Official Process Upon Death of Someone
Declaration Term, Method and Liability
It is mandatory to report the incidents of death; place, if the place is unknown you need to report where the body found. If the incident happened in a vehicle, the place where the body is taken out of the vehicle should be reported to the Civil Registration Directorship.
Reporting the death incident: from the date the incident reported, death reports organized by the authorities according to the sample should be submitted to the relevant County Civil Registration Directorship in maximum 10 days.
ID card of the dead person must be attached to the death report. If there is no ID card, this condition should be specified in the report.
Death should be reported due to the conditions and places where it occurred by the officers:
1. Persons who are authorized to issue bury permit in cities and towns according to the 24/4/1930 date and 1593 serial law,
2. Official doctors or health institution personnel or autonomous persons in villages,
3. Institution directorship at hospitals and nursing home,
4. Doctors or military branches or persons who is assigned by the basal commandership in military organizations,
5. Officers who are assigned by the local governors in natural disasters,
6. Republic prosecutors in forensic incidents or accidents,
Those authorities or officers are responsible to declare the deaths to the General Directorship or Civil Registry Directorship in 10 days after the incident happened (or after they are informed about the incident in foreign countries)
Wife Whose Husband is Dead
Woman whose husband is dead, stays in the registry board of her husband unless she get married again. And she continues to carry his surname. Due to her free-will, she can go back to her old registry; she can have back her own maiden surname upon her written petition.
Deaths in Village
In villages, if there is any doctor or an health institution officers, if not, the village autonomous arranges the death report. The village autonomous is obliged to prepare the death report proper to the sample and then to send it to the county civil registry directorship adding the dead person's ID card. The autonomous should arrange the death report in three copies, and then send the two copies to the Civil Registry Directorship, and keeps the third copy in the village death record file.
The village autonomous is obliged to arrange a declaration form for the deaths about which he is not informed but he found out by him. In this case, he needs to visit city civil registry directorship and submit a report to defend him and he is charged a fine. According to the 3rd article of 68th Law, if there is no satisfactory excuse, he is charged with guilt.
Deaths in Towns Where There is a Health Institution
Upon the death incidents happening in City, County and Town, declaration is made by the authorized official doctor (Government, Municipality, and Health Center Doctors). If there is no official doctor in a place, declaration is made by a medical personnel or an officer assigned for this duty. Upon the demand for the burial permission, death report is arranged and then, county civil registry directorate is notified.
If there is Turkish ID card which belongs to the death person, it is attached to the death report.
If there is a condition that the body should be carried to another place than the death happened, the death report should be arranged by the official department which authorize the transportation of the body.
Deaths in Health Institutions, Correction Places, Prisons, Industrial Facilities and Similar Government Corporations
When the death incident happens in official or private health institutions such as hospital, birth clinics, and prison and correction house, dormitories, industrial facilities, official or private work places with any reason; the death reports arranged due to the samples should be sent to Civil Registry Offices in ten days after the incident reported. Turkish ID card must be attached to the report.
For the death reports arranged properly by the private health institutions, additional authorization process is not required.
Deaths in General Transportation Vehicles
Natural deaths occurred in general mass transportation vehicles such as plane, ferry, train, responsible persons from these vehicles should arrange death report in three copies. At the first coming stopping station, two copies of this death report should be sent to the county civil registry directorship. If the first stop station is in a foreign country, the two copies of the death report should be sent to the nearest Turkish Consulate in ten days upon arrival.
If the notification can not be sent because the address is not known in the relevant foreign country, the copy of report can be sent to the Turkish Consulate Turkish Consulate in the final destination.
Multiple Deaths Caused by Natural Disasters, Accidents
In the mass death conditions under the circumstances in natural disasters such as earthquake, flood or in accidents in the air, on the sea or on the railways, highways or in the mines, building collapses, officers who is assigned by the Governor or Caimacam will specify the identities of dead people.
In case, when the identification is not possible, photos of death people will be taken by the assigned officer and will be saved in a special file.
If the incident was taken over by the juridical departments, after the investigation carried out by this departments, death people’s identification, civil registry place will be transferred to the list in two copies. Bottom of the lists designated as a incident report then signed and authorized by the officer.
Afterwards, in case there is no possibility of arranging lists, relevant department’s official papers added to those lists then, death reports organized and sent to county civil registry directorship in the same files with the lists.
If county civil registry building was damaged, official process is carried out according to the directions of the ministry.
