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

1. 1

   Medical Certification of Death

   • Examination by a licensed physician: Every death occurring in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg must be examined by a medical doctor, who verifies the death and issues the official medical certificate of death stating the fact and cause of death [1].
   • Death in a hospital or care facility: When the death takes place in a hospital or residential care home, the attending facility physician completes the medical death certificate immediately and hands it to the administrative office or family for civil registration [1].
   • Death at a private home: If your family member passes away at home, you should immediately contact the attending general practitioner or the on-call medical service (or call 112 in an emergency) so a physician can attend the premises and issue the medical certificate [1].
   • Police and forensic clearance for unexpected deaths: In the event of a sudden, unexplained, violent, or public-space death, the Grand Ducal Police and the Public Prosecutor's Office of the District Court must be notified; the body cannot be moved or buried until the public prosecutor grants formal clearance following a medico-legal examination [1].
2. 2

   Civil Registration of the Death at the Municipality and Death Certificates

   • Competent civil registry and deadline: The official death declaration must be made before the civil registrar (officier de l'état civil) of the municipality where the death occurred, normally within 24 hours of medical certification, as set out on Guichet.lu - Citizen Portal of the State of Luxembourg [1].
   • Persons authorized to declare the death: In practice, the declaration is usually handled by the funeral director appointed by the family, though a relative or any person possessing accurate civil status details of the deceased may also appear in person at the municipal civil registry [1].
   • Required supporting documents: The declarant must submit the medical certificate of death, the family record book (livret de famille) or birth and marriage certificates of the deceased, the deceased's identity card or passport, and the declarant's own identity document [1].
   • Issuance of official death certificates: Upon registration, the civil registrar issues the burial or cremation permit together with official extracts and full copies of the death certificate (including multilingual international extracts), which are required for banks, pension institutions, and foreign authorities [1].
3. 3

   Funeral Arrangements, Burial, Cremation, and International Repatriation

   • Statutory burial or cremation timeframe: In Luxembourg, burial or cremation must generally take place between 24 hours and 72 hours after death, unless an extension is granted by the mayor of the municipality of death or the Ministry of Health [1].
   • Cremation authorization: Where the deceased wished to be cremated or the family arranges cremation at the Luxembourg-Hamm crematorium, the municipal civil registrar issues a specific cremation permit upon presentation of a medical certificate confirming the absence of a cardiac pacemaker and no forensic objection [1].
   • Cross-border transport and mortuarylaissez-passer: If the body or cremated remains must be repatriated outside Luxembourg, the licensed funeral provider obtains a mortuary transit permit (laissez-passer mortuaire) from the Health Directorate after sealing the coffin in compliance with international conventions (the Strasbourg Agreement or Berlin Arrangement) and obtaining any required Apostille or consular legalization [1].
   • Statutory funeral grant: The person or institution that paid the funeral invoices may claim the lump-sum funeral grant (indemnité funéraire) from the National Health Fund (Caisse nationale de santé - CNS) by submitting the receipted funeral invoices and the official death certificate [2].
4. 4

   Social Security, Survivor Pensions, Banks, and Insurance

   • Closing health insurance records and medical reimbursements: Alongside the funeral grant application, the National Health Fund (Caisse nationale de santé - CNS) updates the deceased's health insurance file and reimburses any unpaid medical bills upon submission of the heirs' bank account details [2].
   • Filing for a survivor pension: If the deceased worked in the private sector or received an old-age or invalidity pension in Luxembourg, the surviving spouse or registered partner and dependent orphans can apply for a survivor pension from the National Pension Insurance Fund (Caisse nationale d'assurance pension - CNAP) [3].
   • European and bilateral pension coordination: When the deceased contributed to pension schemes in multiple EU, EEA, Swiss, or bilateral treaty jurisdictions, the National Pension Insurance Fund (Caisse nationale d'assurance pension - CNAP) coordinates the cross-border survivor pension claim directly with the relevant foreign pension institutions [3].
   • Notifying banks, employers, and insurers: Family members should notify Luxembourg banks (which freeze individual accounts and safe-deposit boxes until a certificate of inheritance or notarial deed of heirship is presented), the employer for final salary settlement, the National Solidarity Fund where applicable, and life insurance companies [1, 4].
5. 5

   Opening the Estate, Inheritance Tax Filing, and Cross-Border Succession

   • Will search and notarial procedures: Following the opening of the estate at the deceased's last domicile, heirs or their Luxembourg notary can search the Central Register of Last Wills maintained by the Registration Duties, Estates and VAT Authority (Administration de l'enregistrement, des domaines et de la TVA - AED) to verify whether an authentic, mystic, or holographic will was registered [4].
   • Heirs' statutory options (acceptance or renunciation): Under the Luxembourg Civil Code, heirs may accept the estate unconditionally, accept it under benefit of inventory to cap liability at the value of the inherited assets, or renounce the succession by filing a formal declaration with the registry of the District Court (Tribunal d'arrondissement) [5].
   • Mandatory inheritance tax declaration: When the deceased was domiciled in Luxembourg, heirs and universal legatees must file a written succession declaration with the Registration Duties, Estates and VAT Authority (Administration de l'enregistrement, des domaines et de la TVA - AED) within 6 months of a death occurring in Luxembourg (or longer statutory periods if death occurred abroad), even where direct-line statutory shares are exempt from inheritance duty [4].
   • European Certificate of Succession and foreign assets: If an heir lives in another EU Member State or the estate includes real property or bank accounts across borders, a Luxembourg notary can issue a European Certificate of Succession under Regulation (EU) No 650/2012 so heirs can establish their legal standing across participating states without separate court proceedings [4, 5].

Official Authorities & Verified Contacts

Official Sources Checked by Clarvia

1. [1]
   Declaring a death - Guichet.lu — Gouvernement du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg
2. [2]
   Applying for the funeral grant - Guichet.lu — Gouvernement du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg / CNS
3. [3]
   Applying for a survivor's pension - Guichet.lu — Gouvernement du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg / CNAP
4. [4]
   Filing an inheritance declaration - Guichet.lu — Gouvernement du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg / AED
5. [5]
   Accepting or renouncing an inheritance - Guichet.lu — Gouvernement du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg