Death Certificate

[HeijoshinCool]

Upon a foreigner's death, how easy and how quickly can a death certificate be obtained? What is required to process?

 

Does it have to be requested by a lawyer, or can a friend obtain it, perhaps by power-of-attorney,  to send back to the USA?

[Tropicalevo]

When my died, I believe that the death certificate was issued by the hospital. I am not sure if it was the private hospital that tried to revive her or the government hospital where her body was sent to afterwards. I suspect the latter.

As to how soon a certificate can be obtained, that will depend on the COD.

My memory is not totally accurate as to what happened and when but events, as I recollect them, were -

My wife died in her sleep.

Ambulance to the nearest hospital.

Unable to revive her - next day to the government hospital for an 'autopsy'. (That never happened.)

Police came to our house to make sure that there were no signs of foul play.

The next week was spent running backwards and forwards for 'documents' so as to release her body to go to the temple.

Police (no) crime report.

Police (no) crime report signed by a different policeman.

Contact and emails with the embassy - they have to approve the release of the body from the hospital. (British embassy were super efficient here. 24 hours. No problems.)

Back to private hospital for more documents. By this time I was pizzed off and called 'a friend'.

My wife's body and all documents were released within 2 hours of me calling my friend.

 

Please note that the further away from Bangkok that you are, things can take a little longer. Also - the death certificate will be in Thai. You may need an authorised translation to send overseas.

 

Edited July 2, 2021 by Tropicalevo

[HeijoshinCool]

1 hour ago, Tropicalevo said:

When my died, I believe that the death certificate was issued by the hospital. I am not sure if it was the private hospital that tried to revive her or the government hospital where her body was sent to afterwards. I suspect the latter.

As to how soon a certificate can be obtained, that will depend on the COD.

My memory is not totally accurate as to what happened and when but events, as I recollect them, were -

My wife died in her sleep.

Ambulance to the nearest hospital.

Unable to revive her - next day to the government hospital for an 'autopsy'. (That never happened.)

Police came to our house to make sure that there were no signs of foul play.

The next week was spent running backwards and forwards for 'documents' so as to release her body to go to the temple.

Police (no) crime report.

Police (no) crime report signed by a different policeman.

Contact and emails with the embassy - they have to approve the release of the body from the hospital. (British embassy were super efficient here. 24 hours. No problems.)

Back to private hospital for more documents. By this time I was pizzed off and called 'a friend'.

My wife's body and all documents were released within 2 hours of me calling my friend.

 

Please note that the further away from Bangkok that you are, things can take a little longer. Also - the death certificate will be in Thai. You may need an authorised translation to send overseas.

 

.

 

Thanks, and sorry for your loss.

 

[HeijoshinCool]

Just to give a little more info, this would be upon my own death in LOS, and for the sole purpose of my life insurance beneficiary being able to claim the payout.

 

So, if I'm dead, can my friend get a death certificate, or will I need a Thai attorney?

[Delight]

A friend of mine (British Subject) died a few days ago.

Obtaining a Death Certificate with an official translation is a current project.

I will know more early next week.

I shall report on the progress

Edited July 3, 2021 by Delight
added detail

[HeijoshinCool]

8 hours ago, Delight said:

A friend of mine (British Subject) died a few days ago.

Obtaining a Death Certificate with an official translation is a current project.

I will know more early next week.

I shall report on the progress

.

Sorry about your friend.

 

In the States, each state is different: some consider certified death certificates public record, others non-certified as public record; others not public record either way.

 

So that is the question, yes, can a friend obtain a certified (is there such a thing in LOS) certificate?

 

Thanks for your help.

[Speedo1968]

My sympathies to those who have posted above and lost loved ones or friends.

The information is most helpful as i live alone and have been trying to get my head around where to get the correct form, translations etc.
I always carry contact details with me along with copy of passport, drug allergies etc. and a DNR request, similar information on clear display in my house.
Then of course there is a Will that has to be held by someone.
Your posts have urged me to go over what documents I have and what needs to be in English and Thai.

[Delight]

On 7/3/2021 at 11:06 AM, Delight said:

A friend of mine (British Subject) died a few days ago.

Obtaining a Death Certificate with an official translation is a current project.

I will know more early next week.

I shall report on the progress

 As stated  earlier I report on my progress to obtain a death certificate

pertaining to the death of my friend.

Progress to date -None

I went to Pattaya City Hospital.

The stated that they could not issue the document.

They simply referred me to the British embassy.

 

Given that I am not next of kin-then there is no point in following this up.

Project ends

 

 

[JimHuaHin]

From my experience on the death of a Thai friend a few years ago, the Thai district public hospital issued a death certificate on the day of the death  (my friend died in the early hours of the morning).  I hope this helps.

[natway09]

It depends on circumstances. My good mate in Phuket it took over 3 months to get 

a death certificate & approval to cremate.

