Death certificates

You can apply for a death certificate if you are:

1. the next of kin named on the death certificate such as a married partner (wife, husband), de facto, parent or child of the person who has died
2. the funeral director (if applying within 30 days of the registration of death)
3. the executor of the estate of the person who has died or
4. the solicitor acting for next of kin of the estate.

If you are not named on the death certificate

You can apply for the certificate if you are a relative and:

• the person who died has no living next of kin and
• you have proof of identity.

If you are not a relative and not on the death certificate you must either:

• have power of attorney for one of the persons named on the death certificate or
• provide copies of the following documents:
  • completed Letter of Authority, giving permission to apply (PDF 262.1KB) and
  • proof of identity from the person providing authority, that meets our requirements and
  • your own proof of identity.

Applications by solicitors

If you are a solicitor applying for a certificate on behalf of a client you must provide:

• a letter on company letterhead stating:
  • the name of the client represented
  • the reason, such as probate or estate administration
  • for estate matters, the link between the client represented and the person whose name appears on the required certificate and
  • the relevant provisions of the Succession Act 2006 relating to eligibility.
     
• completed application form with your name as the applicant and
• certified copy of the solicitor's Law Society ID Card or practising certificate and
• payment of the application fee.

More information for solicitors applying for certificates.

You must provide a least 3 forms of current identity, one of each from Categories 1, 2 and 3. 

• If you cannot provide proof of identity from Categories 1 and 2, you must still provide at least 3 forms of identity. At least two of these must be from Category 3.

• If cannot meet these requirements, please contact us for further advice. 
   

If the death certificate is for someone who died recently, your funeral director will normally order it for you when they register the death.

If the person died in NSW, you can apply for a death certificate online, by post, or at a Service NSW service centre. Certificates are sent by registered post.

• You can also request a copy of a death certificate for:
  • a person who died at least 30 years ago, for your family history research
  • a missing person.

If you are applying online, you must upload copies of your documents.

• You can supply documents as PDF, JPG or TIF files.
• Name the files:
  • using only letters and numbers (no spaces, dashes or other characters) and
  • in a way we can understand what you have attached (such as using a person's name in the file name). 

You can also apply for a death certificate by:

• printing a death certificate application form and sending the completed form to us by post to: 
  Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages
  GPO Box 30
  Sydney NSW 2001
• in person at a Service NSW Service Centre.

After reviewing your application, we will send a secure payment link to the email address in your application for payment processing.

Important: We suggest you do not laminate your certificates. Where possible, identity documents should be kept in their original state.

As of 2021, all certificates are printed on new security paper.

If there are errors on the certificate you must:

• return the original certificate to us by post
• provide 3 proof of identity documents and
• send us the correct information on the correct an entry form.

In some cases we will issue an extract death certificate. 

• The extract is an official certified copy of some information held on the death register. 

• It can be issued with or without the cause of death. 

• It may not be accepted by some organisations due to the limited information it contains. 

• The fees are the same as for the death certificate. Priority processing is not available.