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Death certificate translation template, free in Word

This death certificate translation template is a Word file with the fields a civil death record usually carries: the registry entry, the deceased, the date, place and cause of death, the informant and the burial or cremation, then a page for the translator's certification. Fill it in yourself, or upload the certificate and LoreAI returns the translation in the certificate's own layout.

Scan, French
Scan of a sample French death certificate with invented names
LoreAI output, Word file in English
A French death certificate next to its English translation in Word, field by field
Real output. Left, a sample French death certificate with invented names. Right, the English Word file LoreAI returned. Specimen scan (PDF) · Word file LoreAI returned (.docx)

The template

The order follows a typical civil registry death entry. Remove the rows your certificate does not have and add rows for anything it has that the template lacks, such as a coroner's note or a later correction.

TRANSLATION FROM [SOURCE LANGUAGE] INTO ENGLISH DEATH CERTIFICATE Issuing office (Civil Registry): ____________________ Book / Page / Entry No.: ____________________ Date of registration: ____________________ THE DECEASED Full name: ____________________ Sex: ____________________ Age: ________ Date and place of birth: ____________________ Nationality: ____________________ Marital status: ____________________ Spouse: ____________________ Occupation: ____________________ Last address: ____________________ Father: ____________________ Mother: ____________________ ID or passport No.: ____________________ DEATH Date of death: ____________________ Time: ________ Place of death: ____________________ Cause of death: ____________________ Certifying physician: ____________________ License No.: ________ INFORMANT (person who reported the death) Name: ____________________ Relationship: ________ BURIAL OR CREMATION Place: ____________________ Date: ________ Registrar: ____________________ Marginal notes: ____________________ Seals and signatures: [Seal: ________] [Signature of registrar] (Translator's certification follows on the next page.)
Download as Word (.docx)

Free to use and share, including for clients. If you publish it, please link to this page:

<a href="https://www.loreai.org/death-certificate-translation-template">Death certificate translation template</a>

How to fill it in

  1. Copy the deceased's name exactly as written, with both surnames where the certificate has two.
  2. Translate the cause of death in full and keep the medical terms medical, for example acute myocardial infarction rather than heart attack.
  3. Spell the month of each date out in words so day and month cannot be confused.
  4. Name the informant and their relationship to the deceased as the certificate states it.
  5. Put seals, stamps, signatures and handwritten entries in square brackets, and mark anything unreadable as [illegible].
  6. Translate the back of the certificate and any apostille attached to it.
  7. Sign the translator's certification on the second page. The wording is in the certificate of translation template.

Where a death certificate translation goes

Death certificates from abroad end up with insurers, pension funds, banks closing an account, probate courts and USCIS, for example when a widow or widower continues a petition. Each of them reads the translation next to the original, so a translation in the same order as the certificate is quicker to check.

Countries lay the record out differently. A Mexican acta de defunción, a French acte de décès and an Indian death certificate put the cause of death, the informant and the burial in different places. LoreAI keeps your certificate's own order: upload the scan, and the Word file comes back translated with names, dates and numbers as written. Then add the signed certification page.

Questions people ask

Will USCIS accept a death certificate translated with this template?

USCIS does not approve templates. It asks for a complete English translation and the translator's signed certification of accuracy and competence. A filled-in template meets that when it covers the whole certificate and the certification is signed.

Does the cause of death have to be translated?

Yes. A complete translation covers every field, including the cause of death and any physician's notes.

Is there a template for a Spanish death certificate?

The Spanish death certificate guide lists the fields of an acta de defunción in English. Upload the certificate to LoreAI and the Word file follows its layout.

Can I use the template for free?

Yes. Copy the text above or download the Word file. Translating your own certificate with LoreAI is free for your first document.

Get an editable translation of your document

Upload a scan or a photo. LoreAI returns a Word file in the same layout, ready to check, correct and sign.

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