Welcome to Fatchett Legalisation’s Apostille Death Certificate Service. We specialise in providing efficient and reliable apostille services for death certificates, ensuring your documents meet international standards. Whether you need to authenticate your death certificate for wills, probate, or other legal reasons in any country our professional team is here to assist you every step. Trust our death certificate legalisation service to handle your apostille needs with precision and care.
Why use Fatchett Legalisation for your Death Certificate Apostille?
- FREE Document reviews.
- FREE expert advice.
- Competitive prices.
- Money-back refund guarantee.
- Highly recommended.
Also, unlike many of our competitors, we are a firm of notaries. This means:
- We have more in-house expertise than most of our competitors, and can offer fast and expert advise without having to refer you to third parties.
- Our industry regulator holds us to a higher standard than most of our competitors.
Choose your Death Certificate Apostille Service
Death Certificate Document Formats for Apostille
You can get a Death Certificate apostille from the FCDO Legalisation Office for the following document formats:
- Your original UK Death Certificate
- A certified copy from either the General Register Office (GRO) or local register office
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FAQ
An apostilled death certificate is certified with an apostille stamp. The certificate and stamp ensure the document is legally valid and recognised in the Hague Apostille Convention member countries. The apostille guarantees the document’s authenticity for use in international legal matters.
You may need to apostille a death certificate if you plan to use it in a foreign country that is a member of the Hague Apostille Convention. This makes the document legally recognised in those member countries.
Reasons to Apostille a Death Certificate:
- Registering a death in another country e.g, if the deceased was not born in the UK or held dual citizenship
- Inheritance claims overseas
- Selling a property
- Transferring pension benefits
- Resolving the deceased’s estate, assets, or bank accounts overseas
- Registering the UK death of a foreign national overseas
You may also need to have copies of last wills and testaments, probate documents, court papers, and other related document legalised by apostille. In some cases an apostilled coroner’s report signed by the coroner will be required. Resolving international estates often requires that Power of Attorney is given to an overseas family member or legal representative.
In the UK, apostilles are issued by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) through its Legalisation Office. When issuing an apostille, the FCDO will affix a certificate to the original documents to show that the document and signatures are genuine. However, authorised service providers like Fatchett Legalisation can facilitate the process on your behalf, making it more convenient and often faster. For further assistance or to initiate the apostille process for your death certificate, please get in touch with Fatchett Legalisation. Our knowledgeable team is here to guide you through every step of the process.
We can arrange apostille for original or certified copies of death certificates. Scans or photocopies of death certificates are not acceptable for FCDO apostille.
The cost to apostille a death certificate can vary depending on the service provider and the urgency of the request. At Fatchett Legalisation, we offer competitive rates for apostille services. For detailed pricing, please contact our office or visit our website order form, where we regularly update our fee structure.
The time it takes to apostille a death certificate can vary. Typically, the process can take from a couple of working days to a couple of weeks, depending on the workload of the Legalisation Office. At Fatchett Legalisation, we offer expedited services to meet urgent requirements.
To obtain an apostille for a death certificate in the UK, follow these steps:
- Obtain the orgininal death certificate or a certified copy of the death certificate.
- Submit the document to the Legalisation Office or authorised service, such as Fatchett Legalisation.
- Pay the necessary fees.
- Wait for the document to be processed and returned with the apostille.
At Fatchett Legalisation, we can streamline this process, ensuring your documents are handled correctly and efficiently.
Generally, an apostille is a certificate attached to the death certificate. It usually features a stamp or sticker and includes information such as the issuing country’s authentication, the identity of the official who signed the document, and the date of issue. It is designed to be easily recognisable by officials in foreign countries.
In the UK, apostilles are issued by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) through its Legalisation Office. When issuing an apostille, the FCDO will affix a certificate to the original documents to show that the document and signatures are genuine. However, authorised service providers like Fatchett Legalisation can facilitate the process on your behalf, making it more convenient and often faster. For further assistance or to initiate the apostille process for your death certificate, please get in touch with Fatchett Legalisation. Our knowledgeable team is here to guide you through every step of the process.
The FCDO will not issue an apostille certificate if the signature on the death certificate is not recognised. Rejection typically occurs when the registrar or other authorised person is not in their official database, as the death certificate is very new or very old. Currently, there is no way to check the signature before submission.
If the FCDO rejects your certificate for apostille and the death certificate is very new, contact the local registrar’s office and ask the person who signed the certificate to register their signature with the FCDO.
For very old certificates, order a new official replacement copy from the GRO website or local registry office. A new certificate takes around four working days and costs £11.
Alternatively, one of our solicitors can certify the death certificate and get the apostille. However, we do not recommend this as the FCDO will then issue the apostille based on the solicitor’s signature, not the signature on your death certificate. Some overseas authorities will not accept this. So, if you decide to go on this route, you should first contact the relevant overseas authorities to confirm that this would be acceptable for your intended use.
You may be able to legalise a death certificate issued in a foreign country in the UK. You can have a copy of the original foreign death certificate notarised and then have this apostilled by the FCDO. However, there may be additional steps such as further legalisation by the Consulate or Embassy of the requesting country. Even, then this process may not satisfy all requirements.
The Hague Convention simplifies the process of certifying or legalising documents, such as a death certificate, for international use. An apostille certifies that a death certificate is authentic. The Hague Convention ensures that the apostille certification process is standardised across member countries.
At Fatchett Legalisation, we understand the details and requirements for obtaining an apostille for your documents. Trust our service to handle the certification of your death certificate efficiently under the Hague Convention’s guidelines.
Countries outside of the Apostille Convention will not recognise an apostilled death certificate. As of July 2024, 127 states are contracting states of the Apostille Convention,ut Iran, Lebanon, Malaysia, and Vietnam (North) are not. Fatchett Legalisation can advise you on alternative methods of document legalisation for non-contracting locales. Please note that some countries may not recognise apostilled short-form birth certificates. Other countries may only accept short-form birth certificates for specific legal purposes but demand long-form birth certificates for different uses.
A certified copy of a UK death certificate, officially known as a certified copy of an entry of death, is a full-length, unabridged copy of the original death certificate that includes the following details:
- Full name
- Gender
- Date of birth
- Date of death
- Place of death
- Next of kin
- Cause of death
- Signature of the individual pronouncing the person dead
- Registration district
- Date of registration
- Registrar’s full name and signature
Certified copies of death certificates are available for England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.
Yes, registration of deaths is a legal requirement in the UK. Failing to register a death is a criminal offence. Government administration purposes, inheritance matters, and legal disposal of remains all require registration of death.
Original certificates are usually sent fifteen days after registration of the death. There is a priority next working day service available for a fee.
Most commonly deaths are registered by a relative of the deceased. However, if a relative is not available, a person present at the time of death, a hospital administrator, or funeral director may be eligible to order a death certificate.
Registering a death is free. But there is a charge for each copy of the death certificate.
The number of certified copies of the death certificate needed depends on the complexity of the deceased’s estate. Especially consider the number of financial institutions to be dealt with as most will only accepted certified copies.
Still have more questions?
Email us at legalise@fatchett.co.uk
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