Most farangs will have a simple autopsy & death certificate issued immediately

(say 3 days max)

[natway09]

Who is your next of kin ? Do you have a Thai wife (legally) even if not living together it can

be released to her.

If no next of kin in Thailand they will want to contact the closest relative overseas.

At this difficult time with covid making travel difficult it could be an involved process

so better stay healthy.. As the movie says "not a good day to die"

[tandor]

there should be a web-site and certainly a topic posted on Thai Visa...under Funeral Assistance for Foreigners in Chiang Mai.

[HeijoshinCool]

4 hours ago, JimHuaHin said:

From my experience on the death of a Thai friend a few years ago, the Thai district public hospital issued a death certificate on the day of the death  (my friend died in the early hours of the morning).  I hope this helps.

.

To whom did they release the certificate?

[HeijoshinCool]

4 hours ago, natway09 said:

It depends on circumstances. My good mate in Phuket it took over 3 months to get 

a death certificate & approval to cremate.

Most farangs will have a simple autopsy & death certificate issued immediately

(say 3 days max)

.

 

Not concerned with what they do with my body, even soi dogs need chew toys.

 

Just need to know if my friend in Thailand can easily get a certified death certificate to send to my beneficiary in the US.

[HeijoshinCool]

4 hours ago, natway09 said:

Who is your next of kin ? Do you have a Thai wife (legally) even if not living together it can

be released to her.

If no next of kin in Thailand they will want to contact the closest relative overseas.

At this difficult time with covid making travel difficult it could be an involved process

so better stay healthy.. As the movie says "not a good day to die"

.

 Only a sister in the States and haven't spoken in years.

 

Again, folks, I have a beneficiary in the USA: life insurance and bank account. Truck is already in both our names. She has key to my storage unit. 

 

So, no probate, as long as she is provided with a proper death certificate.

 

That's it.

 

So I guess since, amazingly, no one can answer a question that virtually all ex-pats should want to know the answer to, I'll have to spend money and get an attorney in LOS.

 

I trust my friend, and he even has a back up. Every attorney relationship I have had has led me to the point of preferring the eat monkey $hit for a week rather than sit down with Dewey, Cheatem and Howe for one minute.

 

But thanks for the responses.

[Andycoops]

On 7/6/2021 at 2:39 PM, Delight said:

 As stated  earlier I report on my progress to obtain a death certificate

pertaining to the death of my friend.

Progress to date -None

I went to Pattaya City Hospital.

The stated that they could not issue the document.

They simply referred me to the British embassy.

 

Given that I am not next of kin-then there is no point in following this up.

Project ends

 

 

In my experience the death certificate for a UK citizen is issued after the embassy post mortem has been carried out.

[rcjoop]

Got a death certificate for a friend three years ago, your situation will be different but it might help with the procedures.

Good friend living in Chiang Mai and died in Chiang Rai, partner and son have moved to Europe at that time.

 

First thing was to get hold of his passport that he did not have with him so he could be officially ID'ed.

To get the death certificate I needed three other documents.

He died in the Overbrook hospital, a private hospital in CR and I got the form where the responsible doctor declared him dead, the body was already moved to a bigger government hospital where an autopsy would be performed if there was any doubt about the cause of death, they issued a statement with the official cause of death and that nothing suspicious was found.

Next was a visit to the police and they wrote a police report.

 

With these three documents I went to the District Office, Amphur, and they wrote the official death certificate.

 

There had been a couple of phone contacts with the Embassy and they were helpful.

Of course this should be translated and legalized but that is not difficult to do, most translation services will do that for you.

As both his and my name are on it in Thai script you will have to tell the translator what must be the outcome of the name translation otherwise you and up with quite a different name and it will not be accepted.

Joop

[scorecard]

5 hours ago, rcjoop said:

Got a death certificate for a friend three years ago, your situation will be different but it might help with the procedures.

Good friend living in Chiang Mai and died in Chiang Rai, partner and son have moved to Europe at that time.

 

First thing was to get hold of his passport that he did not have with him so he could be officially ID'ed.

To get the death certificate I needed three other documents.

He died in the Overbrook hospital, a private hospital in CR and I got the form where the responsible doctor declared him dead, the body was already moved to a bigger government hospital where an autopsy would be performed if there was any doubt about the cause of death, they issued a statement with the official cause of death and that nothing suspicious was found.

Next was a visit to the police and they wrote a police report.

 

With these three documents I went to the District Office, Amphur, and they wrote the official death certificate.

 

There had been a couple of phone contacts with the Embassy and they were helpful.

Of course this should be translated and legalized but that is not difficult to do, most translation services will do that for you.

As both his and my name are on it in Thai script you will have to tell the translator what must be the outcome of the name translation otherwise you and up with quite a different name and it will not be accepted.

