Request a death certificate

• Documents and requirements to request a death certificate

  Type of certificate	What will you need
  Online certificate	If you hold a Citizen Card You will need to sign up. Therefore, you will need: your Citizen Card a pin code for the card’s authentication a card reader. If you hold a lawyer, notary or solicitor’s professional license You will need to use your lawyer, notary or solicitor’s digital certificate.
  Paper certificate	You do not need to submit any documents, except if you must prove that you are exempt from the certificate’s payment.

The price varies accordingly to the reason why you request the certificate.

In certain cases, the certificate may be free of charge

The certificates are free of charge if they are requested for:

• adoption processes
• nationality processes
• assistance or charity purposes, including obtaining State or local autarchies’ pensions (a proof document may be required)
• processes regarding occupational accidents (only if requested by the individual who suffered the accident, by his/her family members or by the court)
• processes to assign the Portuguese-Brazilian equality status
• legal support purposes
• individuals who may be under economic hardship - the evidence is carried out through a document issued by a competent administrative authority (for instance, the Social Security) or by a public social assistance institution in which the individual is hospitalized.

The free certificates cannot be used for other purposes.

If you must submit a proof of the exemption, you can only request the certificate in person.

Payment methods

The certificate may be online or issued in paper:

• Online certificate - It is requested online, issued in digital support and able to be consulted online for six months.
• In paper - It may be requested in person and, usually, it has no validity term.

If the death registry is over 30 years old, before requesting the certificate, contact the registry office to know if the registry has already been sent to the district archive. If it has been sent to the district archive, you must request the certificate directly to the archive.

Request a certificate online

1. Go to the Civil Online webpage.
2. Pick one of the following options:

• “Sign in with authentication”, if you hold a Citizen Card or a lawyer, notary or solicitor’s professional license
• “Sign in without authentication”.

3. Follow the instructions.
4. When the certificate is available, you will receive an email or SMS with the code to consult the certificate.
5. After becoming available, the certificate may be consulted for six months, through the access code sent. If any entity asks you for a death certificate, you may give them the access code (the online certificate has the same legal value as a paper certificate).

The online certificate always presents the information present in the death registry at its date of issue (that is, during the six months of validity, if there are any amendments to the registry, the certificate is not updated).

Request a certificate issued in paper

1. Go to a service desk.
2. Indicate all the data you are aware of from the death registry (registry number and year and registry office) or from the deceased individual (such as the full name, date of death, parentage and place of birth).
3. The certificate is issued in paper support and delivered in the moment.