How to get a PSA Death Certificate

This is the paper that proves a person has died, and it gives the date and place of death. Families need it to claim SSS, GSIS, Pag-IBIG, and insurance benefits, to settle land and bank accounts, and to remarry as a widow or widower.

The three ways to get it

Online

Yes

If the death happened only weeks or a couple of months ago, do not order online yet. The hospital or funeral home files the death with the Local Civil Registry Office, then the lcro forwards it to the PSA, and that transfer takes months.

In the meantime the Local Civil Registry Office of the place of death can already give you a certified copy, and many banks and insurers accept the lcro copy for the first, urgent steps. Ask the office what it accepts before you pay the PSA.

Go to PSA Serbilis at www.psaserbilis.com.ph or PSAHelpline at psahelpline.ph.
Pick 'Death Certificate'.
Type the complete name of the person who died, the date of death, and the place of death.
Type the father's complete name and the mother's complete maiden name of the person who died.
Fill in your own details and choose your relationship: parent, spouse, or child on PSAHelpline; on Serbilis choose the relationship that matches, since a nearest of kin is who the PSA releases to.
Choose delivery, LBC pickup, PSA outlet pickup, viewable online, or delivery abroad.
Type your complete delivery address, mobile number, and email address.
Save your Reference Number.
Pay through any accepted channel.
Track the order, then receive it and show your valid ID to the courier.
For a digitally signed PDF, e-cert.psahelpline.ph also covers death certificates. Download the PDF within 60 days.

Walk-in

Yes

Going in person is the only route if you are not the parent, spouse, or child of the person who died, because the online channels will not accept a sibling, grandchild, or other relative. Bring something that shows how you are related.

If the PSA still has no record, get the certified copy from the Local Civil Registry Office of the place of death and ask them to endorse the record to the PSA.

Book a free slot at appointment.psa.gov.ph.
Choose 'Death Certificate' and fill in the details of the person who died.
Enter the One-Time Password sent to your mobile number.
Pick the PSA outlet, the date, and a morning or afternoon slot.
Confirm and save the emailed appointment slip with its QR code.
On the day, bring the appointment slip, your original valid ID, and cash. Bring proof of your relationship if you have it, such as your own birth certificate showing the same parent, or your marriage certificate.
Fill out the application form at the outlet.
Pay PHP 155.00 per copy and keep the receipt.
Wait to be called and claim the certificate.

Representative

Partly

The authorisation has to come from a living person who is entitled to the record, normally the nearest of kin, since the owner has died. The same two exceptions apply as for every PSA document: no representative at all for the Serbilis 'Viewable Online' and 'Pick up at PSA outlet' options, where the PSA states that payment and pickup must be made in person by the document owner, or by the nearest of kin of a deceased person.

This is one of the few places the PSA spells out the deceased-person case, and it is why families sending a driver or a helper to claim a death certificate at an outlet get turned away.

The nearest of kin who is entitled to the record signs an authorisation letter, or has a Special Power of Attorney made, saying it is for a death certificate, how many copies, and the purpose.
Give the representative the original or a photocopy of that person's valid ID with photo and signature.
The representative brings their own valid ID with photo and signature.
The representative shows the authorisation letter or SPA, the kin's ID, and their own ID at the PSA outlet or to the courier on delivery.
On PSAHelpline, use the online Letter of Authorization instead: tick the LOA option before submitting the order, then after payment upload your ID, take a live selfie, and enter the representative's full name and date of birth.

What to bring

Complete name of the person who died: first name, middle name, last name
Date of death
Place of death: city or municipality, and province
Complete name of the deceased person's father
Complete maiden name of the deceased person's mother
Your own complete name and how you are related to the person who died
One valid government ID with your photo and signature
Your purpose for asking (claim benefits, settle the estate, remarry, and so on)
Complete delivery address, mobile number, and email address, if you want it delivered
Payment

The details

Who can apply

The owner of the record has died, so the PSA rule points to the family: the nearest of kin may request it. The full list is

the owner, or a duly authorised representative
the spouse, parent, direct descendant (child, grandchild), guardian, or the institution legally in charge if a minor
a court or proper public official when needed in a legal or administrative case
in case of the person's death, the nearest of kin. On PSAHelpline you may order a death certificate for your parent, your spouse, or your child. For any other relative - a sibling, a grandparent, an aunt or uncle - the online channel will not take it and you must go to a PSA outlet in person

Cost

The same rate as a birth or marriage certificate. PSA document fee: PHP 155.00 per copy.

