Guide
A relative died in Pakistan.
Which papers come first?
After a death there is grief, and then there are papers. The death certificate comes first, and almost everything else, the bank, the land, the pension, waits for it. This page shows the order, which office does what, and what an advocate can do for a family that is abroad.
Where this applies This page covers a death in Pakistan. If the person died outside Pakistan, see the page on a death abroad; the papers start in a different place.
What this is about
The death certificate is issued by the union council for the place where the person died, on the record of the hospital or the graveyard. With it, the identity card of the person is cancelled at NADRA and the family record is updated so that it shows who is left. Those three papers are what the bank, the land record office and the pension office will ask for before they talk to the heirs.
A family abroad runs into two problems: someone has to go to the offices in person, and the papers have to be attested before they are accepted where the family lives. Both are ordinary work for an advocate with a power of attorney.
What has to be in place
What has to be clear.
Where the person died, because that decides which union council issues the certificate.
Who in the family will act, and whether that person is in Pakistan.
What the person owned and where, so that the next steps can be planned.
Note Your advocate confirms which of these apply to your case.
The documents you will be asked for
The papers asked for.
- The hospital record or the graveyard record of the death.
- The identity card of the person who died.
- Identity documents of the relative who applies.
- A power of attorney, if an advocate applies for the family.
How an advocate helps from where you are
What an advocate does for a family abroad.
- Obtains the death certificate from the union council.
- Has the identity card cancelled and the family record updated at NADRA.
- Gets the papers attested for use where the family lives.
- Tells the family what comes next: the succession certificate, the bank, the land.
What to ask before you agree
- Which union council issues the certificate, and what does it need?
- Can you cancel the identity card and update the family record for us?
- Which papers have to be attested for use where we live?
- What do you need from me, and by when?
- What is your fee, and what is not included in it?
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Also relevant
Words you will meet
- death certificate
- The official record of the death, issued by the union council.
- cancellation
- NADRA cancelling the identity card of a person who has died.
- family record
- The NADRA record of the family, updated after a death.
Sources
Official pages read on 11 September 2026. The page says only what these say, and what an advocate does; nothing specific to your case.
Checked
11 September 2026
Pakistan. Sources listed at the end of the page.