Legal9 min read
What to Do When a Parent Dies in Hong Kong: The First Two Weeks
What to do when a parent dies in Hong Kong does not begin with the will. A doctor issues Form 18, the death is registered within 14 days at a Deaths Registry, and only then does the estate side begin, because nothing belonging to your parent can lawfully be dealt with until a grant is made.
By Legaris ·
The first hours: who signs what
If your parent died of natural causes and was attended by a doctor during their last illness, that doctor signs and issues the Medical Certificate of the Cause of Death — Form 18 — to a relative for the purpose of registration. Section 20 of the Births and Deaths Registration Ordinance (Cap. 174) requires the doctor to sign it forthwith, and not to sign without having personally viewed the body or received a notice from another doctor who has.
If the death was in a hospital, the ward will usually have the certificate and the process for collecting it. If it was at home, the attending doctor or the clinic issues it. Do not plan the funeral around a date until you know which certificate you are holding, because the two routes — natural causes and everything else — run on different clocks.
Registering a death in Hong Kong: 14 days, and the $140 certificate
This is the point most families get wrong, because the “24 hours” figure circulates widely. Section 14 of Cap. 174 requires the informant — the nearest relative present at the death or in attendance during the last illness, and failing that the occupier of the house — to submit a signed register form to a registrar within 14 days after a death that is not a reportable death. The Immigration Department administers the registration and states that an unexcused failure is a breach, punishable by a fine of $2,000 or up to six months’ imprisonment.
Registration itself is free. What costs money is the certified copy of the death entry — commonly called the death certificate — for which the Immigration Department charges $140. Take more than one: every bank, the Probate Registry and the funeral director will ask, and each will keep what you give them.
| Document | Who holds it | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Medical Certificate of the Cause of Death (Form 18) | The attending doctor, issued to the family | The original is required; a photocopy will not be accepted |
| The deceased’s Hong Kong identity card or travel document | The family | Handed in at registration if it is an identity card |
| The informant’s Hong Kong identity card or travel document | The person registering | The informant must be the relative or other relevant person under section 14 |
| Details of the deceased: occupation, nationality, marital status | The family | Asked at the counter; have the marriage certificate if there was one |
If the death was not from natural causes
A death from unnatural causes — an accident, a suspected overdose, violence, or a death nobody can explain — is reportable, and the case goes to the Coroner under the Coroners Ordinance (Cap. 504). The Coroner may order a post-mortem or hold an inquest, and the Immigration Department’s guidance puts the inquiry at roughly one to six months.
During that period the death is not yet registered, and the family cannot obtain a death certificate. When the Coroner determines the cause and notifies the Registrar, registration follows within about a week and the family is informed by letter. A burial or cremation order can be issued before registration in these cases, which is why the funeral can still go ahead.
The estate side: what you must not do yet
Nothing in the estate belongs to the family until a grant is made. Section 60J of the Probate and Administration Ordinance (Cap. 10) makes it an offence, without lawful authority or reasonable excuse, to deal with any part of the estate that is not set out in a schedule exhibited under section 15A or annexed to a grant. Emptying a sole bank account “to pay for the funeral” is the classic version of that offence, and it is avoidable: there are two lawful routes, covered on what a bank can release after a death.
The grant itself comes from the Probate Registry. With a will it is probate, issued to the executor; without one it is letters of administration, issued to the person the rules rank first. The probate process sets out the forms, the oath and the order of priority, and the Registry publishes its own guidance on top of that.
Which office wants what
Five different offices are involved in the first month, and each one asks for a different piece of paper. Keeping them apart is most of the work.
| Office | Why you deal with them | What they need |
|---|---|---|
| Immigration Department (Deaths Registry) | To register the death and buy certified copies | Form 18, the deceased’s identity card, the informant’s identity card |
| Department of Health / Food and Environmental Hygiene Department | Cremation or burial application, at the joint offices at the Hong Kong Island and Kowloon Deaths Registries | The registration certificate and the funeral director’s application |
| Probate Registry | To obtain probate or letters of administration | The will, the death certificate, the schedule of assets, the oath |
| Home Affairs Department | Release of money for funeral expenses or maintenance; small estates | Application form, death certificate, bank details, supporting proof |
| Banks, MPF trustees, insurers | To notify the death and stop or transfer the account | Death certificate, grant or Home Affairs certificate, identity proof |
What the will changes, and what it does not
The will decides who benefits and who administers. It does not remove the need for a grant, and it does not give the executor the right to spend estate money before one is issued. If the will names an executor who is willing to act, that person applies; if it names nobody able or willing, the court grants letters of administration with the will annexed.
