Civil-status documents

Apostille for a death certificate

Foreign probate courts, banks and insurers need an apostilled death certificate before they release assets or pay out. We obtain it quickly and discreetly from the issuing country, together with the translation the recipient expects.

130+ issuing countries Apostille on the public documentEU ↔ EU: no apostille needed

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A death certificate is issued by the civil registry of the place of death. Heirs abroad need it – with an apostille from the issuing country – to open probate, transfer property, close accounts, claim life insurance or survivor pensions, and to register the death in the deceased’s home country.

The apostille is issued by the designated authority of the country where the death was registered; a recent original with the registrar’s signature is required. Where the estate includes property abroad, the death certificate is usually accompanied by a certificate of inheritance, a grant of probate or a notarial will, which are court or notarial documents and are apostilled separately.

We coordinate the whole bundle – death certificate, inheritance documents, powers of attorney for the executor – so the foreign court receives one consistent, apostilled and translated set.

Between EU member states: Not required between EU member states (Regulation (EU) 2016/1191) – the multilingual form replaces both apostille and translation.

Also known as: Sterbeurkunde (DE) · acte de décès (FR) · certificado de defunción (ES) · certificato di morte (IT) · certidão de óbito (PT) · ölüm belgesi (TR) · akt zgonu (PL) · overlijdensakte (NL)

Who issues it, who apostilles it – by country

An apostille is always issued in the country that issued the document. The most frequent issuing countries for a death certificate:

Issued in	Issued by	Apostille by
Germany	Standesamt (registry office) of the place of the event	State administrative apostille office (Berlin: LABO; elsewhere Regierungspräsidium, Bezirksregierung or ministry)Multilingual CIEC extracts (Formule A/B/C) are accepted without apostille in CIEC states; inside the EU no apostille at all (Reg. 2016/1191).
United States	State or county vital records office; Consular Reports of Birth Abroad by the Department of State	Secretary of State of the issuing state; US Department of State for federal documentsThe certificate must be a certified copy issued by the vital records office – hospital certificates cannot be apostilled.
United Kingdom	General Register Office (England & Wales), NRS (Scotland), GRONI (Northern Ireland)	Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) Legalisation OfficeRecently issued GRO certificates are apostilled directly; older ones may need a solicitor’s certification first. e-Apostille available.
France	Mairie (état civil) of the place of the event; Service central d’état civil in Nantes for events abroad	Since 2025 the chambers of notaries (conseils régionaux des notaires) are the competent authoritiesAsk for an extrait plurilingue for CIEC states; inside the EU no apostille (Reg. 2016/1191).
Spain	Registro Civil of the place of the event	Ministerio de Justicia / Gerencias Territoriales, or the Tribunal Superior de Justicia for judicial documentsSpain issues electronic apostilles; the certificado plurilingüe replaces translation in CIEC states.
Italy	Comune (ufficio di stato civile)	Prefettura – Ufficio Territoriale del Governo of the provinceEstratti plurilingue are accepted without apostille in CIEC states; EU regulation applies inside the EU.
Netherlands	Gemeente (burgerlijke stand)	Rechtbank (district court) – any of the 11 courtsDutch international extracts are multilingual; inside the EU no apostille.
Türkiye	Nüfus Müdürlüğü (civil registry) – nüfus kayıt örneği, doğum/evlilik belgesi	Kaymakamlık or Valilik (district/provincial governor) for administrative documents; e-Apostil online for many documentsFormül A/B/C multilingual extracts are accepted in CIEC states without apostille or translation.
India	Municipal corporation / registrar of births and deaths; marriage registrar	Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) after attestation by the state Home Department or authorised agenciesGermany does not accept Indian apostilles (objection) – verification via the German mission instead.
Philippines	Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) – security paper copies	Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) Office of Consular AffairsGermany does not accept Philippine apostilles (objection).
Pakistan	Union Council / NADRA (birth, marriage – NADRA MRC certificate)	Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), Islamabad and camp officesEight EU states incl. Germany object – legalisation for those.
Ukraine	DRACS (civil registry office)	Ministry of Justice of Ukraine (apostille on civil-status documents)Apostille can be requested online via the Diia portal for many documents.
Poland	Urząd Stanu Cywilnego (USC)	Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MSZ), WarsawMultilingual USC extracts are accepted in CIEC states; inside the EU no apostille.
Canada	Provincial vital statistics agency	Global Affairs Canada or the provincial authority (ON, QC, BC, AB, SK) since January 2024
Australia	State Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages	Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) passport offices
Brazil	Cartório de Registro Civil	Any authorised cartório (CNJ e-apostille system)Brazil issues electronic apostilles through notaries nationwide.
Mexico	Registro Civil of the state	Secretaría de Gobernación (federal) or the state government (Secretaría General de Gobierno) for state documents
Colombia	Registraduría Nacional del Estado Civil / notaría	Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores – fully online e-apostille
China	Notarial certificate (公证书) based on the household register or hospital certificate	Ministry of Foreign Affairs or authorised provincial Foreign Affairs Offices (since 7 Nov 2023)Chinese civil documents are usually first notarised, then the notarial certificate is apostilled.
Russia	ZAGS (civil registry office)	Regional ZAGS administration / Ministry of Justice territorial bodies

Show all 20 countries

Other countries: see the issuing-country guides for all 130+ Contracting States.

Who needs it

Probate abroad

Courts in Türkiye, Spain, the US, Germany and elsewhere require apostilled proof of death to start succession proceedings.

Banks & insurers

Release of accounts, securities and life-insurance payouts held in another country.

Pensions

Survivor pensions from foreign pension funds and social-security institutions.

Registration in the home country

Registering a death that occurred abroad with the deceased’s country of citizenship.

What we need from you

Recent original death certificate (we can order it with proof of your entitlement)
Country of issue, destination and purpose
Optional: inheritance documents for a joint apostille request

Who issues, who apostilles

Issued by: Civil registry of the place of death.
Apostille by: The Article 6 authority of the issuing country – see the table below.
Translation: Sworn translation into the language of the probate court is almost always required outside the EU.

Where this document usually goes

The route depends on the country pair. Popular destinations for a death certificate – change the issuing country in the checker below:

Check your country pair for a death certificate

Apostille, EU exemption or embassy legalisation – the answer per destination.

Issued inUsed inDocument

Choose the destination to see the exact route for a death certificate issued in Germany.

Frequently asked: death certificate apostille

In most countries only relatives in the direct line, spouses and persons with a legal interest can obtain it. With your authorisation and proof of kinship we order it from the registry and take it straight to the apostille authority.

Usually yes when it is used abroad. It is a court or notarial document, so it is apostilled by the authority responsible for judicial documents in the issuing country. We submit both documents in parallel to save time.

Where the registry issues certificates online and the country has e-apostilles, within days. Elsewhere the bottleneck is obtaining a fresh certificate, which we start on the day you order.

Your quote at a glance

Notaryzer service fee

Quoted before you pay

Review, submission, tracking and return shipping. You see the exact amount in a written quote – nothing is charged before you accept.

Express available. 2× faster. Priority handling at every step and same-day dispatch as soon as the result is ready. The surcharge is shown in your quote.

Notary and authority fees

Statutory fee of the issuing country’s competent authority

Fixed by that authority’s tariff; passed through 1:1 and shown as a separate line in your quote.

Turnaround: Depends on the issuing country: same day to a few days where e-apostilles exist (Colombia, Spain, Brazil, Türkiye, UK), one to several weeks by post elsewhere. Your status page shows the expected completion date after the pre-check.
Competent authority: Designated authority of the issuing country (Art. 6) – see the country table
Route: Apostille on the public document

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