What to Do When Someone Dies in Benin: 5-Step Official Checklist

1. 1

   Medical Verification of Death and Issuance of the Medical Death Certificate

   • Death in a public hospital or private clinic: When a death occurs from natural causes in a hospital facility under the Ministry of Health of Benin (Ministère de la Santé du Bénin, such as the Hubert Koutoukou Maga National University Hospital Centre - CNHU-HKM in Cotonou, a Departmental University Hospital Centre, or a zone hospital) or in an approved private clinic, the attending or on-duty physician issues the official medical certificate of death (certificat médical de décès) confirming the cause, date, and time of death, and the body is transferred to the hospital morgue [4].
   • Natural death at home: If the deceased person passes away at home, the family must call a state-licensed physician or visit the nearest municipal health centre of the Ministry of Health of Benin so that a practitioner can clinically verify the death and issue the cause-of-death certificate required for civil registration and morgue admission [1] [4].
   • Suspicious, violent, or public-place death: In the event of an accidental death, sudden death without prior medical supervision, or any medico-legal obstacle, the body must not be moved without the intervention of the Republican Police (Police Républicaine) and the Public Prosecutor (Procureur de la République) at the competent Court of First Instance (under the supervision of the Ministry of Justice and Legislation). A judicial requisition then orders a medico-legal examination or autopsy before the prosecutor's office issues the judicial burial permit [4] [5].
2. 2

   Declaring the Death with the Civil Registry and ANIP

   • Competent authority (Municipality, district office, and ANIP): Under the Personal and Family Code (Code des personnes et de la famille) in force in the Republic of Benin and the national civil status reform, a death is declared at the civil registry centre of the municipality (mairie) or district office (arrondissement) where the death occurred, working in coordination with the National Agency for Identification of Persons (Agence Nationale d'Identification des Personnes - ANIP), which manages the National Register of Natural Persons (RNPP) and the issuance of secure civil status records [1] [2].
   • Statutory deadlines and Certificate of Non-Registration: The declaration must be made within the statutory period following the death in order to obtain the burial permit immediately. If the death was not declared within the prescribed deadline, family members must request a Certificate of Non-Registration of Death (certificat de non-enregistrement de décès, at the official fee of 2,000 FCFA) from the National Agency for Identification of Persons in order to petition the Court of First Instance for a late-registration authorisation judgment [1] [2].
   • Required documents and obtaining the secure Death Certificate: The declarant presents the medical certificate of death (or the hospital declaration form), the identity document or Personal Identification Certificate (Certificat d'Identification Personnelle - CIP) bearing the Personal Identification Number (NPI) of the deceased person, and their own identity document [1] [2]. Once the death is recorded in the RNPP, the National Agency for Identification of Persons issues the secure Death Certificate (acte de décès sécurisé, officially priced at 2,000 FCFA at the counter according to the ANIP fee schedule) [2].
3. 3

   Funeral Arrangements, Sanitary Permits, and International Repatriation

   • Burial permit and municipal or family burial: With the medical certificate of death and civil registration proof, the family or an approved funeral home requests the burial permit (permis d'inhumer) from the municipal hall (such as the Municipality of Cotonou, Porto-Novo, Abomey-Calavi, or Parakou), complying with the public hygiene regulations of the Ministry of Health of Benin [1] [4].
   • Health and judicial rules for cremation: Any request for cremation or transfer for incineration requires the written expression of the wishes of the deceased person or closest surviving relative, a medical certificate confirming the absence of a pacemaker and any medico-legal obstacle, and authorisation from the administrative authority and, where applicable, the Public Prosecutor [4] [5].
   • International repatriation and diplomatic legalisation: If the body or urn is to be transferred outside Benin, or if Beninese civil records must be produced abroad, the file requires a medical certificate of non-contagion, an embalming certificate (certificat de soins de conservation), placement in a hermetically sealed zinc-lined coffin in the presence of police and public health authorities of the Ministry of Health of Benin, and a mortuary laissez-passer [4]. Furthermore, because Benin is not a party to the Hague Apostille Convention, documents issued by the National Agency for Identification of Persons or Beninese courts for use abroad must undergo legalisation by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs followed by super-legalisation at the consulate of the destination country [2] [5].
4. 4

