How a Florida death certificate is used in Romania
When a Romanian citizen dies in Florida, the death should be transcribed into Romanian civil-status records, with the apostilled death certificate, a legalized translation, and copies of the deceased's birth and marriage certificates. The transcribed death record is what a Romanian notary needs to open the succession (succesiune) for an apartment, land or bank accounts in Romania. Florida issues death certificates with or without the cause of death, and only certain relatives can order the version with the cause. Order more than one certified copy.
Translation for Romania
Our standard for a translation is a translator's certification, notarized by a different notary, with its own Florida apostille. Romanian civil-status offices instead expect the translation to be legalized in Romania by a public notary (from a translator authorized in Romania) or certified by a Romanian consular office; a translation made abroad before a foreign notary must itself carry an apostille. Ask the office receiving your file which version it accepts before you pay.
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 Romania
- Order online — pick "Death certificate" and "Romania" 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 Romania with international return shipping (+$100).
One Florida apostille is all the U.S. side needs for Romania. Whatever the office there asks for after that — a translation, a filing deadline — is covered above.