How to restore the death certificate of a grandmother, mother, parents, husband, father through State Services and through the MFC?

A death certificate is an important document that can help you navigate the various legal issues that typically arise after the death of a loved one. On its basis, pensions, benefits and other payments are issued. Also, only with this document in hand can you enter into an inheritance. If a document suddenly becomes unavailable, it is important to know how to restore a death certificate. The following article will tell you in detail who has the right to receive a duplicate and which institution to apply for it.

Why do you need a duplicate?

The need for a duplicate arises in the following cases:

The original is significantly damaged, the information on it is impossible to recognize.
The original paper is so worn that it is unreadable: the text, signatures and seals are not clearly visible.
The original is destroyed or irretrievably lost.
The interested person cannot receive the original, which is in the possession of other relatives with whom a serious conflict occurred.

Even if the original is intact, the registry office can provide a duplicate. This opportunity is relevant for citizens who need a death certificate to resolve various legal issues, but it is not available to them. An official duplicate issued by the Civil Registry Office has the same legal force as the original document.

Who can restore?

Not everyone can restore this document, that is, get a duplicate of it. The Law “On Civil Status Acts” clearly lists the persons entitled to this:

Close relatives of the deceased. Adult children of deceased parents, as well as their spouses, often apply for this document. Distant relatives who have a connection with the deceased through a generation are also allowed. This is relevant in the case where the close relative who originally received the death certificate of a long-dead relative also died. And his relative, driven by legal interest, can submit a request to the registry office to restore the document. For example, a woman lost her mother’s death certificate and then died herself. Then the woman's daughter restores her grandmother's death certificate.
Any interested party whose rights are affected in one way or another. For example, the owner of the property where the deceased was registered may need this document to confirm that he no longer lives at that address.

As we see, not everyone can restore the death certificate of a significant person. You need to prove the legitimacy of your request, since a random person on the street will be denied.

Therefore, the interested party, with the help of properly selected documents, explains why he is interested and confirms that his interests are within the scope of the law. It is optimal if there is a close or distant relationship between the applicant and the deceased.

If the death record is not preserved

The degree of preservation of documents in civil registry offices and archives varies. Their paper copies have only recently begun to be transferred to electronic media. Sometimes it happens that both copies of the death record are destroyed or lost.

If you need to restore the death certificate of a long-dead relative, the records of which have not been preserved, submit an application to the court to establish the fact of state registration of the civil status act.

A receipt for payment of a fee of 300 rubles is attached to it. (Clause 8, Clause 1, Article 333.19 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation) and evidence - documents from archives and other evidence.

Since October 2021, the Unified State Register of Civil Status Records has appeared in Russia (Article 13.1 of Federal Law No. 143 of November 15, 1997). This is a nationwide data bank that accumulates information about all marriages, divorces, births, and deaths. Over the course of several years, old records stored since 1917 will be transferred to it.

The FSIS “USR Civil Registry Office” will be fully operational in 2021. After this, citizens will be able to apply for the restoration of documents at any office in Russia, regardless of the place of initial issue of the certificate, and receive them on the day of application.

Where to contact?

For a duplicate you need to contact the registry office. Preferably in the one where the certificate was originally issued. However, there are situations when the heirs (especially after a generation) do not know in which specific department the document was received. In this case, you need to contact the department located in the city that became the last refuge of the deceased.

It is optimal if the original document is lost, but a copy or scan has been preserved. Then you need to pay attention to the details of the body that issued the certificate and contact it.

If the heirs live in another city and cannot appear at the required registry office, they can be contacted as follows:

draw up and notarize a power of attorney for a person who decided to go to the desired city to issue a duplicate;
use the services of the Russian Post and send a request by registered mail;
submit a request through the MFC or the State Services portal.

In the last two cases, a repeated certificate will be issued by the civil registry office of the city where the requesting person lives.

How to apply online?

To submit a request for a duplicate, you must complete the following steps:

Log in to the State Services portal.
Fill out the application form, providing the following information:

the address of the registry office where the first certificate was received;
your details: full name, registration address;
details of the deceased: full name, place and date of death;
details of the original document (they can be indicated if a copy or scan has been saved);
your email address to receive a response;
the address of the registry office where it is desirable to obtain a duplicate.

Pay the fee for providing the service. This can be done directly on the portal; this option is beneficial since it provides a small discount.
Expect a response, which usually arrives within 30 days of the request. You will be notified by email which department of the registry office is ready to provide the document and what hours it is best to visit this institution. A refusal is also possible if information about the citizen’s death has not been preserved.

This whole procedure is simple; submitting a request through State Services takes a little time. The portal itself provides detailed and step-by-step instructions, so mistakes are almost impossible.

