Where our cemeteries are, opening times, access for visitors, facilities, other privately run cemeteries, and war memorials.

Related services

See also:

• register a death
• death and bereavement support.

You can use the Tell Us Once service to let the council and government organisations know that a person has died. They’ll tell the relevant departments and services about the death, and the services that person was receiving will be stopped.

This means that you do not have to contact each organisation and department separately. The Tell Us Once service does that for you.

When someone has died, there are lots of things that need to be done, at a time when you probably least feel like doing them.

One of these is contacting the government departments and local council services that need to be told.

When you register the death the Registrar will give you a unique reference number so you can use the Tell Us Once service.

You’ll need the Tell Us Once reference number that you got from the registrar.

You’ll also need the following details of the person who died:

• surname
• date they died
• name, address and contact details of the person or company dealing with their estate (property, belongings and money), known as their ‘executor’ or ‘administrator’
• if there’s a surviving spouse or civil partner, the name, address, telephone number and the National Insurance number or date of birth of the spouse or civil partner
• if there’s no surviving spouse or civil partner or their spouse or civil partner is not able to deal with their affairs, the name and address of their next of kin
• if they died in a hospital, nursing home, care home or hospice, the name and address of that institution.

Read the full list of what you’ll need to provide on Tell Us Once (GOV.UK).

Tell Us Once (GOV.UK)

We’ll tell the following council services about the death:

• Housing Benefit
• council tax  
• collection of payment for council services
• libraries
• electoral services
• Blue Badges
• adult services
• children's services
• council housing
• concessionary travel
• other service areas of the council that may need to update their records.

You can read the full list of the government departments that will be told about the death on Tell Us Once (GOV.UK).