Deaths of Foreign Origin Person Married With A Turkish Citizen
In case of a death of a foreign origin person who is married with a Turkish Citizen in or outside of Turkey, upon the delivery of the official documents showing the person’s death to the Turkish Consulates (outside of Turkey) or bounded Civil Registry Directorate (in Turkey); County Civil Registry Directorate gives serial number from the board of “other incidents” and an explanation is placed in the Civil Registry Sample ‘s “thoughts” part about the incident then “widow” is written on the person’s martial status of the registry.
Death Reports Arranged by Civil Registry Directorships
Death reports is being arranged by the county civil registry directorship in the following cases: relevant peoples application with an official document in person, or death notification by official departments or sending a status and death report arranged by security officer about a person fugitive from the military duty.
As an official report considering the death incident; papers issued by official departments based on the health institution, private hospitals, reports, traffic accident reports, court registries, court verdicts or similar documents accepted.
Deaths in a Foreign Country
Death incidents of Turkish Citizens in abroad, can be declared by sending the documents taken from the foreign official departments to the Turkish Turkish Foreign Represent Office.
Holding Registries Reports, about The Deaths in Abroad, in Turkey
In case, the death of the Turkish Citizen is not declared to the Turkish Consulate for any reason; County Civil Registry Directorship arranges the death report after authorization and translation of the document taken from the foreign official departments.
Registration of Death into the Family Civil Registry Board
Two copies of the death report is registered by the official departments into the family board.
Death and inheritor declarations based on the death report, should be sent to the local tax office. In this declaration, the address of the dead person is taken from his residence registry. Therefore, the address is being declared from the relevant civil registry office to the tax office.
The dead person;
1. if the residence address is not in the same county with civil registry office, besides the registration by the civil registry office in the digital board, death and inheritor reports will be sent to the tax office in residence of the dead person,
2. if there is no address information in the death report because of it was able to find out the latest residence address of the dead person, civil registry directorship in the same place where the death incident declared, completes the death registry and notifies the tax office in the same residence of the civil registry office of death person.
Lifting Register of Death
The death registry which is registered in the family board can be dismissed by the court order.
The death registry can be dismissed by both opening a legal case and proposing the mistaken registry made by the civil registry directorship. This proposal sent to the Republic Prosecutor so as to open the legal case.
Death of Persons Holding Foreign Citizenship
In case the death of a foreign originated person’s death declared to the civil registry directorship, three copies of death report arranged. One copy is given to the relevant person, another copy is hold in the foreigners death file and the third copy is sent to City Security Department.
If there is resident report attached to the death report arrived to the Civil Registry Directorship, the resident permit should be sent to the relevant city’s security directorship.
If the dead person was a citizen of a foreign country which has taken part in an international agreement with Turkey, a sample death report which is arranged multi-lingual form, should be sent to the General Security Directorship so as to be transferred the origin country.
Death of A Person Who is not Registered in Civil Registry Board
Death reports of a person who is not registered into the family registration board, they are accepted by the Civil Registry Offices provided that they are sent in the legal time. After finishing the legal declaration term, if those death reports sent to civil registry offices are arranged according to the official or private health institutions’ registries, they are accepted by the Civil Registry Office and process starts.
Claim of Identification Theft of Dead Brother/Sister
Any identification theft claim is not accepted unless the stolen identification is being shown as an official document and this document must show birth and death incident of the relevant person.
As an official document:
1. Birth and death reports based on the health institutions,
2. Permission of bury and their registry samples,
3. Registry and process sample about the relevant person in the other official departments,
4. Registry and graduation documents if the relevant person had attended any school in past.
After a wide range investigation by the security department about the claim, the file will be sent to the ministry, and process goes on according to the official order.
Death Indication
If a person get lost during the disaster incidents that is believed the person is dead, the person registered as dead by the city governor even his/her body is not found.
Registration of The Person Whose Death is Assumed Certain
Inheritors, Brother/sisters, Spouse of lost person, who is certainly believed that he/she is dead by now, should apply to ay civil registry directorship with a written statement.
During the application, any official document which can prove the claim must be submitted. If there is no any official submitted, they are required to bring a proof document.
Repeal
If there is strong possibility about the death of a person who is lost or not heard from him/her for long-tern in an incident, a court could issue a verdict about his/her total loss upon the application of his/her close relatives.
After court verdict, if the body of the person found, the death is registered into the family’s board of register.
Issuing loss verdict by the court, creates legal conditions of death.
Repeal of Absence
If the lost person would be found in the future, the person’s status will corrected by the court and the person’s civil registry will be renewed based on the court verdict.
Ofis Translation Service may help you during this process for the official document. You may visit our website for more information.
