When reporting a death, you should provide the registry office with
- the marriage or civil partnership certificate of the last marriage or civil partnership and, if applicable, proof of dissolution,
- the birth certificate,
- proof of the last place of residence (e.g., identity card, simple registration information, rental agreement, electricity bill, or similar documents), and
- the medical certificate of death
of the deceased.
You may be able to waive the requirement to submit the birth certificate if the registration data for the birth of the deceased can be found in a marriage or civil partnership certificate. Please check with the relevant registry office if necessary.
The registry office may request the submission of further documents if necessary.
Please note:
All documents and certificates must be submitted in the original. Documents sent to us by fax or email are unfortunately not sufficient for certifying a death.
You must submit all certificates that are not issued in German or in international form together with an official translation.
The death certificate with post-mortem certificate is issued by the medical professional who certified the death.
You will need a current registration certificate stating the place of residence or a valid identity card of the deceased person if their main place of residence was not in Mainz.
Due to a change in the law, we have not been able to enter religious affiliations in the death register since November 1, 2022.
Depending on the circumstances of the deceased person's life, we may require additional documents.
a) The deceased person was single:
- Birth certificate or certified copy from the birth register
b) The deceased person was married:
- If the marriage took place BEFORE January 1, 2009, we require the marriage certificate or a certified copy from the marriage register.
- For marriages AFTER December 31, 2008, we require a certified copy from the marriage register (please note: not a marriage certificate!).
c) The deceased person was widowed:
- If the marriage took place BEFORE January 1, 2009, we require the marriage certificate or a certified copy of the marriage entry with a note regarding the death of the spouse or, in addition, the death certificate.
- If the marriage took place AFTER December 31, 2008, we require a certified copy from the marriage register (please note: not a marriage certificate!) with a note regarding the death of the spouse or, in addition, the death certificate.
d) The deceased person was divorced.
- For marriages BEFORE January 1, 2009, we require the marriage certificate or a certified copy of the marriage entry with a note regarding the divorce.
- For marriages AFTER December 31, 2008, we require a certified copy from the marriage register (please note: not a marriage certificate!) with a note regarding the divorce.
Please note!
For foreign nationals, we also require the passport of the deceased person and their spouse.
We kindly ask funeral directors to provide the following documents:
In order to enable faster and easier registration of the death, we ask you to request all available certificates and documents from the relatives and to include them as completely as possible. This also applies to civil status documents issued by the Mainz Registry Office. This makes our work much easier, as it eliminates the need for search work, which can be very extensive and time-consuming.
