death notice

Registration of a death

Detailed description

The death of a person must be reported to the competent registry office in whose area of responsibility the person died no later than the third working day after the death occurred.
If the death occurs in a facility (hospital, retirement or nursing home or another facility), the institution responsible for the facility is obliged to report the case in writing to the registry office.
If the death occurs outside an institution (hospital, old people's and nursing home or other institution), every person who lived with the deceased in the same household is the person in whose home the death occurred and every other person who was present at the death or who is informed of the death from their own knowledge is obliged to report the death orally. A funeral director can also be entrusted with the notification.

If the death did not occur in a hospital, nursing home or other facility, you are in the following order as a person
- who lived with the deceased in a domestic community,
- in whose home the death occurred, or
- who was present at the death or who is informed of the death from their own knowledge, is obliged to report the death orally.
You can also entrust a funeral home with the notification.
If you, as a funeral home registered with a Chamber of Crafts or Chamber of Industry and Commerce, have been commissioned by one of the above-mentioned persons to report a death, you can also report a death in writing.
As a hospital, nursing home or other facility where the death occurred, you are obliged to notify the registry office of the death in writing.

When reporting a death, you should contact the registry office
- Marriage or civil partnership certificate of the last marriage or civil partnership and, if applicable, proof of the dissolution,
- birth certificate
- Proof of your last place of residence (e.g. identity card, simple information from the register of residents, rental agreement, electricity bill or similar documents)
- medical certificate of the death of the deceased
- You may be able to waive the submission of the birth certificate if the registration data for the birth of the deceased result from a marriage or civil partnership certificate. If necessary, please contact the responsible registry office for more information.
The registry office can request the submission of further documents if this is necessary.

The death of a person must be reported to the registry office in whose area the person died no later than the third working day after the death.

You yourself, an institution or the undertaker you have commissioned report the death to the competent registry office.
If the death occurred in the hospital, as a relative, contact a undertaker in consultation with the hospital staff.
The doctor or the hospital issues a death certificate and usually hands it over to the undertaker.
If the death did not occur in a hospital, nursing home or other facility, you, as the above-mentioned, obligated persons, verbally report the death to the responsible registry office by submitting the required documents, or commission the undertaker with the report.
If you have commissioned the undertaker to report the death, he or she will prepare a written notification of the death including all family-related information with your cooperation, compile the documents required for the notification and hand them over to the registry office.
You must hand over all the necessary documents for this.
The registry office checks the submitted documents for authenticity and the information on the documents for completeness.
The death is recorded in the death register. If requested, the registry office issues death certificates from the created register.

The processing time may vary from case to case.

Last updated: 08.10.2024