Book an appointment
Please note we are only able to offer appointments for babies born in Somerset and North Somerset. Babies born in the Bristol registration district to North Somerset residents can be registered at the Weston and Clevedon offices, due to a reciprocal agreement we have with the Bristol Register Office. If your baby was born elsewhere, please contact the Registration Service in the area they were born for more information.
You will need to register your baby before being able to claim Child Benefit. You can find information about Child Benefit on GOV.UK including the Child Benefit Claim Form CH2. For your first child, this must be printed out, filled in, and sent to the Child Benefit office. If you do not have access to a printer, you can phone 0300 200 3100 and HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) will send you a form in the post. The form also contains information for the small minority of families who may be eligible for the High-Income Child Benefit Charge (HICBC).
If you already have a Child Benefit claim, you can add further children by phoning HMRC on the number above.
Please use our online system to book an appointment wherever possible.
If you are unable to use our online system, please phone us on 01823 282251
Where you can register
You can register a birth at the following Register Offices in Somerset:
- Somerset Register Office (Taunton)
- Bridgwater Registration Office
- Burnham-on-Sea Registration Office
- Chard Registration Office
- Frome Registration Office
- Glastonbury Registration Office
- Williton Registration Office
- Minehead Registration Office
- South Somerset Registration Office (Yeovil)
- Shepton Mallet Registration Office
You can register a birth at the following offices in North Somerset:
Who can register
If the parents are married to each other at the time of the birth – either parent can complete the registration.
If the parents are not married to each other at the time of birth and the father’s details are to be shown on the child’s birth certificate, both parents should attend at the Register Office together.
If it is really not possible for both parents to attend together, the law allows for one parent to complete the registration by bringing with them a ‘statutory declaration’. This has to been signed by the other parent in front of a ‘Notary Public’ (solicitor or magistrate, for example).
If you are thinking of registering a birth in this way, please contact your local Register Office, and we will give you more advice, as well as the correct form to sign.
You can find more information and a form to download on the General Register Office website.
What you need to bring
When you arrive for your appointment, the registrar will ask you for the following information:
- The full name and surname the child will be brought up using
- Date and place of birth of the child
- Full name and surname of the parents
- Parents’ place of birth
- Parents’ occupation
You can use the following documents to confirm your details, but these are not essential and you can go ahead without them:
- Passport or birth certificate
- Driving licence
- Marriage or civil partnership certificate
- Any name change documents
After registration
The full certificate is a full copy of the birth entry with parents’ names, occupation and place of birth as well as the details for the baby. Certificates are £12.50 each.
All our offices can accept card payments. We advise bringing physical cards rather than relying on contactless phone apps, as there can be occasional issues with that technology.
Somerset is a ‘Unified District’, which means that if your baby was born in Somerset you can register at any office in the county.
Corrections
Please note – There will be a non-refundable fee for any correction requested to the registration. We cannot guarantee that the correction will be authorised. The fee will be £83 – in some circumstances this fee will increase to £99 if the correction needs to be authorised by the General Register Office. Therefore, it is very important that you check the document carefully at the registration appointment.
Babies born outside Somerset
If your baby was born outside Somerset, you can register the birth ‘by declaration’ at any Register Office in England or Wales. This means that the details you give to the Registrar will be sent to the correct district to be registered.
If you decide to register by declaration, you will not receive any birth certificates immediately. They will be forwarded to you once the registration has been completed in the district the child was born in and you have arranged payment directly with the registering district.
Contact the team
You can find contact details and opening times of our Register Office, and all our Registration Offices in Somerset on our Registration Contacts page.
