A death certificate is a state document without which it is impossible to obtain permission to bury the deceased. It is printed on official letterhead and has a watermark to indicate authenticity.
If you don’t know how to get a death certificate for a loved one, you can read all the details in this material. Or ask your ritual agent, who was previously called after the death of a person, about all the nuances.
Death can overtake a person in different places - at home, in a hospital, on the street, in a public place. Based on the circumstances of the death, you need to apply for a death certificate at a certain institution.
Where can I get a death certificate and why is it needed?
So, the first document that is issued to relatives after the death of a citizen is a death certificate.
Subsequently, it is the basis for issuing a death certificate. Without it you can't get the last one. It is issued by a medical institution and records the date, time and cause of death. Naturally, like any document, there is a form on which you fill out. In accordance with the law, the certificate must be in Form 33.
Medical workers must certify the death, after which the body of the deceased is taken to the morgue, where the cause of death is determined. A certificate and medical report are issued within 24 hours.
Is it possible to get a duplicate certificate at the morgue?
The certificate is issued at the morgue free of charge, but if you apply for a second certificate, a fee will be charged. The state duty is 200 rubles.
The morgue also has the right to issue a repeat paper based on the data that is in their archive.
Stamp certificate of death
The stamp certificate is issued by the civil registry office based on an application from close relatives. The document will be needed for:
- for registration of inheritance;
- re-registration of ownership;
- removing the deceased from tax registration;
- extracts from the registration address.
To obtain a death certificate form you must provide:
- passports of the recipient of the document and the deceased;
- document confirming the fact of death;
- if the death of a relative is established by a court. then a court decision will be needed.
- statement.
You can obtain the document:
- at the place of registration of the citizen at the time of death;
- at the place of residence of the surviving spouse;
- at the place where the death occurred;
- at the place where the body of the deceased was found;
- at the place of residence of the parents;
- at the address of the medical organization that recorded the fact of death.
- at the location of the court that established the fact of death;
- at the location of the social organization where the deceased lived.
If death occurred on a train, plane or other transport, then the certificate is issued by the civil registry office of the territory where the body was removed from the vehicle.
If the death occurred in a remote place where there are no relevant organizations, then the certificate is issued in the nearest locality by a registry office. The certificate is issued on the day of application; payment of a state fee for issuance is not provided.
Expert opinion
Kurtov Mikhail Sergeevich
Practitioner lawyer with 15 years of experience. Specializes in civil and family law. Author of dozens of articles on legal topics.
If a prenatal death occurs or the child dies within 7 days of birth, the parents are immediately issued a certificate of stillbirth without issuing a birth certificate. The certificate must show the date and time of birth and death. Information is submitted to the registry office by employees of a medical organization without the participation of parents; a stamp certificate is not issued.
What documents are needed to restore a person’s death certificate?
It is important to note that the duplicate has equal legal force to the lost document and will be equal to the original. Therefore, the procedure for obtaining a second certificate is similar to obtaining the first one.
First, you need to follow a completely standard procedure - collect a package of documents. Here is their list:
- A document that can confirm the identity of the applicant. As a rule, this is a passport.
- Receipt for payment of state duty.
- Documents confirming the fact of relationship between the deceased and the applicant. These include birth certificates for children and parents, marriage certificates for spouses. For example, if a grandmother/great-grandmother or grandfather/great-grandfather dies, then the grandson/great-grandson must provide a chain of documents confirming the relationship. The birth certificate of a grandson/great-grandson and the birth certificate of his father (mother) are suitable for this.
- If the application for a duplicate is filled out not by a relative, but by his representative, then a power of attorney. It must be issued by a notary.
Of course, these documents are attached to the application. The specified papers must be provided all at once, otherwise the application will be refused.
An important point: copies of documents are attached, but the originals must be presented.
In addition to the receipt for payment of the state fee, it must always be given in the original.
How to obtain a birth certificate for a deceased relative
With the death of a person, all civil rights and obligations naturally disappear; the person ceases to exist physically.
But part of the rights of the deceased may well be transferred by inheritance, and the successors often have circumstances that require the establishment of some indisputable facts about the deceased.
One of the questions that heirs face is how to obtain a birth certificate for a deceased relative?
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We receive a new birth certificate
When registering a child with the civil registry office, in addition to the fact that the parents are given a birth certificate, an entry is made in a special book.
As a result, they get confused, uselessly send requests to various useless authorities and never get any results.
