French death certificate

One of the first steps in the process of dealing with the estate of a client or relative who has died in France is obtaining a copy of the death certificate (acte de décès).

Death certificate

This can be obtained from the town hall (mairie) in the place where the death occurred, either by attending in person or by applying for the certificate online: https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/R42838

The death certificate follows a standard format and will look something like this:

You may also come across a multilingual death certificate, which looks like the following:

Final comments

Whichever version you receive, you are likely to require a certified translation of the death certificate before being able to deal with other aspects of the estate. To receive a quote for a certified translation, click on the Request a Quote button.

Next: Types of French wills