Show Death

You yourself, an institution or the funeral home commissioned by you report the death to the responsible registry office.

If the death occurred in the hospital, contact a funeral director as a relative in consultation with the hospital staff.

The doctor/hospital issues a death certificate and usually hands it over to the undertaker.

If the death did not occur in a hospital, old people's and nursing home or other institution, you, as the aforementioned obligated persons, report the death orally to the responsible registry office by submitting the necessary documents, or instruct the undertaker to report it.

If you have commissioned the undertaker with the notification, he will prepare a written death report including all family-related information with your cooperation, compile the documents required for the notification and hand them over to the registry office.

For this, you need to hand over all the necessary documents.

The registry office checks the documents submitted for authenticity and the information on the documents for completeness.

The death is recorded in the death register. If requested, the registry office will issue death certificates from the register drawn up.

If the death did not occur in a hospital, retirement and nursing home or other facility, you are listed as a person in the following order:

- who lived with the deceased in the same household,

- in whose home the death occurred, or

- who was present at the death or is informed of the death from his or her own knowledge, is obliged to report the death orally.

You can also entrust the advertisement to a funeral home.

If, as a funeral home registered with a Chamber of Crafts or Chamber of Industry and Commerce, you are commissioned by one of the above-mentioned persons to report a death, you can also report a death in writing.

As a hospital, retirement and nursing home or other institution in which the death occurred, you are obliged to report the death to the registry office in writing.

If you report a death, you should contact the registry office

• the marriage or civil partnership certificate of the last marriage or civil partnership and, if applicable, proof of dissolution,
• the birth certificate,
• proof of last place of residence (e.g. identity card, simple information from the population register, rental agreement, electricity bill or comparable documents) and
• the medical certificate of death

of the deceased.

If necessary, you may be able to dispense with the presentation of the birth certificate if the registration data of the deceased's birth result from a marriage or civil partnership certificate. If necessary, please contact the responsible registry office for more information.

The registry office may require the submission of further documents if 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 following the death.

Processing time may vary on a case-by-case basis

§ 28-31 PstG

10.08.2022