Your person died in Ghana and you are in the US, or a death here means a burial back home, which for many Ghanaian families is not a preference but the plan. The paperwork runs through Ghana’s Births and Deaths Registry on one side and the Ghana Embassy in Washington on the other, and the funeral homes on both ends know this route well. Here is how it works, with the honest gaps named.
If they died in Ghana
Ghana’s registration law is the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 2020 (Act 1027). The district registrar where the death happened registers it within 10 days; after that a late fee applies, and after 12 months registration needs the national Registrar’s written authority. A death in a hospital is registered with the medical cause-of-death certificate; a death at home or within 24 hours of admission goes to the police first, and the coroner’s report is what the registry accepts. Registration produces the death certificate, for a fee, and the burial permit, free.
If the person was a US citizen, contact the US Embassy Accra, which prepares the Consular Report of Death of an American Abroad from the Ghanaian death certificate; that report is what US courts and institutions accept for estate matters. One hard local reality the embassy states plainly: hospital, mortuary, and autopsy fees must be paid before remains are released, no death certificate issues until they are, and unclaimed remains eventually go to a mass burial. Budget for the mortuary bill first, because everything else waits on it.
There is no official online channel for ordering a Ghanaian death certificate from abroad; we looked, and we would rather tell you that than pretend. Certified true copies come from the Births and Deaths Registry through its extracts process in Ghana, which in practice means a relative or a lawyer there requests it. The US Embassy states it cannot obtain a local death certificate for you, and that only one original is issued, to the person responsible for the burial. If a death went unregistered past 12 months, the registry’s late process asks for evidence like mortuary receipts, an obituary, a funeral programme, or a photo of the tombstone, which tells you how common late registration is.
Accra’s funeral providers handle the whole export chain: embalming, death certificate processing, liaising with the US funeral home, and flight arrangements, with daily flights to the US. The Births and Deaths Registry prepares the export documents for remains leaving Ghana. Where an infectious disease is involved, the coroner and Accra’s metropolitan health unit decide whether remains can leave at all. The embassy publishes cost ranges and calls them ballpark figures: $4,000 to $6,000 to prepare and forward a body to the US plus $2,500 to $3,500 air freight, and $400 to $600 to ship ashes.
On the US side, CDC rules are the same as for any country: cremated or embalmed remains need no permit, everything else may, and non-cremated remains travel with a cause-of-death certificate, translated into English if needed, in a leak-proof container.
The Ghana Embassy in Washington authenticates the shipping documents for $50, paid by cashier’s check, and wants everything in triplicate: the certified death certificate, the burial or transit permit, the embalmer’s non-contagious affidavit, a non-contagious disease letter from the local health authority, and a passport copy, with a trackable prepaid return envelope if you mail it. The embassy’s stated standards for the shipment itself: US-standard embalming, a hermetically sealed casket, and an all-wood outer shipping container. Ashes need the certified death certificate, the cremation certificate, and a hermetically sealed container.
On arrival, Ghanaian law closes the loop: for a body brought into Ghana, the district registrar where the burial will happen issues the burial permit, and whoever conducts a burial must inspect the death certificate and permit before proceeding.
When a person dies without a will, Ghana’s Intestate Succession Law (PNDC Law 111 of 1985) sets the shares. The household belongings and one house go to the surviving spouse and children absolutely. The rest splits by statutory fractions: with a spouse and children surviving, three-sixteenths to the spouse, nine-sixteenths to the children, one-eighth to surviving parents, and one-eighth devolving under customary law. The law does not touch stool, skin, or family property, which stays with custom, and that boundary is exactly where family disputes live, so a Ghanaian lawyer earns real money on anything beyond a simple estate.
Wills go through probate in the High Court, and estates without executors get letters of administration, with the court posting notice for up to 21 days and taking a bond. The Judicial Service lists estate duty at 3% of estate value in its current court-procedure guidance. Expect the process to run through original documents held in Ghana.
Can I order a Ghanaian death certificate online from the US?
No official online channel exists for ordering from abroad. Certified copies come from the Births and Deaths Registry through its extracts process in Ghana, so the practical route is a relative or a lawyer there. The US Embassy states it cannot get the certificate for you, and only one original issues, to the person responsible for the burial.
What does the Ghana Embassy need to ship a body from the US?
Its stated list: the certified death certificate, burial or transit permit, the embalmer’s non-contagious affidavit, a health authority letter, and a passport copy, all in triplicate, with a $50 authentication fee by cashier’s check. The shipment standard is US-style embalming, a hermetically sealed casket, and a wood outer container. Ashes need the death certificate, cremation certificate, and a sealed container.
Who inherits in Ghana when there is no will?
PNDC Law 111 gives the household belongings and one house to the spouse and children absolutely, then splits the rest by fixed fractions: three-sixteenths spouse, nine-sixteenths children, one-eighth parents, one-eighth under customary law when both spouse and children survive. Stool, skin, and family property sit outside the law entirely and follow custom.
Why can’t we get the death certificate until the mortuary is paid?
The US Embassy in Accra states it plainly: hospital, mortuary, and autopsy fees must be paid before remains are released, and no death certificate issues until release. An autopsy ordered by the police or coroner is still billed to the family. Settling the mortuary account is step one because every other document waits behind it.
Consulate requirements and foreign fees change, and individual consulates within one country can differ. Confirm the current document list with the consulate you'll actually use before booking anything. This page is general information, not legal advice. Reviewed August 18, 2026; every fact links to the official page it came from.