Death Certificate Translation for France

Mairie, état civil and the acte de décès

In France a death is entered in the register by the mairie’s état civil department and an acte de décès is drawn up; the notaire conducting an estate, or the body assessing a pension file, reads from a document of that kind that the death has been officially recorded. A Turkish death registry extract is not the equivalent of an acte de décès; it is a foreign record proving the same fact, and in translation it is not equated with one. The heading of the document, the civil registry office that issued it and the information it carries pass across as they stand, with the identity of the deceased and the date and place of death kept intact.

The document seldom travels on its own; in an estate file it is used with the certificate of inheritance, in a pension file with the relevant social security papers. In those files, the name of the deceased and the dates matching the other documents exactly is what allows the notaire or the institution to assess the file as a whole. A single surname spelled differently weakens the impression that the documents belong to the same person, and holds the matter up.

The CIEC multilingual standard-form extract

France is one of the countries party to the multilingual standard-form arrangement (CIEC) for civil status documents; a death record that can be obtained from the Turkish civil registry in multilingual form sets out its fields pre-printed in several languages, and can often be accepted without a translation being asked for at all. Where such a copy can be had, whether a separate sworn translation is still needed is a question for the mairie, the notaire or the institution running the procedure; the answer can save a step in the process and a cost that need not be incurred.

It should not be assumed that the multilingual copy will be accepted in every procedure; certain processes will still ask for a sworn translation of the monolingual extract. Which route holds good depends on the nature of the procedure, so it is settled beforehand. Where a translation is needed, the person’s name, the date and place of death and the details of the issuing authority are carried across in full.

Date and place format, and consular registration

At the heart of a death certificate lie the identity of the deceased and the date and place of death, and these are carried across faithfully to the source format. Where the death occurred abroad and was registered with the civil registry through a Turkish consulate, that chain of registration on the document is reflected accurately as well. In the reverse case, such as the death in Türkiye of a French citizen from France, the fact that the process may also run through the French consulate affects how the file is put together.

When an estate is opened in France, the notaire asks for the acte de décès, or for the foreign death record standing in its place, as one of the basic documents needed to begin; it is also the foundation of the acte de notoriété that establishes who the heirs are. The translation of the death certificate is therefore often the first link in the estate file, and is expected to carry the same name and date data as the inheritance and property documents. Where repatriation of the body or an international notification is involved, the document is prepared in step with the consular and medical papers.

• Do not equate the Turkish registry extract with an acte de décès; carry the issuing authority across as it is.
• Confirm with the authority whether the multilingual standard-form copy is accepted.
• Render the date and place of death faithfully to the source format.

Certification: the apostille and a listed translator

Since a death registry extract originates with the civil registry, an apostille, where one is needed, is obtained from the governor’s office or the district governor’s office. A translation submitted to an official body in France must be made by a sworn translator (traducteur assermenté) on the list of a court of appeal (Cour d’appel), or else the Turkish chain is followed: sworn translator, notarisation, apostille. Where a multilingual standard-form copy is used, a separate translation is usually unnecessary. France is a party to the Hague Apostille Convention; confirm the current position from the official HCCH list. You can handle your matter through our single office in Ankara Kızılay, see the cost on our pricing page and request a quote by uploading your document. This page is for general information; please confirm the form of document required with the mairie or notaire concerned.