Obtaining a death certificate

Family members with whom the deceased lived or other persons close to the deceased who had been informed of his or her death, such as persons holding a legal interest, are required to report the death of the deceased to the competent authorities.

The death is reported to the coroner of the registration district of the town in which death occurred or in which the body of the deceased was found either orally or in writing, and within eight days from the date of death with the death certificate issued by a registered medical practitioner or another person authorised to certify death, or healthcare institution, if the person died in a healthcare institution. Sometimes, in some towns in Croatia upon the establishing of a death by the authorised person (coroner),the required death certificates issued by the coroner for the registrar are obtained immediately, while in some other cases they are sent officially.

Records on deaths occurred in the Republic of Croatia and of those of Croatian citizens occurred abroad are entered into the Death Registry.

The registrar to which the death is reported will then prepare the death certificate, with the required information about the deceased, his or her property and heirs, and submit it to the competent court for the purpose of filing an order for probate or to the person upon the request of which he had issued it.

If the person died outside of the place of residence, the registrar will submit an excerpt from the Death Registry, together with other information he has obtained which can be used for issuing a death certificate, to the Probation Court.