Death and Dying in Singapore

Information on how to proceed if you need to report the death of a person in Singapore. Also information on burial, cremations and the repatriation of remains...

  • At a difficult time there are a number of procedures and formalities that must be observed, and these may be quite different from those in the native country. This section gives an overview of the procedures following a death in Singapore.

The law requires all deaths occurring in Singapore to be registered within 24 hours of occurrence.

Certificate of Cause of Death

A Certificate of Cause of Death will be needed to register a death.

If death occurs in a hospital or at home and a doctor is present, then the doctor will certify the death online and the death will be automatically registered.  

If there is no doctor present the next of kin will need to engage a doctor to certify the death and register the death online. A death occurring at home, not attended by a doctor, should be reported to the Police who will arrange for an Authorised Officer from the Ministry of Health to examine the body. If they are satisfied that the death is due to natural causes the Authorised Officer will register the death.

The next of kin will need to produce the deceased’s identification document (e.g. NRIC, FIN card or passport) to the doctor or hospital to facilitate the death certification.

The certifying doctor will need the following information: 

  • Name of deceased
  • Sex of deceased
  • Identity document number of deceased
  • Date of birth of deceased
  • Date of death
  • Time of death
  • Place/Address where death occurred
  • Cause of death

Once the above details have been registered, the deceased’s NRIC will be automatically invalidated in Immigration and Checkpoints Authority's system. 

If the Authorised Officer is not satisfied that death was of natural causes the case will be passed on to the Coroner's Office and an autopsy may be ordered. The coroner also has the authority to order forensic investigations. The death may then be referred back to the police homicide department for further investigation.

The death certificate

Once registered, the next of kin can download a digital death certificate. This must be done within 30 days of being issued. This can be done via the Singpass service or via the My Legacy website. 

In order to download the certificate, the following are required:

  • Deceased's NRIC, FIN, or passport number
  • Death document number
  • Date of death

The original Death Certificate contains the permit to bury or cremate

A body can be buried or cremated depending on the deceased's wishes and religion. Cremated ashes can be stored in government–owned or private columbaria niches.

Further Information