Spanish Death Certificate Translation
Spanish death certificate translation to English for a widow's petition, an estate, a life insurance claim or Social Security survivor benefits, and into Spanish for a burial or an inheritance abroad. We translate the acta de defunción from Mexico and Latin America and the certificado de defunción from Spain.
- Up to 250 words per page
- $25 per page
- Standard turnaround
- From 24 hours
- Certificate of accuracy
- Signed & stamped
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Written for Spanish death certificate records
Two documents record a death in Mexico, and the recipient wants the right one
A death in Mexico produces a medical certificate and a civil registry act. They look alike, say different things, and are not interchangeable.
Certificado médico and acta de defunción
The certificado de defunción is the form the attending doctor fills in, printed by the Secretaría de Salud with a folio and the cause of death in medical terms. The acta de defunción is the Registro Civil's record drawn from it, and it cites the folio. USCIS, a probate court and an insurer want the acta; the medical form supports it. We translate either and name each one in English so a reader cannot mistake one for the other.
What the acta says about the person
Beyond the name and the date, a Mexican acta gives the deceased's age, estado civil and the spouse's name, the occupation, the cause of death copied from the medical form, the person who reported it and the destino del cadáver: inhumación or cremación and the panteón. The spouse line is what proves to USCIS that an earlier marriage ended by death, so it is translated word for word, not summarized.
Spain, Colombia and the Dominican Republic
Spain's Registro Civil issues the certificado de defunción as a literal, the full entry, or an extracto, a summary; send the literal. Colombia's registro civil de defunción comes from a notaría or the Registraduría with its own serial number, while the DANE medical certificate behind it is a separate paper. The Dominican acta comes from the Oficialía del Estado Civil. The headings differ, and the translation follows each country's wording rather than forcing a Mexican template on it.
Who is asking for your Spanish death certificate translation?
The translation is the same. What changes is whether the recipient wants anything added to it.
USCIS
USCIS asks for a complete English translation and a signed certification from the translator. No notarization is needed.
Insurers and Social Security
Life insurance and survivor benefit claims accept a certified translation. Add the medical certificate if the claim turns on the cause of death.
Courts and consulates abroad
A probate court or a consulate handling a repatriation or an estate usually wants the original apostilled and the translation certified or notarized.
Before you upload
Three things that save a day of back and forth on a Spanish death certificate.
Send the civil record, not only the medical form
The registry act is the document recipients ask for. Add the doctor's certificate as a second file if an insurer or a court wants the cause of death.
Include the reverse and the stamps
Issue stamps, the registrar's signature and folio numbers often sit on the back or at the edge. Photograph both sides flat with the whole page in frame.
Give us the names as they appear elsewhere
Tell us the English spelling of the deceased and of the spouse or parents named on the record, so the translation matches the petition, policy or probate file it joins.
Details and pricing
What is included in a Spanish death certificate translation
One price per page covers the translation and its certification. A page is up to 250 words, and the quote tells you the page count before you pay.
Everything on the death certificate is translated, including stamps, seals and handwritten notes. Tell us the English spelling you use for each name when you order.
Certified Translation
Word-for-word translation with a certificate of accuracy for official use.
$25
USD / page
up to 250 words per page
Included
- Signed & stamped certification of translation accuracy
- Certified by a professional translator
- Digital delivery via PDF
- Review and approve final translation
- 100% Guaranteed Acceptance
- Standard turnaround starting at 24 hours
Optional services
- Expedited turnaround
- Priority handling when your deadline is shorter than the standard turnaround.
- By deadline
- Notarization
- A notary public signs and stamps the certification statement.
- $20 per order
- Physical copy
- A wet-ink original of your translation, mailed by express courier.
- $35 per order
- Apostille
- Authenticates the notary’s signature and seal for use in Hague Convention countries.
- $180 per document
What the certificate of accuracy states
Your translation arrives with a Certification of Translation Accuracy issued by ImmiTranslate. It is the page the receiving organization checks first.
- The translation is complete and accurate.
- The document title and the language pair.
- The translator is competent in both languages.
- A signature and the ImmiTranslate certification stamp.
- Our American Translators Association corporate membership.
Our translation process
Our goal is to make the translation process as simple as possible for you. Our service is streamlined specifically for documents of this nature.
Spanish Death Certificate FAQ
Most questions about pricing and turnaround can be answered faster by requesting a quote.
- Which death certificate proves to USCIS that my earlier marriage ended?
- The civil registry record, the acta de defunción, not the doctor's form. USCIS wants the complete translation with the signed certification. A copia certificada printed years after the death is fine; the acta shows the registration date and the date of death as separate fields, so a reader can see it is a current copy of an old entry.
- Can I use the translation for a life insurance claim or a Social Security survivor benefit?
- Yes. Insurers and the Social Security Administration accept a certified translation. An insurance claim often turns on the cause of death, which is spelled out on the medical certificado de defunción, so send that too if you have it. Each is usually one page at $25, and both go in one order.
- I need a US death certificate translated into Spanish for Mexico. Do you do that?
- Yes. Families need it to repatriate remains, close an account or a pension, or open an inheritance in Mexico. A notaría or a court there will usually want an apostille on the US certificate from the issuing state along with the Spanish translation. We translate into Spanish and can notarize the translation; tell us who will receive it in the order notes.
- How much does a certified translation cost?
- Certified translation is $25 per page, with a page counted as up to 250 words. Notarization, a mailed physical copy and an apostille are optional and priced separately.
- How long does a certified translation take?
- Standard turnaround starts at 24 hours and depends on the length and language of your documents. If you have a deadline, include it in your quote request.
Other Spanish documents we translate
Death certificate translation in other languages
Each of these pages is written for that language's death certificate records.
Sending it with an application? Read the USCIS translation requirements, Insurance claim translations before you order.