Where official documents are concerned, good translations are essential. They may also need to be certified by a notary or a notary equivalent. Just like marriage and birth certificates, wills and death certificates will also need certified translations.
There are several scenarios in which a translation of a will or death certificate might be needed. Some may be obvious or straightforward, while others will be more rare or complicated. If you or a relative dies in a foreign country and the will that has been written has not been updated, then a certified translation will need to be made. Doing this ensures that the last will and testement can be understood by all parties that are affected by it and this lessens the chances for disputes and legal action taken over what the will dictates.
Ensuring that a will is appropriately translated and certified can be immensely helpful during the difficult period of losing a loved one. If you have not translated your own will, or your relatives have not done so, you should translate and update it at the first opportunity.
While a Do Not Resuscitate order may not exactly be a will, it is another important document that must be translated and certified if you or a loved one emigrate to another country where a different language is spoken. If a sudden illness occurs and you are unable to respond, a translated and certified order will help to determine the course of your medical care.
Another issue may be that of marriage. If you are remarrying in a foreign country after the death of your spouse, you need to prove that you are no longer married in order to satisfy certain legal requirements. A translated and notarized death certificate will prove that you are no longer married and are free to remarry.
While no one likes to think about the deaths of themselves or their loved ones, it is important to maintain updated records in case of a sudden accident or illness. If you have emigrated at any point in your lifetime and live in a country where your native language is not spoken, it is important that you update any records involving your will, your decisions for end-of-life care, and any death certificates of children and spouses.
Reaching out to a legal translation agency well ahead of any of these issues will save you and your family from further heartache during or after a death.
