What is a Death Certificate?
A death certificate is a copy of the entry made by the registrar in the death register and is issued by a government office to state that the person concerned is no longer alive. The certificate is required for making funeral arrangements and to deal with money or property related issues, including handling bank accounts, insurance policies, pension, business operations and will-related matters of the deceased. It is advisable to obtain several copies of the death certificate for submission at various places.
In the UK, the death certificate is issued by the General Register Office and one can obtain several copies of the document by paying the extra charges. The Death Certificate states the following information:
- Place and date of the registration of the death
- Place and time of the death
- Personal details, such as the name, age, gender and occupation of the deceased
- The name of the registrar
- The cause of death
The death certificate may also list the name and occupation of the deceased person’s spouse and if the deceased is a minor, names and occupation of the parents are also provided.
Additional copies of the death certificate can be ordered online from the General Register Office, over the phone or via post. While only certain people can register the death of a person, anyone can order a replacement death certificate or additional copies of the certificate, after the death has been registered.
Death certificate documents require legalisation before they can be used by the government bodies, courts and solicitors of another nation. These documents might also be required to register the death in the records of a company, court, make a claim on a pension, to resolve the deceased’s estate, sell a property or close bank accounts or investments of the deceased.
A death certificate issued in the UK will be acceptable in a foreign country only if it has the apostille certificate from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office or the FCO. As per the current rules, death certificates can only have the apostille certificate attached to the original document or an official copy, issued by a registrar. The apostille certification involves attestation, verification and ratification of the contents of the document issued by the Registrar office. Photocopies or scanned copies of a death certificate cannot be apostilled.
The process of legalisation of death certificate documents requires only an apostille stamp, if the document is to be presented in a country that is a signatory member of The Hague Apostille Convention of 1961. However, in the case of a country that is not a signatory to The Hague Apostille Convention, there is an additional need to submit the apostilled document for consular legalisation.
In some cases, certain documents will require attestation by a Notary Public or registered solicitor before they can be apostilled by the FCO.
Please see the process as below that we follow:
STEP 1
Send Us the
Original Document
STEP 2
We quality check
documents internally
STEP 3
The document is
solicitor certified and then
Apostilled 24 hours.
STEP 4
If required, we take the
document to the required
embassy for legalisation
STEP 5
Documents Returned
Back to you Domestically
or Internationally
Death Certificate
Legalisation
Processing Time: Please see pricing page
Pricing: Please see pricing page
Please use the dropdown menu’s for your document requirement. The pricing and document type will be generated after pressing the button below. Please note that to complete your order you will need to use the dropdown menus per document order. After the pricing table, you will then be taken to our order page. Following this you will be sent to our upload page to upload the documents which you can also complete later.
Service Inclusions:
- Solicitor Stamp
- FCO Submission and Collection
- Embassy Legalisations
- Precheck of documents
- Free Resubmissions
- Same Day Send Out
Start Legalisation Order
The button above will redirect you to our legalisation order form via our main RLS website. You will be able to select your service, your return address and method and make payment via it.
After making your order, we advise you contact our legalisation consultants by emailing your requirement to: applications@rapid-visas.co.uk.
Conclusion
A death certificate issued in the UK requires legalisation for its acceptance in a foreign country. The document might be required in another country to close bank accounts, deal with monetary and property related matters or legal matters associated with the deceased.
The legalisation of death certificate documents includes the apostille certification by the FCO, the sole authority for the apostille in the UK. This certificate is sufficient for use of the document in a country that has signed The Hague Apostille Convention of 1961. For countries that are not signatory members of this convention, additional embassy legalisation is required. This means that the apostilled documents will need to be submitted to the embassy of the country in which the documents are to be presented, for legalisation.
The expert team at Legalisations.org.uk can complete the entire process on your behalf. You do not need to visit any government or consular offices personally. Our staff is well-versed with the process of death certificate apostille certification and legalisation. We will not only pre-check your documents for format, but also get them attested from a solicitor before submitting them for the apostille certification at the FCO office. Our staff will also take care of the submission and collection of your documents for embassy legalisation.
You can choose our standard package, which ensures that the process is completed within six business days or opt for our express package, which completes the process within two business days.
Once the legalisation process is complete, we will return the documents to you safely. For any queries regarding the process, kindly send an email at info@legalisations.org.uk. You can also call us at 0845 224 9482.
