The Death Certificate

A Death Certificate is a document produced by the state government that acts as an official identification document for when someone passes away.

In New South Wales, the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages (BDM) handle the registration of a death.

The Death Certificate is an important document that you will need for legal and financial reasons, as evidence of your loved one’s passing. Generally speaking, it can take several weeks from the time the Death Registration Application form is completed to receive the final document from the BDM.

When arranging a funeral with Australian Heritage Funerals, our experienced funeral directors will take care of all the forms.

Your funeral director will ask you for the information required and will register the death after the funeral has taken place. Here are the questions you will be asked to answer about the person who has died to complete the registration application. It may help to have their birth and marriage certificates available to give you this information.

• Full name
• Date of birth
• Place of death (full address of hospital or residence)
• Residential address
• Occupation during working life
• Place of birth (city and country)
• Marital status at time of death
• All marriages (place of marriage – city, state & country, full name of spouse, age at the time of marriage)
• Parents’ names and occupations, including mother’s maiden name
• Children’s names, dates of birth and ages 
• Your relationship to the deceased

It's important to know the Death Certificate is different from the Cause of Death certificate which is provided by a hospital or doctor. The Cause of Death certificate cannot be used in place of the Death Certificate.