What is an act of deceased ?
The death certificate is a official document, issued by the town hall of the place of death. He takes note of the death of the person concerned and the registration of the death in the civil status registers.
This document should not be confused with the death certificate. The latter is issued by a doctor, who, called to the person’s bedside, certifies the death.
What information can be found in this document ?
The death certificate contains a certain amount of information, which primarily concerns the deceased person:
- The first and last name of the deceased, including the maiden name, if the deceased was a married woman.
- The date and place of death.
- The date and place of birth of the deceased.
- The profession and address of the deceased. If the person died in a retirement home, the address of this establishment must be given.
Some information relates to other people. We thus find:
- Information about the spouse, including their first and last name.
- Other information, relating to the person who declared the death: their identity, as well as their possible relationship with the deceased.
- Possible information on the identity and address of the parents of the deceased.
The death is not only mentioned in the civil status register. It is also reported on other documents, such as the family record book of the deceased, their birth certificate or their marriage certificate.
How can we obtain a death certificate ?
As we have seen, the death certificate is obtained from the town hall of the place of death. A family member, or any other person, must declare the death. The family can also entrust this process to the funeral home.
In view of this declaration, the civil status service will issue a death certificate. It should be noted that it is part of public civil status documents.
If the death is not too recent, anyone can request it. Indeed, it is not necessary to be related to a deceased person to request their death certificate. To do this, simply indicate the first and last name of the deceased person, as well as the date of their death.
If you go to the town hall, the competent department will immediately provide you with this part. But you can also request it by mail or even online. There are in fact platforms authorized to issue these death certificates.
If the death took place abroad, you must make the request to a specific civil status service, which is located in Nantes.
If the request was made by mail, you will have to wait around ten days before receiving the requested document.
Remember that this is a free process.
What is the use of a death certificate ?
The death certificate is an essential document. Its presentation is in fact necessary for the completion of the administrative procedures that must be undertaken after a death.
In fact, without this document, which represents proof of death, it is impossible:
- To request the closure of the deceased person’s bank accounts.
- To obtain regularization of the retirement file. It is necessary, within 7 days following the death, to inform the pension fund on which the deceased depended of this event. Without the production of the death certificate, it will be impossible to obtain the end of the payment of the retirement pension. This overpayment will then have to be reimbursed. It will also be necessary to notify the pension funds paying supplementary pensions.
- To resolve the situation of the deceased with other organizations, such as an insurance company, a mutual fund or the Family Allowance Fund (CAF).
- To obtain the survivor’s pension which, remember, is not paid automatically. The surviving spouse must make the request, accompanying it, in particular, with the death certificate.
- To inform the employer, if the deceased was still working, or Pôle Emploi, if he was unemployed. Here again, it will be necessary to provide the death certificate.
- To regularize the deceased person’s situation with regard to water and energy suppliers.
- To participate in the estate of the deceased. The notary will indeed request the death certificate.
- To terminate the lease of the deceased if he was a tenant. The real estate agency or the owner will indeed ask for this document to be presented to them.
As we can see, it will therefore be necessary to provide the death certificate to many administrations. It is therefore necessary to ask the registrar for several originals of this document, but also for a certain number of copies. Request full copies, which reproduce all the information contained in the document.