An excellent solution in this case would be to simply contact any nearest registry office, for example, at your own place of residence, describe to its employees the current situation and tell them about the need to restore the birth certificate of a deceased close relative. If they meet the visitor, they will then independently send requests to the necessary authorities, and also answer all the questions that concern him.
This method is the least energy-consuming, but it also has its drawbacks - it takes the longest. But it will be an ideal solution for those people who do not have the opportunity to independently restore the document.
Of course, in all three cases, the services of the registry office employees will not be free.
The role of registration
Where can I restore the documents of deceased relatives? Usually you need to contact passport offices and registry offices. Today, more and more often, applications are accepted at the MFC.
Does registration play any role in the task at hand? Partly yes.
However, if necessary, relatives can submit an application of the established form to any registration authority. The registry office will issue a duplicate birth certificate, but this will take a lot of time.
Application for reissue, sample form 30
A sample of filling out an application in Form No. 30 (⇐ link to the form) will be provided to the person wishing to receive a repeated document. You just need to fill out all the lines and enter all the required information.
The upper left corner of the sheet is not filled in, as it is for the authority receiving the application. It indicates the method of submitting the application and the date when it was accepted for consideration and by whom it was accepted and registered.
In the upper right corner of the form the name of the organization to which the application will be addressed, as well as the personal data of the applicant, is indicated. Fill in the field with your full name, address of residence, passport details and contact phone number.
Next, you need to check the box next to the document you need. The choice will be between a repeated death certificate and a certificate of this unfortunate event.
Be sure to write down the details of the deceased person: last name, first name, patronymic, date and place of death. Some data is filled in if available. For example, the date of entry into the civil register and its number are not always known to the applicant. They are most likely known in the case where a copy of the lost certificate is preserved.
You need to write down the reason why you needed to get a new paper. Be sure to fill out the “Please send the document” column. You can obtain a copy of the death certificate in the registry office department that is convenient for you.
The date is set, sealed with a personal signature and you can submit.
Important note: when applying to the registry office, you will need a different form, we write about it below.
Sample
Below is the death certificate. When it is restored, the person will be given a paper on which Fr. There is no way to get rid of it.
It is worth remembering that when submitting an application for reinstatement to the registry office, a person will have to indicate the purpose of receiving the paper. Formality, but the absence of an appropriate entry may lead to refusal to issue a certificate.
If a death certificate is lost or damaged, it becomes necessary to restore it. As a result of this procedure, a duplicate is issued with the same information that was in the original, but the numbers and date of issue will, of course, be different.
If you are interested in how to restore a death certificate, you must indicate that to do this you should contact the territorial registry office that issued the original. The applicant receives the necessary paper on the day of his application, but if the request was submitted by letter or through a government services website, the receipt time will depend on the time of its delivery. Certificate restoration is a paid service. Each applicant will have to pay a state fee.
Documents to obtain a duplicate:
- A copy of the applicant’s personal passport (the original must also be presented);
- Receipt of paid state duty;
- A copy of documents confirming relationship or other compelling reasons for obtaining a duplicate (the originals must be presented);
- A copy of the death certificate or the damaged document itself (if available).
How and where to restore the death certificate of a relative if lost
For a second certificate, you should contact the civil registry office that issued the predecessor. This is due to the fact that it is in his archive that the duplicate is stored.
There are several ways to apply:
- through the State Services portal;
- through the MFC;
- through the registry office;
- send by mail.
Especially in 2021, when coronavirus restrictions are in effect throughout the country, online methods have come to the fore. Many organizations are forced to cancel in-person meetings and are encouraged to use the Internet to minimize contact with each other.
Obtaining a duplicate through government services
You can use this service directly through the website of the unified government services portal. It contains instructions on what to do.
But in order to use it, you need to be registered on the site and your identity needs to be verified. Then you can sign the application, and the signature will be equivalent to a written one. The system itself will tell you which lines to fill out and even offer answer options.
It is possible to submit an electronic application on some regional portals.
We receive a death certificate through the MFC
It was much more accessible to contact a multifunctional center; there are a lot of them in every locality. To do this, a person must come to the MFC office, take a coupon and wait to be invited or sign up in advance and come at the appointed time. You can make an appointment by calling the hotline or through the website.
There you will also be given a piece of paper with details for paying the fee. It can be redeemed at the center terminal.
A center specialist will help you fill out the application and check the order of the documents. He will make copies of some of them himself. Based on the result, a receipt will be issued indicating that the application has been accepted for consideration. It will also indicate the date when the citizen will have to come up to receive it.
