Background: The place of death is not the same for men and women. Men have more opportunities for dying at home because of the availability of women as informal carers. In this study we analyse changes in the place of death in the past twenty years. Method: The research population consisted of all patients in four general practices of the Continuous Morbidity Registration who died between 2000 and 2005 inclusive. The following data were collected: place of death, cause of death, acute death or death after a terminal phase, presence of professional care and presence of informal care.