Procedure for receiving in person

Algorithm of actions:

Visit the district registry office.
Apply.
Present documents.
Pay the fee.
Get a duplicate.

Statement

The application must provide the following information:

name of the registration authority;
information about the applicant (full name, residential address, passport details);
the essence of the appeal “I ask you to issue a repeat certificate...”;
place of death of an individual;
place, date of registration of the event;
why is a duplicate required?
date, signature.

The form is issued by the authorized body.

Sample application for issuance of a duplicate death certificate:

Required documents

The application must be accompanied by:

A copy of the passport of a Russian citizen.
Papers confirming family ties with the deceased.
Receipt for payment of state duty.

When submitting an electronic application, similar papers are attached. If a third party applies for a duplicate, then it will be necessary to justify the existence of interest. If a representative acts in the interests of the applicant, then an additional notarized power of attorney will be required.

Expenses

When issuing a document for the first time, no fee is charged. Whereas to obtain a duplicate certificate you need to pay a state fee. Its size is 350 rubles . (Article 333.26 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation). Payment details can be obtained from the Civil Registry Office staff.

What documents should I prepare?

It doesn’t matter how you decide to contact the registry office (in person or online), you need to prepare the following documents:

passport;
a copy of the lost certificate;
a receipt confirming that the fee has been paid;
documents confirming relationship with the deceased (for example, if you need to get a duplicate of the death of a father or mother, a birth certificate is provided, and if about the death of a husband or wife, then a marriage certificate).

Before visiting the registry office in person, you need to prepare copies of these documents, and before filling out the application online, make a scan. If you decide to apply in person, then in addition to copies, it is important to take with you the original documents: the registry office employee will compare the copies with the originals to prevent forgery.

Grounds for refusal to issue a copy of a death certificate

A refusal to issue a duplicate death certificate can be considered justified only if the following reasons exist:

absence of any information about the citizen in the registry office where, according to your information, the initial registration of the fact of death took place;
the applicant did not confirm the legitimacy of his interest in obtaining a duplicate of such an important document;
the applicant did not submit documents included in the mandatory list.

The refusal is issued in writing and handed to the applicant personally against signature (or sent by mail if he did not appear). After reading the reasons for the refusal, you can try to apply again, eliminating the comments that are set out in the document.

Example: a wife was denied a second death certificate for her husband due to lack of confirmation of the marital relationship. If the applicant applies again with a similar application and does not forget to attach a copy of the marriage certificate, then they will no longer be able to refuse to issue her a duplicate. In this case, the state fee will need to be paid again.

If you consider the refusal to issue you a copy of the death registration as unfounded, you can apply to the court to recognize the actions of the registry office employees as illegal with a request to oblige them to issue a copy of the original.

Application processing time

If the applicant applied for the certificate in person, paid the state fee in advance and provided a complete package of documents, then the duplicate is usually issued within 1 hour. The maximum processing time is 1 day. But this is the optimal period when all the records are preserved in the archive and are easy to access. Otherwise, the registration process may take 1 month. The following factors delay:

The request was sent from another year. Here it is necessary to make allowances for the work of the Russian Post, and neither party can influence this.
The records were lost for some reason and cannot be restored.

The same period of 1 month is relevant in the following cases:

the request was submitted through the State Services portal or the MFC;
the request was submitted through the registry office that did not register the fact of death.

Information on the birth and death of citizens is stored in the registry office for 75 years, and then they are transferred to the regional archive. In the 1920s, these data were recorded by village councils, and before the Revolution - by the church. If you need a duplicate of the death certificate of a relative who died a long time ago, the registry office may be powerless to help, and then you will have to contact other authorities.

In difficult situations, it is recommended to contact the local executive authority. Its representatives have access to the regional archive and can provide assistance.

Information included in the form

In 2021, when submitting an application to receive a certificate, the heir is required to fill out details about the personal data of the deceased with full name, year of birth and death, and address of last registration. It is mandatory to indicate the fact that the deceased lived alone or shared living space with other relatives.

When is refusal possible?

An applicant may be refused in the following situations:

It is impossible to obtain information about the death of a person, and even in the regional archive there is no proper information.
The registry office doubted the legality of the request and the applicant’s right to receive a duplicate.
The registry office considered the reason for the request not convincing enough.
The provided package of documents is insufficiently complete.

The refusal is transmitted to the applicant in writing in person or through Russian Post. Further, he has the right to act as follows:

Fill in the gap, for example, add missing documents, and resubmit the request. You will have to pay the state fee again, since it is not refundable if you refuse.
Apply to the court with a request to declare the actions of the refusing registry office illegal. The claim should indicate the essence of the claim and describe in detail the refusal of the registry office. You also need to convincingly prove why the duplicate is necessary.