Death Certificate apostille for Chile.

When a person with assets in Chile dies in Florida, the heirs need a posesión efectiva before they can sell property, close bank accounts or claim pension funds. The Registro Civil handles posesión efectiva for estates without a will, and courts handle the rest. Both work from Spanish documents, so plan on the apostilled Florida death certificate plus a certified Spanish translation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Ask whether the death must first be recorded in the Chilean registry. The Florida certificate must be signed by the State Registrar; a funeral home copy won't be apostilled.

Our general rule for translations is certified by the translator, notarized by a separate notary and apostilled in Florida, but Chile often needs less or something different. Migraciones requires an official translation only for documents in a language other than Spanish or English. The Registro Civil instead wants a certified Spanish translation from Chile's Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the relevant consulate; the Ministry's service translates the apostilled original and can deliver it online. Translate after the apostille, and only when the receiving office asks.

Only a certified copy from the Florida Bureau of Vital Statistics or a county health department can be apostilled: it carries the State Registrar's signature that the Department of State verifies. Funeral-home copies, photocopies and scans are rejected, and copies certified before 2014 must be replaced with a fresh certified copy (order through VitalChek or the county health department). If the receiving office needs the cause of death, ask for the version that includes it — both versions can be apostilled.

1. Order online — pick "Death certificate" and "Chile" on the order form; $220 per document, $380 for two, $160 each for three or more.
2. Send a photo — reply to the confirmation email with a picture of the document. We check the certification before anything ships, so a defect is caught before it costs you a round trip.
3. Drop it at FedEx — after approval, FedEx emails you a prepaid QR code; show it at any FedEx Office or Ship Center, no printer or label needed.
4. Filed in person in Tallahassee — we walk the document into the Florida Department of State and ship the apostilled original back by FedEx within 5–7 business days of receipt — to your U.S. address, or to Chile with international return shipping (+$100).

One Florida apostille is all the U.S. side needs for Chile. Whatever the office there asks for after that — a translation, a filing deadline — is covered above.