How a Florida death certificate is used in Israel
When an Israeli citizen dies in Florida, the death should be reported so the Population Registry is updated, and Israeli mission guidance asks for the original foreign death certificate, authenticated with an apostille, where the mission hasn't already been notified. The same apostilled certificate is the starting point for an inheritance order from Israel's Registrar of Inheritance and for releasing Israeli bank accounts or pensions. If any office requires a translation, Israeli mission guidance says it must be notarized. Order several certified copies at once.
Translation for Israel
For registering a change of personal status, gov.il requires a notarized translation only for certificates not in Hebrew, English or Arabic, so English Florida certificates usually need none. If another office asks for Hebrew, our rule applies: a translation certified by the translator, notarized by a different notary and apostilled in Florida.
What your Florida death certificate must look like
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.
Step by step: death certificate apostille for Israel
- Order online — pick "Death certificate" and "Israel" on the order form; $220 per document, $380 for two, $160 each for three or more.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 Israel with international return shipping (+$100).
One Florida apostille is all the U.S. side needs for Israel. Whatever the office there asks for after that — a translation, a filing deadline — is covered above.