Obtaining a duplicate through the registry office
Thus, residents of the city of Moscow can obtain a second certificate on the website of the Civil Registry Office. Of course, the condition is feasible if the lost document was registered in Moscow. It is very convenient that you can pay the duty there.
You will still have to come to the registry office to obtain a duplicate. You need to pick it up at the branch that was indicated in the application for collection.
Sample application for a duplicate at the registry office (form 23)
Applications in .doc format can be found here. ⇐
Step-by-step instructions - how to obtain a duplicate of a death certificate at the registry office, in person, procedure for restoration
When choosing a method for obtaining a second copy through the registry office, it is better to adhere to a certain algorithm:
Step 1. Decide, find or find out where the predecessor was obtained.
Step 2. Collecting the necessary documents according to the list.
Step 3. Payment of state duty.
Step 4. So, all the documents have been collected, the state duty has been paid, you can go to restore the certificate. It is better to check the appointment schedule in advance so as not to fall on a day off, since such organizations do not have reception days in the middle of the week. Filling out the application and submitting it directly. It can be downloaded from the website, filled out and printed, or filled out at the registry office.
Step 5. Obtaining a duplicate. This is the final stage.
Where can I restore it?
You need to contact the civil registry office where the certificate was originally received. However, this can only be done if it is known where it was issued. What to do if there is no such information?
In such situations, you should contact the registry office at the place of last residence of the deceased. The second option is to try to find a copy of the death certificate. This document indicates the name of the authority that issued the paper.
It may happen that the certificate was issued in another locality. If traveling to collect the document is not possible, it is possible to issue a power of attorney to another person. The power of attorney is certified by the signature of a notary.
A way out of the situation may be the opportunity to send an application for a duplicate by mail, through the territorial branch of the MFC or through State Services. These methods are more time consuming, but there is no need to travel anywhere - the document can be obtained at the location of the registry office in the applicant’s locality.
Copy or duplicate - is there a difference?
There is a difference between a copy and a duplicate, and it is very big.
A copy is a copy of a document made on plain paper or in a scanned version, reproducing the information contained on the original. This can be called, for example, a photocopy.
A duplicate is a second copy of the original.
In addition, a copy, unlike a duplicate, has no legal force unless it is notarized. It can be certified upon presentation of the original by those authorities that issue documents. However, you cannot perform legally significant actions on a copy.
The duplicate has equal legal force with the original. The duplicate contains all its details and the word “repeated” in the upper right corner.
Duplicate medical death certificate, what is the point
The hospital where the data about the deceased is stored has the right to issue a duplicate. In accordance with Letter of the Ministry of Health and Social Development of the Russian Federation dated January 19, 2009 No. 14-6/10/2-178 “On the procedure for issuing and filling out medical certificates of birth and death,” a repeated medical certificate can be obtained by the person who previously received the original, or by close relatives. They must also prove their relationship.
Since the information contained in the medical certificate is classified by the federal law “On the Fundamentals of the Protection of Citizens in the Russian Federation” as medical confidentiality and is personal data, they are not subject to disclosure (Article 13). But in accordance with Part 7 of Art. 9 of the Federal Law “On Personal Data”, in the event of the death of a person, consent to the processing of personal data can be given by the heirs, or the person himself may have signed such consent before dying.
An example is the following situation: the ex-husband has died, a child was born in the marriage, and in order to enter into inheritance rights, you need to obtain a duplicate of a medical certificate. The primary document was received by law enforcement agencies. The child’s mother is no longer a relative of the deceased, but she can act in the interests of her minor child as his legal representative and receive this paper.
Without a medical certificate, you cannot bury a body or receive a funeral benefit.
Since the payment of financial compensation benefits is required by law, it must be justified by the Pension Fund.
Who is eligible to receive
Restoring a citizen's death certificate, that is, obtaining a duplicate, is required not only in case of damage to the original, but also in case of all kinds of family disagreements and conflicts, especially when inheriting property.
Since heirs are sometimes not only relatives, some interested parties without family ties also have the right to request a duplicate. According to the law, the following may request restoration of the certificate:
Birth or marriage certificates can serve as documents that certify family ties. For secondary relatives, you will have to go through two levels of confirmation, which are also accompanied by marriage certificates and metrics.
In what situations is a duplicate of a relative’s death certificate required?
Federal Law No. 143 “On Civil Status Acts” established cases when a duplicate may be needed:
- loss (burned out in a fire, lost);
- damage (torn, wet and unreadable);
- dilapidation of the form;
- text or print cannot be read;
- was laminated.