If there is no will at all, the estate is distributed under the intestacy rules, and the order of priority in rule 21 of the Non-Contentious Probate Rules (Cap. 10A) decides who may apply. How a will is made in Hong Kong is the other side of this page — worth reading while the family can still sign one.
The papers you will be asked for again and again
Build one folder in the first week and the rest of the year gets easier. Every institution asks for the same four things, and none of them accepts a photograph.
- Certified copies of the death certificate — at least four.
- The original will, if there is one, and a scan of every page.
- Your own identity card, and the marriage or birth certificate that proves your relationship to the deceased.
- A schedule of assets: bank and brokerage statements at the date of death, the property title, MPF statements, insurance policies and share certificates.
- The funeral invoice — it is the document the Home Affairs Department certificate is built around.
Sources
These are the primary sources for the legal statements on this page. Read the ordinance itself before relying on any summary, including this one.
- Births and Deaths Registration Ordinance (Cap. 174) — section 14 (submission of the register form within 14 days), section 17 (certificate of registration of death) and section 20 (certificate of cause of death).
- Coroners Ordinance (Cap. 504) — reportable deaths and the Coroner’s inquiry.
- Probate and Administration Ordinance (Cap. 10) — section 15 (summary administration of small estates), section 60B (release of money from a bank account) and section 60J (intermeddling).
- Non-Contentious Probate Rules (Cap. 10A) — the oath and the order of priority on intestacy.
- Immigration Department — registration of a death — the documents, the 14-day duty, the $140 certified copy, and the Coroner route.
- Home Affairs Department — estate beneficiaries support — release of money for funeral expenses, maintenance, and small estates.
- Judiciary — Probate Registry — grants, forms and fees.
Where to go next
This page is general information, not legal advice. A death abroad, an estate with assets outside Hong Kong, or a family disagreement about who should administer needs a solicitor early, not late.
If the estate is the next question, read probate. And if you are reading this before the death — which is the better time — the documents checklist is what to assemble now, and the readiness score is how Legaris tracks what is still missing.
Frequently asked questions
- How long do we have to register a death in Hong Kong?
- Fourteen days after the death, for a death from natural causes. Section 14 of the Births and Deaths Registration Ordinance (Cap. 174) puts the duty on the nearest relative present at the death or in attendance during the last illness.
- How much does a death certificate cost?
- Registration is free. A certified copy of the death entry costs $140, according to the Immigration Department, and most families need several.
- Can the family use the deceased’s bank account to pay for the funeral?
- Not by taking the money out directly. Section 60J of Cap. 10 makes intermeddling an offence. The Home Affairs Department can issue a Certificate for Necessity of Release of Money for funeral expenses, which the bank must honour — see the guide to a deceased parent’s bank account.
- Do we still need probate if there is a will?
- Yes. The will names the executor and the beneficiaries; probate is the grant that lets the executor act. Without it, banks, the Land Registry and share registrars will not deal with the estate.
The Legaris readiness note
The next checklist, before you need it.
Every two weeks we send one checklist for a parent's file — documents, emergency contacts, scams, medical authorisation — with a printable readiness sheet to work through with your siblings.
One email every two weeks. No account needed, nothing shared, one click to stop.
Read next
- Probate in Hong Kong: Grants, Forms and the Probate and Administration OrdinanceProbate in Hong Kong, from the Probate and Administration Ordinance (Cap. 10): what a grant is, who can apply, the forms, the fees and how long it takes.
- Closing a Deceased Parent’s Bank Account in Hong KongClosing a deceased parent’s bank account needs a grant, or a Home Affairs Department certificate. What Cap. 10 Part VA allows, and what counts as an offence.
- How to Make a Hong Kong Will: 平安紙, Cap. 30 and Two WitnessesA Hong Kong will, or 平安紙, is valid only if it is written, signed and witnessed by two people present at once. What Cap. 30 requires, and where free help stops.
Explore more
- SilverGuard Technologies, the group behind these family-readiness guidesCompany context for the documents work.
- Steadicore, fall detection and bed-exit alarms for care settingsFor the period after the funeral, when a surviving parent lives alone.
- Easikin, a caregiving workspace for adult childrenCoordination for the weeks when several siblings share the paperwork.
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