calling the police and the death certificate, transporting the body and cremation, disputing the cause of death and autopsy, canceling the household registration, the list of basic funeral services, illegal pricing, agency filing, housing provident fund balances and social insurance benefits, the deceased's personal information rights. Outcome type: money.
A 10B 0C 0
Time and energy 2Money 6Personal freedom 2
Outcome type: money. This section covers only how to handle the paperwork and how to get the money, including what to do first right after a person dies and which fees have a list you can check them against. It also covers which accounts hold money that can be recovered, and which matters close relatives have the right to step forward and handle. The first five items are in the order things happen: the scene, the death certificate, the body and cremation, what to do if you dispute the cause of death, and canceling the household registration. The items after that are ranked by value for cost. For arrangements an older person should make while alive, such as voluntary guardianship, a will and accounts, see Section 17. For the three payments for a work-related death, see Section 19.
The funeral part is based on the new edition of the Regulations on Funeral and Interment Administration (殡葬管理条例), in effect from March 30, 2026. How much the funeral grant and the survivors' allowance from pension insurance pay is set separately by the human resources and social security departments. This time the original text could not be obtained for word-for-word checking, so the main text gives no specific amounts.
Sources are reproduced exactly as they appear in the Chinese original, including Chinese titles of laws and quoted statutory text. Original Chinese text of this section at upstream commit bb25081, on GitHub.
If someone dies at home or elsewhere, first tell whether it is a normal or an unnatural death: if it was an accident, the cause of death is unknown, or the person lived alone and was only found afterward, call the police at once and leave the body and the scene untouched
Value for cost High
In plain terms
If the person died in an accident, it is not known how they died, or they lived alone and were found only long afterward, only the police can issue the death certificate. If the scene has been disturbed, what happened becomes hard to establish, and the certificate is hard to get issued. Without this piece of paper, cremation, canceling the household registration and insurance claims afterward all get stuck. If you can't tell which kind it is, call 110 (police) first. After the police come and investigate, they will still issue you the certificate.
Cost
No money. One phone call is enough.
No moneyDone in passingNo willpowerBenefit size medium
Benefit
Article 8, paragraph 2 of the Regulations on Household Registration (户口登记条例): “Where a citizen dies in an accident or the cause of death is unknown, the head of household or the person who discovers the death shall immediately report to the local public security police station or the township or town people's committee.” Meaning: if there was an accident, or it is not known how the person died, the head of household and whoever found them must report it right away to the police station or the township government. Article 23 of the Regulations on Funeral and Interment Administration (殡葬管理条例): “Where a natural person dies a normal death, the medical and health institution shall issue a death certificate in a timely manner. For the deceased in unnatural-death cases (incidents) that involve handling by the public security authorities according to law and that were not treated by a medical and health institution, the public security authorities shall issue the death certificate.” Meaning: for a normal death from illness, the medical institution that treated the person issues the death certificate. For the kind that was not treated at a hospital and is handled by the police, the police issue it. For an unnatural death, only the police can issue the death certificate. If the scene has been disturbed, it can neither be explained clearly nor easily issued. Cremation, canceling the household registration and insurance claims afterward all hinge on this one piece of paper
Evidence grade
A
Notes
Someone who was ill in bed for a long time and died at home counts as a normal death. You can ask the institution that treated them while they were alive to issue the certificate, or the community health center or township health center for the area where they lived. The death certificate is issued by whoever treated the person; see Item 2 (death certificate). If you can't tell which kind it is, treat it as unnatural: call 110 first, and after the police come and investigate, the certificate can still be issued. If you clean up the scene first and then call the police, no one can help you. Don't move the body yourself or wash it and change its clothes, and don't take away pill bottles or notes.
The death certificate is the key to everything that follows: whoever treated the person issues it; for a normal death at home, go to the community health service institution; it is issued within one day
Value for cost High
In plain terms
If the person died in hospital, get the death certificate from the institution responsible for their treatment. If they died a normal death at home, get it from the community health service institution or township health center for the area where they lived. If the cause of death is clear, it is issued within one day. Canceling the household registration, cremation, withdrawing housing provident fund money, claiming social insurance benefits, insurance claims and handling the inheritance each need it. As soon as you get it, make several copies.
Cost
No money.