In the listed options, the certificate cannot be considered valid and a duplicate must be ordered. However, the list is not exhaustive; it can be expanded and considered individually in each case.
How to request a death certificate from another city
There are cases when a repeated document is required by a person living in a city other than where the death of a loved one was registered. Of course, you can buy a train or plane ticket and come in person to receive a duplicate, or get a visa and fly from another country.
However, there are much simpler and more convenient ways:
First. Contact any branch of the MFC in your city, its specialists themselves will request information in another city.
Second. Send your request by registered mail. Next, you need to go to the civil registry office at the place of registration at the appointed time and day and receive the document.
Third. Issue a notarized power of attorney to a person who is located in the city where the death was registered.
Is it possible to issue a duplicate?
If a death document is lost for any reason, there is a need to obtain a duplicate. A similar situation appears quite often in practice. In this case, the applicant is obliged to prepare an application and visit the authorized body to obtain a duplicate. A sample application can be obtained from the Civil Registry Office. You will need to contact the organization where the person previously received the original certificate.
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When filling out the application, the citizen is obliged to indicate passport details and clarify the family relationship with the deceased. It is additionally important to state the reason why the person wants to receive a copy of the original. You must have a passport with you, as well as a document confirming your relationship with the deceased. Additionally, a copy of the death certificate that was lost is required. However, the document is provided only if it is available. Additionally, it is recommended to find out in advance how much such a service costs. The citizen will have to pay a fee. It is 200 rubles. Moreover, the funds are deposited initially. Only after you provide a receipt for the amount paid will the registry office employee agree to consider the application. Registration of a duplicate takes 30 working days. The corresponding rule is enshrined in Article 333.26 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. In practice, the applicant may not have time to visit the registry office independently. In this case, the application must be sent by registered mail. A receipt confirming payment of the state duty must be included in the envelope.
Please note: A duplicate death certificate has exactly the same legal force as the original. But in addition to the death certificate, the registry office provides an archival certificate at the request of the applicant. It's also not free. You will need to provide 100 rubles.
Who can get a duplicate
A limited number of people can request the restoration of a document. It is clearly stated by law:
- The citizen to whom the first document was issued.
- If the above-mentioned person has died, then a living relative of the deceased can do this.
- For a minor child, if his mother and father have died, another adult relative who is the legal guardian has the right to apply.
- Guardians and trustees for minors, if a parent is deprived of parental rights, and for incapacitated citizens. Sometimes a social worker acts by proxy for an old grandmother who has no other relatives.
- Police representatives when a crime is being investigated.
- Distant relatives who have the right to inherit property under a will.
- Other interested parties who can prove the need for official confirmation of the citizen’s death.
Deadlines
The receipt period depends on the method of applying for the document.
If you contact the registry office, you can receive it on the day of application. The service is provided quickly, subject to the following conditions:
- a relative or interested person came with a full package of papers;
- to the department where the civil registration was made;
- the second copy is stored in archival documents.
If the original copy was received a long time ago, then it may not be in the registry office database.
After the expiration of the storage period, the documents are sent to the city archives for storage.
Since you will have to contact the executive authority for further search, the period will be different and may increase to one month.
The MFC reviews the application and prepares a second copy within 15 days. Of course, the deadline will be met if the documents are in order.
When? If a citizen decides to use Russian post, he will have to wait longer. The review period will be no more than 30 days from the date of registration of the application.
Cost of restoring a death certificate in 2021
Issuance of the original certificate is free of charge. But for a repeat application you will have to pay a state fee of 350 rubles (or 245 rubles when paying through State Services at a discount).
If you send documents by mail, the costs will increase. This is due to the fact that copies must be certified by a notary, otherwise they will not be accepted. You will also have to incur costs for mailing the letter.
State duty for duplicate
According to Art. 333.26 of the Tax Code, the state duty for issuing a duplicate certificate will be 350 rubles. But there is an opportunity to get a 30% discount; to do this you need to register on the State Services website. You must submit an application for the service you are interested in and wait until the department issues an invoice for payment and then use the details to pay for it using a bank card.
Thus, if you pay the fee through the State Services portal, its cost will be 245 rubles.
How and where to pay
Payment details can be obtained on the official government services portal. There, the payment will be generated automatically; you just need to fill in the details of your account or bank card. Simply transfer funds to your Sberbank account.
If you apply through the MFC, employees will provide the details for which you need to deposit money. There is usually a terminal in the hall with which you can make a payment.
Before sending a request by mail, you need to contact a bank branch, having first obtained the details from the registry office, and transfer money to pay off the state duty.
