Documents & ID
How long does a Sterbeurkunde take?
Estimated wait
1 day – 28 days
Typically ~5 days
Based on published sources
Timeline guide
- Faster cases~3 days
- Average cases~5 days
- Slower casesUp to 28 days
Order several certified copies at once — banks, insurers, the pension fund and probate each need an original, and reordering later restarts a processing and postal cycle. Missing or foreign-language documents delay issuance materially.
In a large city the death is normally registered and certificates issued within about 5 working days once complete documents reach the register office (Standesamt) — Munich's official target — plus a few days for postal delivery on online or written orders. Requesting further copies later is often same-day at the counter or a few days by post, though busy offices can stretch to several weeks.
More details
Nothing can be issued until the death is first registered, which needs the death notice plus the deceased's records.
Sources
Last updated: 10 Jul 2026
Information is for general knowledge only.