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

1. 1

   Medical Certification of Death and Issuance of the Medical Certificate

   • Death in a hospital or clinical facility: When a death occurs in a university hospital center (CHU), a regional hospital center, or an accredited private clinic supervised by the Ministry of Health of the Gabonese Republic (Ministère de la Santé de la République gabonaise), the attending physician or on-duty doctor immediately performs the clinical examination and issues the official medical certificate of death [1] [5]. This certificate confirms the reality and natural or pathological cause of death and authorizes the transfer of the body to the hospital mortuary or a licensed funeral home [1] [5].
   • Death at home: If your family member dies at home, the family must promptly call a physician registered with the National Medical Council of Gabon or the municipal emergency medical service to examine the deceased person on site and issue the medical death certificate required by the Ministry of Health of the Gabonese Republic (Ministère de la Santé de la République gabonaise) [1] [5].
   • Death in a public place, accidental death, or suspicious circumstances: In cases of violent death, traffic or workplace accident, or medically unexplained circumstances, the judicial police or national gendarmerie must be notified immediately [2]. Under the legal rules governing criminal investigation and the Gabonese Civil Code, the Public Prosecutor (Procureur de la République) at the competent Court of First Instance (Tribunal de première instance) orders a forensic medical examination; the burial permit and release of the body can only be granted after written authorization from the prosecutor's office [2].
2. 2

   Civil Registration of the Death Before the Civil Registrar

   • Competent authority and statutory deadlines: Pursuant to Law No. 15/72 enacting Part One of the Civil Code of the Gabonese Republic, every death occurring on national territory must be declared before the civil registrar (officier de l'état civil) at the town hall (mairie of the commune or arrondissement) or the civil registry center of the place of death within the strict statutory deadline (generally within three days of the medical certification in urban areas) [2]. Once the statutory deadline has expired, the civil registrar can no longer record the death by simple administrative declaration, and the family must petition the Court of First Instance for a late registration court order (jugement supplétif d'acte de décès) [2].
   • Required supporting documents: The declarant (a relative or any person possessing complete and accurate information about the civil status of the deceased person) must present the original medical certificate of death, the national identity card, passport, or birth certificate of the deceased person, the family record book (livret de famille) if applicable, and the declarant's own valid official identity document [2].
   • Obtaining official death certificates: The civil registrar records the death in the official civil status registers and issues the original death record slips alongside the burial permit [2]. Families should request several certified full copies of the death certificate (copies intégrales de l'acte de décès) immediately, as they are required for social security funds, banks, and estate settlement [2] [3].
3. 3

   Funeral Arrangements, Burial, and International Repatriation

   • Municipal and sanitary burial authorizations: No burial or final sealing of the coffin may take place without the burial permit (permis d'inhumer) issued by the municipal civil registrar upon presentation of a medical certificate of non-contagion established in accordance with the health regulations of the Ministry of Health of the Gabonese Republic (Ministère de la Santé de la République gabonaise) [1] [2]. Embalming and body preservation procedures (soins de thanatopraxie), placement in the coffin, and inter-provincial funeral transport are carried out by licensed funeral providers under the supervision of municipal hygiene services [1] [2].
   • Cross-border transport and international repatriation: If the deceased person must be repatriated to another country or brought into Gabon from abroad, an international mortuary laissez-passer is mandatory [1] [2]. This file requires the official civil death certificate, a medical certificate confirming the absence of contagious disease, an official report confirming embalming and placement in a hermetically sealed zinc-lined coffin witnessed by health or police authorities, and consular or administrative transport authorization [1] [2] [5].
4. 4

   Social Security, Pensions, Banks, and Insurance Notifications

   • Private-sector social security notification: If your family member was an active or retired private-sector employee, the death must be reported promptly to the National Social Security Fund (Caisse Nationale de Sécurité Sociale - CNSS) so that old-age pension payments are stopped (preventing overpayment recovery claims) and survivor entitlements can be opened [3] [4]. The National Social Security Fund (Caisse Nationale de Sécurité Sociale - CNSS) processes applications for survivor pensions (widow or widower pensions for the legally married surviving spouse and orphan pensions for dependent children) as well as the lump-sum death benefit upon submission of the death certificate, marriage certificate, children's birth certificates, and certificate of dependency [3] [4].
   • Health insurance deregistration and family coverage: The family should also notify the National Health Insurance and Social Guarantee Fund (Caisse Nationale d'Assurance Maladie et de Garantie Sociale - CNAMGS) to update the primary insured person's registration file and maintain or regularize health coverage for surviving dependents [4].
   • Bank accounts and insurance policies: Upon notification of the death certificate to Gabonese banks, individual accounts held solely by the deceased person are frozen until official hereditary documents are produced, while insurance companies verify beneficiary clauses under life or death benefit policies [2].
5. 5

   Opening and Settling the Estate in Gabon

   • Identifying heirs and the family council: Inheritance law in Gabon is governed by Part Two of the Civil Code and the provisions of Law No. 15/72 [2]. The estate opens at the deceased person's last domicile; proof of heirship is established through a certificate of heirship (acte de notoriété héréditaire) or a court order of heirship (jugement d'hérédité) approved by the Court of First Instance following a meeting of the family council (conseil de famille) or through a licensed notary [2].
   • Estate inventory and international succession: The notary prepares the inventory of estate assets (real property registered in the land book, bank accounts, corporate shares) and liabilities, and files the estate tax declaration with the tax administration within the statutory timeframe [2]. When an heir resides abroad or the estate includes assets outside Gabon, foreign civil status documents and notarial powers of attorney must undergo consular legalization to take full legal effect in Gabon [2].

Official Authorities & Verified Contacts

Official Sources Checked by Clarvia

1. [1]
   Official Portal of the Ministry of Health of the Gabonese Republic — Ministère de la Santé (Gabon)
2. [2]
   Law No. 15/72 Enacting Part One of the Civil Code of the Gabonese Republic (Civil Registration and Persons) — République gabonaise / OMPI (WIPO Lex)
3. [3]
   Overview and Benefits of the National Social Security Fund (CNSS) of Gabon — Caisse Nationale de Sécurité Sociale (CNSS Gabon)
4. [4]
   Official Portal of the National Health Insurance and Social Guarantee Fund (CNAMGS) — CNAMGS (Gabon)
5. [5]
   Gabon Country Health Profile and Health System Overview — Organisation mondiale de la Santé (OMS)