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

1. 1

   Obtain the Medical Certificate of Death

   • Hospital or inpatient facility deaths: When your family member dies in a Lithuanian hospital or nursing facility, the attending physician establishes the fact and cause of death and issues an electronic Medical Certificate of Death (medicininis mirties liudijimas) directly in the national Electronic Health Services and Cooperation Infrastructure Information System (ESPBI IS) [1][2].
   • Deaths at home during expected care: If the death occurs at home during regular medical supervision, contact the deceased's family doctor (šeimos gydytojas) during clinic hours or call the emergency number 112 [1]. Once emergency responders verify that there are no signs of external violence, the family physician issues the electronic Medical Certificate of Death based on the patient's medical records [1][2].
   • Unexpected, sudden, or unexplained deaths: If a death occurs suddenly, outside medical supervision, or under unclear circumstances, you must notify the police and ambulance services via 112 [1]. The police initiate an inquiry and refer the body to the State Forensic Medicine Service (Valstybinė teismo medicinos tarnyba) for a forensic examination before issuing the medical death certificate [1].
2. 2

   Register the Death with the Civil Registry and Centre of Registers

   • Automated electronic transmission: In Lithuania, once a healthcare institution or forensic service enters the electronic Medical Certificate of Death into the e-health system, the data is transmitted automatically to the Population Register managed by the State Enterprise Centre of Registers and to the municipal Civil Registry Department (Civilinės metrikacijos skyrius) [1][2].
   • In-person or portal declaration when required: If a paper medical death certificate was issued exceptionally or if you need to register the death of a Lithuanian citizen that occurred abroad through a diplomatic mission under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania, the declaration must be submitted within three days of the death or of receiving the body [1][2].
   • Obtaining official civil status extracts: Lithuania no longer issues traditional paper death certificates by default; instead, you can request an official extract confirming the record of the act of death (įrašą liudijantis išrašas) or a multilingual standard form from any municipal Civil Registry Department or electronically via the State Enterprise Centre of Registers self-service portal [1][2].
3. 3

   Arrange Burial, Cremation, or International Repatriation

   • Engaging a licensed funeral provider: Once the electronic medical death certificate is issued, you can instruct a licensed funeral service provider in Lithuania to arrange mortuary care, coffin or urn selection, municipal cemetery burial permissions, or cremation [1][2].
   • Burial and cremation permits: Municipal cemetery administrators and crematoria verify the medical death certification or civil registry death extract before allocating a burial plot or performing a cremation [1][2].
   • International repatriation and document legalization: If your family member was a foreign citizen or if their body or urn must be transported abroad, the funeral provider coordinates the sanitary and epidemiological transport permit from the National Public Health Centre and hermetically sealed coffin requirements [1]. For documents traveling outside the EU multilingual extract framework, an Apostille can be obtained from any Lithuanian notary belonging to the Lithuanian Chamber of Notaries or through consular legalization overseen by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania [1][4].
4. 4

   Notify Authorities and Claim Funeral Grants and Survivor Pensions

   • Automatic register updates and bank notifications: Recording the death in the Population Register maintained by the State Enterprise Centre of Registers automatically notifies the State Social Insurance Fund Board Sodra and the State Tax Inspectorate, stopping old-age pension payments [2][3][5]. You should notify commercial banks, insurers, and utility providers directly [2].
   • Claiming the municipal funeral grant (laidojimo pašalpa): In Lithuania, the person organizing the burial is entitled to a universal statutory funeral grant equivalent to 8 Basic Social Benefits (BSI), administered by the municipal social support department of the deceased's declared residence (or via the Social Support for Families Information System, SPIS) within twelve months of the death [3].
   • Claiming survivor's and orphan's pensions: Surviving spouses who have reached retirement age or have an assessed disability, as well as dependent children under 18 (or full-time students up to 24), should apply to the State Social Insurance Fund Board Sodra for a survivor's pension (našlių pensija) and orphan's pension (našlaičių pensija), plus any unpaid pension amounts owed for the month of death [3].
5. 5

   Administer the Estate, Succession, and Inheritance Tax Filings

   • Strict three-month deadline to accept or renounce the estate: Under the Civil Code of the Republic of Lithuania, heirs must submit a formal declaration to accept or renounce the inheritance within three months from the date of death [4]. Succession proceedings are opened exclusively before the notary office assigned by the Lithuanian Chamber of Notaries to the territory of the deceased's last declared residence [4].
   • Accepting under an estate inventory: Because accepting an inheritance outright makes an heir personally liable for the deceased's debts with their own property, heirs should request acceptance based on an official estate inventory (pagal turto aprašą), which is compiled by a bailiff upon the notary's instruction and limits debt liability strictly to the inherited assets [4].
   • Inheritance tax clearance and cross-border coordination: Spouses, children, parents, grandparents, grandchildren, and siblings are completely exempt from Lithuanian inheritance tax, as are estates whose taxable value does not exceed 3,000 EUR [5]. Non-exempt heirs must obtain a taxable value certificate (Form FR0514) and pay inheritance tax (5 percent or 10 percent on 70 percent of the estate's value) to the State Tax Inspectorate before the notary issues the Certificate of the Right of Inheritance [4][5]. Heirs living abroad can act via remote video notarization (eNotaras), consular powers of attorney, or apply for a European Certificate of Succession through the Lithuanian Chamber of Notaries [1][4].

Official Authorities & Verified Contacts

Official Sources Checked by Clarvia

1. [1]
   Civil registry and registration of death procedures — Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Lithuania
2. [2]
   Population Register, Civil Registration and Wills Register services — State Enterprise Centre of Registers (Registrų centras)
3. [3]
   Social security benefits and survivor pensions — Ministry of Social Security and Labour of the Republic of Lithuania
4. [4]
   Tasks and functions of notaries in succession and certification — Lithuanian Chamber of Notaries
5. [5]
   Paveldimo turto mokestis (Inheritance tax rules and exemptions) — State Tax Inspectorate (VMI)