Deaths

Registration of deaths that occurred outside Italy

Ufficio Stato Civile
Email: statocivile.losangeles@esteri.it
Jurisdiction: Arizona, Southern California, Nevada, New Mexico

An Italian citizen’s death certificate must ALWAYS be registered in Italy at the comune of their last known residence. This is true even if the Italian citizen subsequently naturalized in the United States.

Registering the death certificate is crucial since any legal documents pertaining to the deceased’s assets, succession law, bank accounts, pension, etc. can only be processed if their death certificate has been registered. For further information we invite you to email the office directly at: notarile.losangeles@esteri.it

You may submit a request to register a death certificate even if the deceased was not a resident, as long as their death occurred in this Consular jurisdiction.

PLEASE NOTE:

• Before submitting or sending a certificate issued outside Italy, please CAREFULLY check the names, dates and places of birth with the appropriate local authorities. If there are any errors, you will need to request an amendment from the office that issued the certificate;
• For certificates not issued in the consular jurisdiction of the Consulate General of Italy in Los Angeles, it is highly recommended to always check the correctness of the documentation with the Italian Consulate territorially competent over the issuance of the documentation by consulting their website. The procedure to be followed may vary depending on the country or state where the documents was issued, according to the agreements in force with the country in question. Find your competent consulate here.
  Example: For a birth certificate issued in Buenos Aires (Argentina), check the website of the Italian Consulate General in Buenos Aires.

The documents to be presented are the following:

1) Form to Request the Registration in Italy of a death (click here);

2) Certified Copy of the CERTIFICATE OF DEATH in “Long Form” format, issued by the competent local authorities (County Clerk Office);

3) Apostille (Declaration of international validity) to be requested only for the birth certificate issued by the “Secretary of State” of the State where the birth occurred (list of Secretaries of State). The Apostille does not require translation;

4) Translation into Italian of the certificate, entirety, typewritten and faithful to the original in all its parts (list of Translators). The format of the dates must be European type: day/month/year;

5) Photocopy of the Italian passport of the deceased.