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The death of someone close always arrives together with paperwork. A death certificate is needed by the notary for the estate, by the bank for the accounts, by the Pension Fund for payments, by the insurer for compensation. It also gets lost, gets damaged, or stays with the relative you are not on speaking terms with. Let us work through who registers a death, who can obtain a repeat certificate, how it differs from an extract, and what to do when there are no documents at all.
Key points
The ground for state registration of a death is a medical certificate of death issued by a healthcare institution, or a court decision establishing the fact of death or declaring a person deceased.
The application for registration is submitted by relatives of the deceased, and if none of them are nearby, by other persons specified by law. After registration a death certificate is issued, and it is this document that becomes the basic one for everything that follows.
A practical tip: as soon as you receive the certificate, check that the surname, first name, patronymic, date of birth and date of death are recorded correctly. An error noticed straight away is corrected far more easily than one that surfaces a year later at the notary.
The law limits the circle of persons. A repeat death certificate is issued to the surviving spouse and also to close relatives of the deceased upon their application. In defined cases the document may be obtained by representatives of guardianship and custody authorities in respect of persons under guardianship.
What this means in practice: a wife or husband, children, parents, brothers and sisters receive the document without additional conditions, once they confirm the family connection; distant relatives, a civil partner, friends or neighbours will not receive a repeat certificate; any person may act as a representative under a notarised power of attorney from someone who does have the right.
So the first question worth asking yourself is this: can you confirm your family connection with the deceased with documents. If the chain of documents has a gap, for example because the surname is spelled differently, you will first have to close it. We have described how that is done in our article on how to correct an error in a civil status record.
These are two different documents, and in inheritance matters both are often needed.
| Document | What it confirms | When it is needed |
|---|---|---|
| Death certificate | The fact of the death itself, as recorded at registration | The basic document for most applications |
| Extract from the register regarding the death | The current state of the civil status record as at the date of issue | Inheritance matters, courts, foreign authorities |
If the notary asks for a recent document, it is almost always the extract that is meant: a certificate issued ten years ago does not show whether any changes were entered into the record. We have explained separately what an extract is and who has the right to obtain one: DRATS extract: how to obtain it.
Step 1. Prepare your passport and the documents that confirm your family connection with the deceased: the birth certificate, the marriage certificate and, if needed, the certificate of change of name.
Step 2. Apply to a DRATS office. If the civil status record is in the electronic register, you may apply to any office, not only the one for the place where the death was registered.
Step 3. Submit the application and pay the established charge. The amounts of state charges are reviewed from time to time, so as to the current amounts and any available exemptions, please confirm at the time of your inquiry.
Step 4. Receive the document and check the details. Pay particular attention to the spelling of the surname against the way it appears in your own documents: this is where discrepancies most often appear, and they go on to block the inheritance.
It happens that the answer to a request is: no civil status record found. The most common reasons and the ways out:
Without a death certificate or an extract regarding the death, the notary will not open the inheritance file. But this document on its own is not enough: you also have to prove that you are an heir of the relevant order.
A typical package for an inheritance file looks like this: the document on the death of the testator; documents confirming the family connection, that is birth certificates, marriage certificates, certificates of change of name; documents on the property, if they have survived; your passport and tax identification number.
The main thing to keep in mind is the deadline: the law gives a limited time for accepting an inheritance. If you are still collecting documents, that is no reason to wait. The right tactic is this: submit the application to accept the inheritance on time, and bring the documents in alongside.
Documents after the death of someone close carry different degrees of urgency, and confusion here is expensive.
The practical rule is simple: first submit the application to accept the inheritance, and only then calmly collect the rest of the documents. The application is submitted even when you do not yet have all the papers in hand.
Once the document on the death is in hand, a family usually faces several lines of work at once: applying to the notary and opening the inheritance file; arranging a survivor’s pension if there are children or family members unable to work; notifying banks and insurance companies; questions concerning real estate, vehicles, a share in a business; stopping utility charges and re-registering contracts.
Each of these lines needs its own set of documents, and almost everywhere the basis is the document on the death plus confirmation of your status. So it makes sense to order several copies of the documents you need straight away, rather than chasing them down again each time.
For families who have left, the familiar scheme works: a notarised power of attorney, executed at a consulate of Ukraine or before a local notary with an apostille and a translation, and a representative who does everything in Ukraine.
The representative can obtain the repeat certificate and the extract, file the application to accept the inheritance with the notary, run a court procedure where needed and have an apostille placed on documents for the country where you are staying.
One nuance worth allowing for in advance: the power of attorney has to contain all the necessary powers at once. Adding them remotely later means several more weeks of delay.
If you are a close relative, you live in Ukraine and your documents are in order, a repeat certificate is obtained in a single visit. Legal assistance is needed when: you are abroad; the family connection has to be proved because of discrepancies in the documents; there is no record and a court procedure is required; the inheritance matter is complicated and it is not clear which documents to collect; the deadline for accepting the inheritance is running out. The lawyers at LexOn take this on, from collecting the documents to a finished package for the notary: restoration of DRATS documents and apostille.
The surviving spouse and close relatives of the deceased upon their application, and also representatives acting under a notarised power of attorney from such persons.
Not on their own. But they may act as a representative under a power of attorney from someone who does have the right to receive the document.
There is no limit on the number. If the document is lost again, the procedure is repeated.
In such cases an extract from the register is usually what is needed, because it shows the state of the record as at the date of issue. The certificate confirms the fact itself, but it does not reflect later changes.
The foreign document is legalised or apostilled, translated and submitted in Ukraine. The procedure depends on the country, so it is worth confirming the requirements in advance.
Yes, through a representative under a notarised power of attorney. The representative obtains the documents, applies to the notary and, where needed, conducts the court case.
Changes are entered into the civil status record, after which a new document is issued. If there are not enough documents for the administrative route, the matter is decided by the court.
Disclaimer: this article is for information purposes and is not legal advice. Procedures and the amounts of charges may change. To resolve your particular situation, please consult a lawyer.
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