Death Certificate apostille for Portugal.

When a Portuguese citizen or someone with property in Portugal dies in Florida, the heirs usually need the death recorded in the Portuguese civil registry and a habilitação de herdeiros, the formal declaration of who the heirs are, made at a notary or through the IRN's Balcão das Heranças. The heirs also report the estate to the Portuguese tax authority for stamp duty. Each step needs the Florida death certificate, signed by the State Registrar and apostilled. Order several certified copies at once, since banks and registries keep their own.

Our general rule is a translation certified by the translator, notarized by a separate notary and apostilled in Florida, but for Portugal you often need no translation at all. Civil registries can waive it for English, French or Spanish documents when the official knows the language (book ahead), and IRN nationality forms and DGES do the same. When Portugal does require one, the IRN expects it certified in Portugal by a notary, registry officer, lawyer, solicitador or recognized chamber of commerce, or by a Portuguese consulate in the issuing country.