The Most Common Documents We Legalise
Standard Personal Documents
- Birth, Marriage, Death Certificates
- HMRC letters
- ACPO, ACRO, Police Letters
- No Impediment Certificate
- Court Documents
Corporate Business Documents
- Incorporation Certificate
- Appointment Reports
- Mem & Arts
- Company Letters
- Companies House Certs
- Minutes & Resolutions
Educational Documents
- Degree, Masters, Diploma
- GCSE, CSE, O Level
- Professional Qualifications
- Training Certificates
- Transcripts & Reports
- School Letters
Frequently Asked Questions
The process of obtaining the apostille certification for a death certificate from the UK FCO can be completed by Legalisations.org.uk on your behalf. Our expert team will not only pre-check your documents to ensure that they comply with the FCO’s regulations, but also submit them on your behalf to the FCO office at Milton Keynes. We will also collect the apostilled documents and send them back to you or submit them for consular legalisation, if required.
The process of death certificate documents legalisation involves several steps:
Step 1: Contact us with all your requirements via email at info@legalisations.org.uk. You can also call us at 0845 224 9482. Our agents will advise you regarding the process and its requirements. They will also update you about charges.
Step 2: You can send us the original documents through courier or submit them personally at our office in London.
Step 3: Our expert team will pre-check the documents for their format and content.
Step 4: We will ensure that documents are attested by a registered solicitor or notary public, if required.
Step 5: The attested documents will be submitted to the FCO Office for apostille certification.
Step 6: The apostilled documents will be collected from the FCO office and submitted to the concerned consulate in London for further legalisation, if required. If the documents do not require further legalisation, the death certificate with the apostille certificate will be returned to you.
Step 7: The legalised documents will be collected from the concerned consulate and returned to you via courier. You can also choose to pick up your documents from our office.
The entire process is completed smoothly and efficiently, so that you do not need to visit any government or consular office.
The cost of death certificate apostille legalisation includes the service fees of the FCO and our service charges plus VAT. Please note that the FCO charges a fee of £75.00 for the apostille certification of a death certificate. Apart from this, Legalisations.org.uk charges a service fee of £105.00 (+ VAT) for its standard package and £135.00 (+ VAT) for the express package, inclusive of the FCO fee. While the standard package ensures that the process is completed within 6 business days, the express package ensures that the documents are apostilled within 2 business days.
Our service fee includes the cost of attestation, verification and ratification of your document by our in-house solicitor, who will stamp the original death certificate. The standard package includes pre-checking of your documents, getting them attested, submitting them for FCO apostille and also consular legalisation, if required.
Legalisations.org.uk ensures smooth completion of the entire process of legalisation of death certificate documents. Please note that if we are unable to get your document legalised for some reason, we will refund the entire service fee.
If you are residing in the UK, you can either deliver the death certificate documents to be legalised by visiting our office in London or send them via courier or royal mail special delivery. We can return the legalised documents to you using the same means.
If you are not in the UK currently or reside abroad, you can use DHL or UPS international courier services. We can use the same route to send your death certificate documents after their legalisation.
You can access our services from anywhere in the world. You can send your documents to our office in London through UPS or DHL international delivery services. To avoid any kind of delay or misunderstanding, we recommend that you send us an email containing the scanned copies of the documents to be legalised. This will help us pre-check the documents and guide you if there is any discrepancy.
We also request you to kindly check with the authorities in the country in which you wish to present your documents about the requirement for embassy legalisation. Countries that are signatory to The Hague Apostille Convention accept documents with just the apostille certification. However, countries that are not members of the Apostille treaty, require the apostilled documents to be submitted to their embassy for legalisation.
The General Registrar Office in the UK issues the death certificate, which is signed, dated and stamped by the Superintendent Registrar of the district where the death was registered. However, this certificate is acceptable internationally only after it has been legalised. If the death certificate documents are to be presented in a country that is a signatory to The Hague Apostille Convention, only an apostille certification by the UK FCO will suffice.
The Death Certificate documents need to be attested and authenticated by a Notary Public or registered solicitor in the UK before they can be submitted to the FCO for apostille certification. We will get your death certificate documents attested and authenticated by our in-house solicitor, before submitting them to the FCO for the apostille. If the documents require additional legalisation by the embassy of the destination country in London, we will take care of that step as well.
Legalisation.org.uk can efficiently complete the entire process of death certificate documents legalisation on your behalf.
In the UK, The Foreign and Commonwealth Office or FCO is the competent authority to issue the apostille certificate for documents issued in the UK. The A5 sized apostille certificate can only be attached to the original certificate or an official copy, issued by the registrar. The apostille certificate confirms the signature, seal or stamp on a UK document as being genuine to ensure that it can be accepted for use in another country.
Below is the picture of an apostille certificate:
The certificate includes the following information:
- Name of the Country: The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
- The name of the official who has signed it
- The official’s capacity as an authorised signatory
- The seal/stamp of the FCO
- The location: London
- The date of issue
- Certification by Her Majesty’s Principal Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
- The identification number of the document
- Signature of the issuing officer
Apart from all this, the apostille certificate bears a red seal/stamp bearing the government crest and signed by the issuing officer. This apostille certificate is attached to the reverse of the death certificate document.