There is nothing complicated, the main thing is to fill out all the numbers and other data correctly. If a mistake is made, the money will go in a different direction and, as a result, the service will be refused.
Who can file a death notice?
The following may count on receiving a death certificate:
- close relatives of the deceased, as well as persons who were with him at the time of death;
- medical or social organization in which the citizen died;
- the institution in which the citizen died while serving his sentence;
- head of a military unit;
- internal affairs bodies, investigation or inquiry department if the identity of the deceased has not been established.
The period for filing an application is no more than 3 days from the date of the established fact of death. There are no penalties for violating this deadline, but without a document the body will not be released at the morgue, and it will be difficult to organize a funeral, in particular, to obtain a burial permit. You can also submit an application at the MFC or electronically through the government services portal. The document is issued at the registry office.
Contacting the registry office
A civil registry office employee checks the accuracy of the completed application and submitted documents, and then issues an official death certificate form. The applicant needs to check the received form carefully. Particular attention should be paid to:
- correct spelling of full name, date of birth and death;
- availability of all seals and necessary stamps;
- presence of signatures with transcripts of responsible employees;
- absence of blots and corrections;
- correct indication of the cause and place of death.
The certificate is issued on the day of application. If employees are busy, the issuance period may be extended, but not more than 30 days.
All information is entered into the deed book and must be stored for at least 100 years. If necessary, you can always request an extract with the necessary data from the archive.
State duty
The initial issuance of a certificate does not require payment of a state fee. Payment may be required to receive additional services. Thus, obtaining a duplicate certificate will cost 350 rubles, and a death certificate will cost 200 rubles. Sometimes it becomes necessary to obtain an extract from the registry office archive; its cost will be 100 rubles.
Making adjustments
It is very important to check the certificate form for errors and correct filling immediately upon receipt. By signing, the recipient confirms that he agrees with all the data specified in the document. It will not be so easy to make adjustments later.
In order to correct any mistakes made, you will need to contact the department where the death certificate was issued. You will need to have with you:
- passport;
- documents confirming the relationship to the deceased;
- original death certificate;
- documentation. supporting reasons for making adjustments.
Making adjustments requires payment of a state duty in the amount of 400 rubles. The period for issuing a corrected document is up to 2 calendar months.
Receipt outside Russia
If the death of a citizen occurred abroad, then the death certificate is issued by the country where the fact of death was recorded.
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Relatives need to contact the appropriate embassy office. They will assist in transporting the body to their homeland, and will also issue a death certificate. In order for the certificate to have legal force, embassy employees must affix an apostille or consular legalization to the document. In the future, relatives will need to translate the certificate and have it certified by a notary. After this, you can contact the registry office to obtain a stamp certificate.
The costs of transporting the body, as well as paperwork, are paid by the relatives of the deceased.
Grounds for refusal to issue a document
There are few reasons for refusal, but they exist. Their list is closed and cannot be at the discretion of the authorities:
- all necessary documents have not been provided;
- the state duty has not been paid;
- the person who represents the interests of the principal does not have a notarized power of attorney, if the application is not submitted in person;
- the papers were submitted to the wrong authority, the death was registered in another.
It is mandatory to have a passport with you, since without it you cannot confirm your identity and documents will not be accepted.
You can re-apply with the same request, but having eliminated the reason for the refusal.
How much does it cost to have a copy of a death certificate certified by a notary?
So, when performing actions that have legal consequences, you need to provide copies of documents. Sometimes it is not enough to make an ordinary copy; you need a notarized one, which will be stored in the case materials. For example, when entering into an inheritance, registering a marriage or divorce, registering transactions with property, and others.
To do this, you should contact a notary office. After the notary has put his stamp and signature on it, it will be equated to the original upon mandatory presentation.
The price of notary services depends on the state tariff for performing a specific notarial act. An amount for the provision of legal services is added to the tariff; it may differ in each region.
So, in St. Petersburg, notarization of a copy of a death certificate costs 300 rubles, while in Moscow it can be even cheaper.
Obtaining a certificate outside of Russia
If the death occurred while outside the Russian Federation, then obtaining a certificate will require certain actions from relatives.
Attention! The document can only be obtained in the territory of the country where the person died.
The relative needs not only to arrive there, but also to independently clarify the entire procedure for receiving it and the list of documents for its preparation, since different countries have their own requirements for the preparation of documentation.
the appropriate apostille in Russia so that the paper becomes valid on the territory of the Russian Federation. It is also necessary to have the translation done by a notary.