   Procedures with the CNSS, FNRB, Banks, and Insurance Companies

   • Survivor pension or survivor grant at the CNSS: If your family member was an insured private-sector employee or retiree affiliated with the National Social Security Fund (Caisse Nationale de Sécurité Sociale - CNSS), eligible survivors (unremarried surviving spouse and dependent orphans under age 21 continuing their schooling or apprenticeship, or disabled children) may claim a survivor pension (pension de survivants, if the insured person held a pension or had at least 180 months of insurance) or, failing that, a lump-sum survivor grant (allocation de survivants) [3]. The application file submitted to the National Social Security Fund includes the official CNSS claim form, the secure death certificate, the marriage certificate, the children's birth certificates, certificates of life and dependency, school attendance certificates, the insurance booklet, and the employment certificate [3].
   • Civil servants and the National Pension Fund of Benin (FNRB): When the deceased person was a civil servant or military officer affiliated with the National Pension Fund of Benin (Fonds National des Retraites du Bénin - FNRB), claimants apply to the Directorate General of Pensions and Life Annuities of the Ministry of Economy and Finance for the death lump sum (capital décès) and survivor pension [3] [5].
   • Notifying banks and insurance companies: Beninese banks and life insurance companies should be notified promptly by submitting a copy of the secure ANIP death certificate; individual accounts are frozen until estate settlement, whereas life insurance proceeds are paid directly to the beneficiaries named in the policy [2] [5].
5. 5

   Opening and Settling the Estate in Benin

   • Legal framework under the Personal and Family Code: In Benin, intestate and testate succession is governed exclusively by Law No. 2002-07 on the Personal and Family Code (as amended and supplemented by Law No. 2021-13), which establishes the rights of children (without distinction of gender or filiation), the surviving spouse, and ascendants, as well as the disposable portion where a will exists [5].
   • Inventory deed, family council minutes, and notary: To unfreeze bank accounts, collect arrears, or transfer property, the family convenes a family council whose minutes (appointing the estate administrator or guardian of minor children) are homologated by the guardianship judge or the Court of First Instance under the Ministry of Justice and Legislation (Ministère de la Justice et de la Législation), and instructs a Beninese notary to draw up the deed of hereditary notoriety (acte de notoriété héréditaire) or inventory deed and the deed of partition [3] [5].
   • Inheritance tax, land title transfer (ANDF), and heirs abroad: The inheritance tax return and registration of notarial deeds are completed with the Directorate General of Taxes (DGI) prior to transferring land titles with the National Domain and Land Agency (Agence Nationale du Domaine et du Foncier - ANDF); if an heir resides abroad, they may execute an authentic notarial power of attorney duly legalised by the territorially competent consulate of Benin to be represented before the Beninese notary or court [2] [5].

Official Authorities & Verified Contacts

Official Sources Checked by Clarvia

1. [1]
   Certificate of Non-Registration of Death and Civil Status Procedures - ANIP — Agence Nationale d'Identification des Personnes (ANIP) - République du Bénin
2. [2]
   National ANIP e-Services Portal - Death Certificate Services and Official Fees — Agence Nationale d'Identification des Personnes (ANIP)
3. [3]
   Pension Branches - Survivor Pension and Survivor Grant (CNSS Benin) — Caisse Nationale de Sécurité Sociale du Bénin (CNSS)
4. [4]
   Official Portal of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Benin — Ministère de la Santé du Bénin
5. [5]
   Official Portal of the Ministry of Justice and Legislation of the Republic of Benin — Ministère de la Justice et de la Législation du Bénin