Joop

 

Small point. An American acquaintance died in Pattaya about 10 years ago. No family/relationships in Thailand. He had told many friends he had a brother (only relative) in the US and that he hadn't spoken to his brother for several decades, and that he had made no will and that he had no assets whatever (he had in fact been borrowing money to pay bar workers for years), his room was rented with minimum cheap furniture.  

 

Thai police in Pattaya contacted the US embassy in Bkk, and informed the embassy they had information that the deceased was estranged from his brother in the US, there was no will and no assets and that he had mentioned he didn't want the brother in the US informed of his death.

 

It seems that when information is hearsay (as above) the embassy must try to contact any relatives and they did find the brother (family name is a strange spelling with very few people with that name).

 

Embassy staff then informed the Thai police and an acquaintance in Pattaya who had trying to help that the brother in the us had responded to a phone call with: 'Yes he's my brother I haven't spoken to him for 2 decades and I have nothing to say and please don't ever contact me again'.

 

When this detail was relayed officially to the Pattaya police they immediately told the hospital involved to issue a death certificate and give it the the Pattaya police. His body was held for 6 months (from memory) then the police used a special fund to pay for a paupers funeral.

 

 

[HeijoshinCool]

2 hours ago, scorecard said:

 

Small point. An American acquaintance died in Pattaya about 10 years ago. No family/relationships in Thailand. He had told many friends he had a brother (only relative) in the US and that he hadn't spoken to his brother for several decades, and that he had made no will and that he had no assets whatever (he had in fact been borrowing money to pay bar workers for years), his room was rented with minimum cheap furniture.  

 

Thai police in Pattaya contacted the US embassy in Bkk, and informed the embassy they had information that the deceased was estranged from his brother in the US, there was no will and no assets and that he had mentioned he didn't want the brother in the US informed of his death.

 

It seems that when information is hearsay (as above) the embassy must try to contact any relatives and they did find the brother (family name is a strange spelling with very few people with that name).

 

Embassy staff then informed the Thai police and an acquaintance in Pattaya who had trying to help that the brother in the us had responded to a phone call with: 'Yes he's my brother I haven't spoken to him for 2 decades and I have nothing to say and please don't ever contact me again'.

 

When this detail was relayed officially to the Pattaya police they immediately told the hospital involved to issue a death certificate and give it the the Pattaya police. His body was held for 6 months (from memory) then the police used a special fund to pay for a paupers funeral.

 

 

.

OK, but who got the certificate?

[scorecard]

2 hours ago, HeijoshinCool said:

.

OK, but who got the certificate?

I'm not an expert on this subject, far from it, and what I've written here is second hand information but I respect that the source was well informed.

 

My understanding is that the death certificate was one of some documents needed for the Thai police to, at a later date (fixed by regulations) go ahead with the paupers cremation.

[Sheryl]

As you seem to be referring to a US citizen:  Thai authorities will issue a Thai death certificate, and will notify the Embassy of the death. (Anyone else can also notify the Embassy, at any time, even after hours -- ask for the "Duty Officer").

 

The US Embassy will issue a "report of death of US citizen abroad" based on the Thai death certificate and copy of the deceased's passport and this can be used in lieu of a US death certificate (the Thai death certificate, being all in Thai, is useless in the US).

 

The Embassy will notify the next of kin and provide them with this document. I have also known them to provide it to the Executor named in the deceased person's will, and to other persons with the consent of the next of kin.

 

No need for a lawyer. Just contact the Embassy directly. But if the person contacting is neither a relative nor Executior, the Embassy may require consent of the family before releasing the paperwork to them. Note that the Embassy will directly send the certificate ot family in the US so no need for a middle man for this purpose. But an intermediary living in Thailand can be helpful in letting the Embassy know of the death and who the family are.

 

 

[HeijoshinCool]

On 7/8/2021 at 11:44 AM, Sheryl said:

I have also known them to provide it to the Executor named in the deceased person's will

Great info, thanks.

 

No next of kin.

 

I assume a US is acceptable, being we're dealing with the embassy at this point? The executor would be my American attorney.

 

 

[jomtienisgood]

On 7/6/2021 at 2:39 PM, Delight said:

 As stated  earlier I report on my progress to obtain a death certificate

pertaining to the death of my friend.

Progress to date -None

I went to Pattaya City Hospital.

The stated that they could not issue the document.

They simply referred me to the British embassy.

 

Given that I am not next of kin-then there is no point in following this up.

Project ends

 

 

Not meaning to offend but is it possible the cost of Hospital has not been settled and that therefor they don't want to issue the Document?? 

[HeijoshinCool]

7 hours ago, jomtienisgood said:

Not meaning to offend but is it possible the cost of Hospital has not been settled and that therefor they don't want to issue the Document?? 

.

If so, the reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.