Directeur de l'état civil du Québec

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Death

Declaring a death

Under the Civil Code of Québec, any death that takes place in Québec must be declared to the Directeur de l'état civil. The Declaration of Death form is used to declare the death.

To enter the death in the Québec register of civil status, the Directeur de l'état civil needs the information provided in the declaration of death, which is completed by a person close to the deceased, assisted by the funeral director, and the attestation of death, which is drawn up by the physician who attests the death. Once the entry is made, a certificate or a copy of an act of death can be obtained. These official documents facilitate the steps taken by the liquidator of the succession when the succession is settled.

Once it is signed and dated by the register of civil status, the declaration of death becomes the act of death. It is therefore important to be sure that all the information requested is entered and no error is made in completing the declaration.

If you wish to declare a death that took place outside Québec, please go to the section Insertion into the Québec register of civil status.

Note

Under an agreement with the Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec, the Directeur de l'état civil can be entrusted with the deceased’s health insurance card. The card can be given the funeral director, who will send it to the Directeur de l'état civil, along with the documents concerning the death.

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Documents related to the declaration of a death

Attestation of Death

The attestation of death is a duplicate form that is completed by the physician who attests the death. The physician generally gives the two copies to the funeral director, who is responsible for giving one copy to the declarant of the death and sending the other copy to the Directeur de l’état civil. The physician can also choose to send the Directeur de l'état civil his or her copy.

Declaration of Death

The declaration of death is a triplicate form that is completed by the declarant of the death, the witness and the funeral director. It provides information about the death (for example: place, date and time of death), the deceased (for example: name, sex, address of last domicile, date of birth, place of birth, place of registration of birth, marital status, and names of father and mother), the spouse of the deceased, the disposal of the body (for example: date, place and mode of disposal) and the witness.

Declarant of the death

The declarant can be the spouse of the deceased, a close relative (father, mother, brother, sister, son, daughter, uncle or aunt), a person related by marriage or civil union (father-in-law, mother-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, uncle by marriage or aunt by marriage) or any other person who is able to identify the deceased (common-law spouse, friend, neighbour or hospital staff member).

Witness

The witness must be a person 18 years of age or older, other than the funeral director or the declarant of the death. The witness can be a family member, a friend of the deceased or a member of the funeral home staff. The witness must complete his or her section of the declaration of death, and sign and date it. The witness must, in particular, attest that the declaration was completed, signed and dated before him or her by the declarant of the death and the funeral director.

Funeral director

The funeral director enters on the declaration of death the date and place of the death, the mode of disposal of the body and the number of the attestation of death, and signs and dates the declaration.

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Language of the act and issuing of civil status documents

Before completing the declaration of death, be sure to have a form in the language of your choice, either French or English. The act of death will be drawn up in the language of the form used and no correction regarding the language can be made unless it is demonstrated that an error was committed when the death was registered. The certificate or the copy of an act issued in respect of an act is in the same language as the act. For more information, see the directive Correction d’une erreur relative à la langue dans laquelle un acte d’état civil a été dressé (PDF, 41 Ko) (in French only).

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Guide to declaring a death to the Directeur de l'état civil

To help funeral directors comply with the rules and formalities related to the declaration of death, the Directeur de l'état civil has prepared the guide entitled Comment déclarer un décès au Directeur de l'état civil (PDF, 141 Ko) (in French only).

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Simplify the steps you can take with a My Québec Services Account

My Québec Services Account , available through the Gouvernement du Québec portal or directly on the Internet, is a secure online space aimed at facilitating the steps you can take with Québec government departments or agencies at the time of a particular life event. For instance, you can complete the “What to Do in the Event of Death” questionnaire and obtain a personalized list of steps to take with government departments and agencies when a death occurs. You can then save your personalized list of steps for follow-up.

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Reviewed: 2013-03-06