How to Get a Portuguese Death Certificate

What does the death certificate show?

The official Portuguese service states that the death certificate identifies:

• The person who died
• Date of death
• Time of death
• Place of death

The civil-registry certificate is not described by the official service as a medical cause-of-death document. If a bank, insurer, court or foreign authority specifically asks for medical or cause-of-death evidence, confirm which separate document it requires.

Who can request it?

Any person may request a Portuguese death certificate. The official service does not require the requester to prove a family relationship in order to make the ordinary certificate request.

Official online route

A Portuguese death certificate can be requested through the official Portuguese online civil-registry service.

The official online fee is €10.

When the request is completed, the requester receives an access code. Unlike the birth and marriage online certificates, the official death-certificate service states that the death certificate and its access code do not have an expiry period.

Presenting the access code has the same effect in Portugal as presenting the paper death certificate.

A receiving authority can still impose its own requirement for a recently issued certificate.

Paper certificate

A paper death certificate for ordinary purposes costs €20 under the official fee schedule.

The official Justice guidance allows paper requests through civil-registry services and Portuguese consulates abroad. It also allows postal requests.

Death certificate for inheritance and estate matters

A Portuguese death certificate is commonly required in inheritance, estate, bank, property, pension and insurance procedures.

The death certificate proves the registered death. It does not by itself determine who the heirs are or prove an inheritance entitlement.

Start with the list provided by the notary, bank, insurer, lawyer or other professional handling the estate. That list determines whether you also need birth records, marriage records, probate or heirship documents, apostille, translation or another form of evidence.

Information that helps identify the correct death record

When available, provide:

• Full name of the deceased
• Date and place of death
• Any registry reference
• Country and authority where the certificate will be used
• The wording of the receiving authority's request

If the exact record cannot be identified from the available information, the case may require an individual civil-record search rather than an ordinary certificate order.

Using the death certificate outside Portugal

Apostille is not automatically required.

For death-related public documents covered by Regulation (EU) 2016/1191 and presented to an authority in another EU Member State, apostille is not required.

A multilingual standard form may be used in eligible EU cases as a translation aid attached to the certificate. It has no autonomous legal value and does not replace the Portuguese death certificate.

For destinations outside that framework, follow the receiving authority's requirements for:

• Paper or online form
• Recent issue date
• Apostille or legalization
• Certified translation
• Physical delivery

Choose the correct next step

You know the record and need the certificate

Use the Portuguese death certificate service.

The identifying details are incomplete

Use the Portuguese civil record search service. Search scope and price are agreed individually, and finding a record cannot be guaranteed.

You already have the certificate and need it prepared for another country

Check whether the destination requires apostille, certified translation or both.

Portugal Papers service

Portugal Papers can handle the certificate request remotely from €99.

Connected services include:

• Paper certificate where required
• Apostille when required
• Certified translation from €49 per document
• International delivery
• Individual civil-record search when the record details are incomplete