Documents You Need Notarised When Dealing With a Death Overseas

When someone close to you dies in another country, the paperwork arrives before the grief has settled, and much of it is in a system you do not know. This page is about that situation: an Australian, or someone whose family is in Australia, who has died abroad. It sets out what usually happens, in order, and the few points where a notary in Australia is genuinely needed.

If instead the death happened in Australia and an overseas bank, pension fund or registry now wants proof of it, our page on notarising a death certificate covers that.

The first days: the country where the death happened is in charge

The death is dealt with under the law of the country where it occurred. Local police, a hospital or a coroner-equivalent will be involved, and the death is registered there. If the person was an Australian citizen, the nearest Australian embassy or consulate can usually help with contacting family and explaining local procedures, though it does not pay costs. A travel insurer, if there was a policy, often arranges much of what follows.

None of this involves an Australian notary.

The decision that may need a notary: authority from the next of kin

Early on, the family has to decide whether the person will be buried or cremated locally, or returned to Australia. The local authorities and funeral director will want that decision made by the legal next of kin, and they will want proof of who that is.

If the next of kin is in Australia, this is where a notary can come in. Some countries require a signed authority — to release the body, to permit cremation, or to appoint a local funeral director to act — and require that signature to be notarised, and sometimes apostilled or legalised, before they act on it. They may also want certified copies of documents proving the relationship: a marriage certificate, a birth certificate linking parent and child.

Two things make this step go smoothly:

• Get the exact form and wording from the funeral director or authority abroad before booking anything. Many will send a template in their own language, often with a translation. A generic letter drafted here may not be accepted.
• Ask whether an apostille is required, or only notarisation. An apostille adds a step at DFAT, and when timing matters the answer changes your plan. Whether the country is an apostille member must be checked against the HCCH status table on the day.

The notary witnesses your signature and checks your identity. They are not confirming that you are the next of kin — that is shown by the relationship documents you supply.

The death certificate: get it right before you leave

The death certificate is issued in the country where the death occurred. As a general rule, Australian registries do not register deaths that happen overseas, so that foreign certificate will be the document you rely on for years: for the estate, banks, superannuation, insurance and any pension.

This makes one practical step matter more than any other. While you or the funeral director are still dealing with that country, obtain several originals of the death certificate, and ask how to have them authenticated there. A document issued overseas for use in Australia is generally authenticated in the issuing country — an apostille from that country's authority if it is a member, or its own authentication and Australian consular legalisation if not. An Australian notary cannot vouch for a foreign registry's certificate, and arranging authentication by post from Australia later is slower and harder.

Many Australian institutions will accept the foreign certificate without any authentication, as long as it is in English or translated. Some, particularly courts, may want more. Having authenticated originals in hand covers both.

Bringing the person home

If the body or ashes are being returned to Australia, a funeral director in the country of death usually works with one here. Both countries have requirements for the documents that travel with the remains, and the funeral directors handle them. Your part is usually the next-of-kin authority above and the payment arrangements.

Back in Australia: mostly no notary

Once home, the family's work is the estate and the person's accounts. For Australian institutions:

• The foreign death certificate, with an English translation where needed, is the proof of death. For Australian use, have it translated by a NAATI-credentialled translator.
• Banks and super funds typically want certified copies and their own forms. Certification for Australian purposes can usually be done by an authorised person without a notary.
• Probate or letters of administration are handled by the Supreme Court of the relevant state. Speak to a solicitor about what that court needs where the death occurred overseas.

If the person also left property, money or a pension in another country, that is a separate process; see our page on inheriting an estate overseas.

Frequently asked questions

Can the Australian consulate issue a death certificate? Not in the ordinary way. The certificate comes from the country where the death was registered.

The funeral director abroad has emailed a form. Can I sign it and email it back? Ask them. For some steps a scanned signature is accepted; for others, particularly cremation, a notarised original may be required. Find out before the timing becomes pressing.

Can a Justice of the Peace witness the next-of-kin authority? For a document going overseas, generally no. A JP's certification is not recognised abroad and cannot be apostilled.