Registration and evidence of death
State registration of a death creates the civil-status record and results in a death certificate. It is a separate step from medical confirmation. Contact a DRACS civil registration office or another authority expressly listed in the current service card. A nearby CNAP is not automatically authorised for first registration; confirm that route separately.
The basis for the civil-status record
Registration requires the prescribed medical document or another basis allowed by law, such as an applicable court decision. Not every medical note replaces the required document. Check its type and the personal details it contains. A death abroad, a death in temporarily occupied territory or missing standard evidence may require a different route. Ask the competent authority which preliminary steps apply to the circumstances.
Application timing and the responsible office
The Diia Guide card sets an application deadline of three days from the death or discovery of the body; where the medical or forensic document cannot be obtained, it specifies five days. During martial law, an application can be made to any DRACS office. Check available reception promptly. Prepare the applicant’s available identification and explain any missing standard evidence.
Checking the certificate and later matters
When the certificate is issued, review the name, date and other recorded information. It may support later applications, but it does not by itself complete inheritance or benefit procedures. If the death has already been registered and only the certificate is missing, ask about replacement using the existing record. Replacing the document is different from registering the same event again.
Establish these points first
- Is the prescribed evidence of death available?
- Does the ordinary procedure apply, or are preliminary steps required for special circumstances?
- Which office will accept the application and issue the certificate without delaying the request?
Common questions
Is the medical confirmation the same as the death certificate?
No. Medical evidence can support the registration application; the civil certificate is issued as the result of registration.
What if the death certificate has been lost?
If the civil record already exists, check the replacement certificate procedure rather than making a new death registration.
Related next steps
A Ukrainian death certificate in 2022
For a 2022 case, check the documents and rules applicable at the relevant date. The legal aid system’s 15 November 2022 explanation describes civil registration based on a prescribed medical document or appropriate court decision. A medical death document and the state-issued death certificate were distinct.
For a death in occupied territory where the usual registration evidence was unavailable, it explained a court application to establish the fact. An operating local court could be approached regardless of the applicant’s residence, with evidence and reasons why the ordinary document could not be obtained. Civil registration follows the relevant judgment; filing the court application is not itself a death certificate.
The explanation separately records the 7 May 2022 change under Law 2217-IX concerning documents about births, deaths and marriages in occupied territory that may accompany an application. This was not general recognition of all acts issued by occupation bodies.
A 4 November 2022 legal aid case also illustrates the separate court process. For a new application, check the current procedure and actual evidence; the historical example does not guarantee an identical outcome or processing time.
First-registration timing and a replacement document
Diia Guide service 00033 gives a one-calendar-day, free ordinary death-registration service where the proper application and basis are supplied. This is the service period, distinct from the three- or five-day application deadline. A preliminary court process or missing evidence is a separate matter.
Where the record already exists, check the replacement death-certificate service. A spouse or close relative must establish the relationship; a representative establishes authority under the relevant route. Diia describes authentication, an application, payment, electronic signing and receipt. The page also displayed a temporary-unavailability notice: instructions do not guarantee that online filing currently works. Recheck availability or use an appropriate offline DRACS office.
Ukrainian death records in archives
For an old record, identify the event's date and place. The Justice Ministry's 26 January 2026 explanation describes transferring books after 75 years to the relevant oblast or Kyiv state archive. An archival-certificate request supplies the person's name, date and place, and your contact details. This is not unrestricted public access to everybody's records or a new registration of the death; the competent institution checks access and the appropriate result.