Death Certificate Translation for the USA

The state vital records system

In the USA a death is recorded by the vital records office of the state in which it occurred; there is no single federal register. A Turkish death registry extract is put forward in a US probate, pension or insurance file as foreign evidence that the death has been officially recorded. The translation allows the state authority or the institution concerned to read the identity of the deceased and the date and place of death correctly; the document is not equated with a state death certificate, but carried across as a foreign record. The state and the proceeding it will be used in also affect the form in which the translation will be required.

The document rarely travels alone; in an estate file it is used together with the certificate of inheritance, in an insurance claim together with the policy. In such files the name of the deceased and the date data are expected to match the other documents exactly; a name spelled differently from the passport, or a date given differently, weakens the coherence of the file. Since each step may involve a different state or institution, using the same document consistently across several files matters a great deal.

The multilingual standard-form extract is not recognised

The multilingual standard-form extract (CIEC) used in some countries for civil status events offers no shortcut as far as the USA is concerned; the USA stands outside that convention system and does not accept such a multilingual copy as it is. If a Turkish death certificate is going to the USA, the monolingual extract is therefore obtained and translated into the target language, that is, into English. The distinction matters, because a multilingual extract that works in certain European countries does not remove the need for a separate translation in a US proceeding, and assuming otherwise gets the file sent back.

In translation, the person’s name, the date and place of death and the details of the issuing authority are carried across in full. If the document records a cause of death, that too is rendered as it stands, with medical wording given in its established equivalents. The spelling of the deceased’s name is kept consistent with the passport and the other documents.

Date and place format, and the absence of a federal scheme

The date format in common use in the USA follows a month-day-year order; in trying to fit the date on a Turkish document to that order, a day and a month that change places can misstate when the death occurred. The date is therefore rendered faithfully to the source format and with a clarity that leaves no room for doubt. The place of death is likewise written out correctly, with its administrative units. Since the state in which the document will be processed may affect how the date and place data are expected to appear, this is established at the outset.

US institutions usually ask for a recently issued certified copy bearing a raised seal; the translation is submitted as a legible rendering of that original, and the copy it is based on is identified in the certification. If the deceased held property or accounts in the USA, the translated death certificate is assessed together with the certificate of inheritance in the local probate process. Because such files are often prepared under time pressure, settling at the outset which documents are needed and in what form keeps document-related delays in a difficult period to a minimum.

• Do not assume that a multilingual extract will be accepted in the USA.
• Render the date of death so that day and month cannot be confused.
• Check that the certificate of accuracy has been attached to the translation.

Certification: the signed certificate of accuracy

The USA has no sworn translator system; the official assurance of a translation is the signed certificate of accuracy attached to it. The certificate states that the translation is complete and accurate and carries the translator’s name and contact details, the date and the signature. Some proceedings may also require the signature on that certificate to be witnessed by a notary. The USA is a party to the Hague Apostille Convention; if an apostille is needed for a document originating with the civil registry, it is obtained from the governor’s office or the district governor’s office, and the current position should be confirmed from the official HCCH list. You can handle the matter through our single office in Ankara Kızılay, see the cost on our pricing page and request a quotation by uploading your document. This page is for general information; please confirm the exact requirements with the relevant office of the state you are dealing with.