Documents You Need Notarised When Dealing With a Death Overseas

When someone dies overseas, most of the paperwork comes from the country where the death happened, not from Australia. A notary here is usually needed at only a few points: a signed next-of-kin authority for the funeral director abroad, certified copies proving your relationship, and forms from foreign banks or insurers. Everything else starts with that country's death certificate.

Key takeaways

• The death is dealt with and registered under the law of the country where it happened. Its certificate is the one you will rely on for years.
• The step most likely to need an Australian notary is the next-of-kin authority: a signed instruction to release the body, permit cremation or appoint a funeral director.
• Get the exact form and wording from the authority or funeral director abroad before you book a notary, and ask whether it needs an apostille.
• Collect several originals of the foreign death certificate, and have them authenticated in that country while you can. An Australian notary cannot vouch for a foreign registry.
• Back in Australia, most institutions accept the foreign certificate with a NAATI translation and a copy certified by an authorised person, without a notary.

Which country is in charge

This page is about an Australian, or someone whose family lives in Australia, who has died abroad. If the death happened in Australia and an overseas bank or pension fund now wants proof of it, see notarising an Australian death certificate instead; the paperwork runs the other way.

When the death happens abroad, the local system takes over. Local police, a hospital or that country's equivalent of a coroner may be involved, and the death is registered there under local law. If the person was an Australian citizen, the nearest Australian embassy or consulate can usually help the family with contact and information about local procedures, including local funeral directors, but it does not pay costs or take over the arrangements. If there was travel insurance, the insurer often arranges much of what follows, and it will tell you which of its forms need to be witnessed.

None of this first stage involves an Australian notary. The family's first jobs are to find out who the local authority is, who the funeral director will be, and whether there is an insurer.

The next-of-kin authority: where a notary often comes in

Early on, the family decides whether the person will be buried or cremated where they died, 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.

Some countries require the next of kin's signed authority before they act, for example to release the body, to permit cremation, or to appoint a local funeral director. Some of those countries also require the signature to be notarised, and sometimes apostilled or legalised, if the next of kin signs outside the country. This is the point where a notary in Australia is genuinely useful.

Three things make this step go smoothly.

1. Get the exact form from abroad. The funeral director or authority will often send a template in its own language, sometimes with a translation. A letter drafted here in general terms may not be accepted, so ask for their wording first.
2. Ask what level of formality is needed. Is a scanned signature enough, a notarised original, or a notarised original with an apostille? An apostille is the certificate DFAT issues to confirm a notary's signature and seal for countries in the Hague Apostille Convention. It adds a step, so the answer changes your plan. Check the country on the HCCH status table on the day.
3. Gather the relationship documents. The authority may want certified copies of a marriage certificate, or the birth certificates that link parent and child. For use abroad, those copies need a notary rather than a Justice of the Peace.

The notary checks your identity, makes sure you understand the form and are signing freely, and witnesses your signature. The notary does not confirm that you are the next of kin. That is shown by the relationship documents you supply, and the authority abroad decides whether they are enough. If the form is in a language you do not read, ask for a translation before you sign, because the notary needs to be satisfied you understand what you are signing.

The foreign death certificate: get it right while you can

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 is the document you will rely on for the estate, banks, superannuation, insurance and any pension.

That makes one 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 country that issued it: an apostille from that country's own competent authority if it is a Convention member, or its own authentication followed by legalisation at the Australian embassy or consulate if not. Arranging that by post from Australia months later is slower and harder.

An Australian notary cannot fix this step. A notary here can certify that a copy matches the foreign certificate they sighted, but cannot vouch for the foreign registry that issued it, and DFAT legalises only Australian documents. If the certificate is in another language, many Australian institutions will also want an English translation; see translating documents issued overseas.

Many Australian institutions accept the foreign certificate as it is, translated where needed. Some, particularly courts dealing with the estate, 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 their own requirements for the documents that travel with the remains, and the funeral directors normally handle them. The family's part is usually the next-of-kin authority, some identity and relationship documents, and the payment arrangements.

Ask the funeral director which of your documents they need and in what form before you certify anything. Paying for notarised copies the funeral director did not need is a common and avoidable cost at a time when nobody wants extra errands.

Back in Australia: mostly no notary

Once home, the family's work turns to the estate and the person's accounts. For Australian institutions, the rules are usually simpler than people expect.

• Proof of death. The foreign death certificate, with an English translation where needed, is the proof. For use in Australia, a translation made here should be by a NAATI-credentialled translator; a translation made overseas generally needs the translator's full name, address, telephone number and qualifications. The receiving body decides whose translation it accepts.
• Banks and super funds. These typically want certified copies and their own forms. For Australian purposes, a copy certified by an authorised person, such as a Justice of the Peace, is usually enough.
• Probate or letters of administration. These are handled by the Supreme Court of the relevant state or territory. Speak to a solicitor about what that court needs where the death occurred overseas, and whether the foreign certificate must be authenticated.
• The passport. Tell the Australian Passport Office about the death; it will explain what to do with the passport.

If the person also left property, money or a pension in another country, that is a separate process with its own documents; see inheriting an estate overseas. A foreign bank or insurer that wants a claim form signed by the family in Australia is the other common point where a notary is needed later on; document notarisation explains what a notary witnesses and certifies.

Document	Comes from	Australian notary needed?
Foreign death certificate	The country where the death happened	No; authenticate it there
Next-of-kin authority for abroad	You sign it in Australia	Often, if the country requires it
Copies of relationship certificates for abroad	Australian registries	Yes, for use overseas
Foreign bank or insurer claim forms	You sign them in Australia	Often; check the form's instructions
Copies for Australian banks and super funds	Certified here	Usually not; an authorised person will do

Here is an illustration, not a real case

A woman in Adelaide learns that her father has died while visiting relatives in a country in Southeast Asia. The local funeral director emails a form in the local language, with an English translation, asking the next of kin to authorise cremation, and says it needs a notarised signature and an apostille. She asks for the form in its final wording, takes it unsigned to a notary with her passport and a copy of her birth certificate naming her father, and signs it there. DFAT apostilles the notary's certificate. Meanwhile her cousin, who lives there, collects four originals of the death certificate and has them authenticated locally before posting them to her. Months later, the Australian bank and super fund accept those certificates with a NAATI translation and copies certified by a JP.

In short

The country where the death happened issues the certificate and runs the first stage, and an Australian notary cannot change that. A notary here is useful for the next-of-kin authority, for copies of relationship documents going abroad, and for foreign claim forms signed in Australia. Collect several authenticated originals of the foreign certificate while you can, and use NAATI translations and authorised-person copies for Australian institutions. For the apostille step, see apostille and authentication.

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Been sent a form by a funeral director or authority abroad? Send us the form and their instructions, and we will explain each step before you book.