What to do in case of death?
Warning the doctor
In the event of a death, the doctor should be alerted first. Initially, call your own general practitioner or the on-call substitute doctor.
The A-declaration and B-declaration.
After determining the death, the doctor will issue the A-declaration and the B-declaration. The A-declaration is the document that states the name of the deceased, the date of birth, and the date of death.
This form is available for everyone to view. The A-declaration usually does not state the time and cause of death.
The B-declaration is a form on which the doctor fills in the cause of death. This form is intended for statistics and is sealed and signed or initialed by the doctor. Both forms are taken by the funeral director for registration with the civil registry.
The notification of death
In addition to alerting a doctor, a funeral director must be called in to arrange the funeral. Two ways to contact a funeral director are:
- There is the telephone number 0080-STERFGEVAL (0800-7837343825). This telephone number is easy to remember, the letters represent the numbers on the keyboard. If you call this number, you will be connected to a funeral director in your area.
- A funeral director of your choice. It is better to be well informed in advance and keep the number of the funeral director of your choice handy (both in the phone clapper and with the death papers).
Death certificate - excerpt from the death register
The funeral director will take the A-declaration and B-declaration. Using these forms and the registration form (which contains the personal details of the deceased), the funeral director will register the death in the municipality where the death occurred.
The funeral director receives the extract from the death register (also called the death certificate) and the permission for burial or cremation from the civil registry. The extract from the death register will be handed over to you after the funeral; the original death certificate always remains with the civil registry.
The civil registry notifies the relevant authorities of the death, for example, the Social Insurance Bank, the Tax and Customs Administration, the major pension funds, the UWV (Employee Insurance Agency), the Netherlands Vehicle Authority, property tax, waste disposal levy, and sewage charges.
Would you like to know which authorities receive information from the Personal Records Database (BRP), and when? Then visit Rijksoverheid.nl.
What else do I need to arrange? For example, with other agencies?
The national government has created a checklist to give you an overview of how to arrange things with other authorities.