PSA outlet walk-in or Serbilis 'pick up at PSA outlet': PHP 155.00 per copy
PSA Serbilis door-to-door inside the Philippines, LBC branch pickup, or embassy delivery: PHP 330.00 for the first copy, then PHP 50.00 less for each extra copy
PSAHelpline door-to-door: PHP 365.00 per copy, service fee and nationwide courier already included
PSA Serbilis delivery outside the Philippines by PHLPost: USD 20.30 per copy; DHL Express shipping is billed to you separately by DHL
Viewable Online for 60 days: PHP 130.00, paid in person at a PSA CRS outlet by the nearest of kin
DocPrint on security paper within those 60 days: PHP 80.00 per printed copy
Government agency E-Copy: PHP 300.00 per copy
Appointment booking is free
PSA E-Certificate PDF: A separate document, cenodeath (Certificate of No Death Record), costs the same as a CENOMAR: PHP 210.00 at an outlet, PHP 430.00 delivered by Serbilis, PHP 420.00 delivered by PSAHelpline

How long it takes

The same as the other PSA documents. PSA Serbilis, from the day payment is received: Metro Manila 3 to 4 working days; other provinces 6 to 8 working days; add 5 to 7 more days if the address is outside the courier's normal service area; overseas 6 to 8 weeks by PHLPost.

Government agency E-Copy in 2 to 3 working days. PSAHelpline: next day for Metro Manila after the PSA releases it, 3 to 8 working days elsewhere in the country.

Walk-in is usually same day at a large outlet. Add 10 to 15 working days if the PSA has to search its archives by hand.

Very important for a recent death: allow at least 2 to 4 months after the date of death if it happened in Metro Manila, and at least 6 months if it happened outside Metro Manila, before the PSA will have the record. Ordering earlier than that will almost certainly give you a Certification (Negative) and you will not get your money back.

How long it lasts

It does not expire. Republic Act 11909 covers certificates of death along with live birth and marriage, so a PSA death certificate is valid permanently regardless of when it was issued, and Section 5 stops agencies and companies from demanding a newer copy.

The paper only has to still be whole, readable, and still show its security features. Banks, insurers, and the SSS or GSIS may still ask for a recently issued copy out of habit, and claim forms often say so, so it is safer to order several copies while you are settling an estate than to argue the point at every counter.

Tips

Order many copies at once. Settling one death usually needs a separate original for the SSS or GSIS, Pag-IBIG, PhilHealth, each life insurer, each bank, the BIR estate tax filing, and the land title transfer, and every one of them keeps the copy. On PSA Serbilis each extra copy in the same order is PHP 50.00 cheaper, so five copies delivered cost far less than five separate orders.
Do not order from the PSA in the first few months. Allow at least 2 to 4 months after a death in Metro Manila, and at least 6 months outside Metro Manila. Before then, use the certified copy from the Local Civil Registry Office of the place of death, which exists as soon as the death is registered.
A Certification (Negative) means the death was never registered, or the Local Civil Registry Office never forwarded it to the PSA. Take the Negative Certification to that lcro and ask them to endorse the record. The Electronic Endorsement Request Form on PSA Serbilis is free and speeds it up. If the death was never registered at all, the family has to file a late registration at the lcro first, and only then can a PSA copy exist.
For a death abroad, the record is a Report of Death filed with the Philippine Embassy or Consulate, which then sends it to the PSA. If no report was ever filed, the PSA will have nothing, so start with the Philippine post in that country.
A widow or widower who wants to remarry needs the PSA death certificate of the late spouse, and will normally be asked for it together with an Advisory on Marriages rather than a CENOMAR, because the earlier marriage is on record.

Not verified

The research could not confirm these against an official 2026 source. Phone the office before you travel.

no official price list published as of 31 July 2026.