No moneyDone in passingNo willpowerBenefit size medium
Benefit
The Specifications for the Registration and Management of Population Death Information (Trial) (人口死亡信息登记管理规范（试行）) say: for a death in a medical and health institution, the certificate is “issued by the medical and health institution responsible for treatment”; if the person died in a hospital or health center, get it from the one responsible for their treatment. For a normal death at home or in another place, it is “issued by the community health service institution or township (subdistrict) health center of the jurisdiction”; get it from the community health center or township or subdistrict health center for the area where the person lived. Where the public security and judicial authorities judge a death to be unnatural, the public security and judicial departments handle it under current rules and procedures. A 2026 notice from five departments says that for the Death Certificate, “the paper version and the electronic license have equal legal effect”: the electronic one works just as well as the paper one. For a normal death whose cause is clear, it must be issued within one day after the death. If the certificate is lost, you can apply to the original issuing institution for a replacement once. If the basic information is wrong, you can apply with supporting documents to have it reissued once
Evidence grade
A
Notes
Canceling the household registration, cremation, withdrawing housing provident fund money, claiming social insurance benefits, insurance claims and handling the inheritance each need it. As soon as you have it, make several copies, and if an electronic license can be issued, apply for that at the same time. You get only one chance at a replacement, so don't lose the original. If the name or ID card number is wrong, have it corrected on the spot, because if you only find out when handling the inheritance, you will have to go back through every counter again.
Transporting, storing and cremating the body can only go through a funeral home; hospital morgues do not provide funeral services, and storage is generally no more than 3 days
Value for cost High
In plain terms
Transporting, storing, embalming, cosmetic restoration and cremation can only be done by a funeral home. A hospital morgue does not handle funerals; at most it lets the body rest there temporarily. A funeral home generally stores a body for no more than 3 days; to keep it a few more days you have to arrange an extension. Cremation requires the death certificate and a cremation confirmation form. The cremation certificate you are given after cremation is needed later for inheritance and insurance claims.
Cost
No money.
No moneyDone in passingNo willpowerBenefit size medium
Benefit
Article 25 of the Regulations on Funeral and Interment Administration (殡葬管理条例): “Services of transporting, storing, embalming, cosmetic restoration and cremation of bodies are provided exclusively by funeral homes.” No one else can do these things. Article 24: “The morgues of medical and health institutions shall not be outsourced and shall not carry out funeral services, and may provide convenience services for the temporary placement of bodies.” A hospital morgue can only hold the body temporarily and cannot take charge of the funeral. Article 27: “Funeral homes generally store a body for no more than 3 days; where extended storage is needed, the bereaved family or the party handing over the body shall go through the procedures for extended storage at the funeral home.” To keep it a few more days, go to the funeral home and arrange an extension. Article 28: “Funeral homes shall cremate bodies on the basis of the death certificate and the cremation confirmation form, and issue a cremation certificate.” Both documents are required, and after cremation you will be given a cremation certificate. Article 29: “In areas where cremation is practiced, bodies shall be cremated locally, at a nearby funeral home”: you need to find a funeral home near the place where the person died for the cremation
Evidence grade
A
Notes
The “all-in-one” service people who crowd around after a death in hospital are mostly not from the funeral home. Transporting the body is itself a basic item with a set price; see Item 6 (the list of basic items). Keep the cremation certificate safe; inheritance, insurance and moving the ashes all need it. Whether a place practices cremation or burial is designated by the provincial government. The funeral customs of ethnic minorities are protected by Article 9 of the regulations. Anyone who buries a body in the ground when it should have been cremated, or who buries a body or builds a grave outside public cemeteries and ecological burial areas, will be ordered by the civil affairs department to make corrections within a deadline (put it right within a set time).
If you dispute the cause of death, request an autopsy within 48 hours and have the medical records sealed at the same time
Value for cost High
In plain terms
If you have doubts about the cause of death, you must request an autopsy within 48 hours after the person dies. If the hospital has the facilities to freeze the body, this can be extended to 7 days. An autopsy also requires the signed consent of close relatives. If they don't sign, or keep delaying until the time has passed, the responsibility for the cause of death not being established falls on the party who delayed. At the same time as you request the autopsy, ask for the medical records to be sealed. Once the body has been cremated, an autopsy can never be done.
Cost
No money. The hard part is remembering to ask for it at a moment like that.
No moneyDone in passingSome willpowerBenefit size large
Benefit
The time limit for an autopsy is set in Article 26 of the Regulations on the Prevention and Handling of Medical Disputes (医疗纠纷预防和处理条例). The original text is: “Where a patient dies and the patient side and the medical side disagree about the cause of death, an autopsy shall be performed within 48 hours after the patient's death; where body-freezing facilities are available, this may be extended to 7 days.” So if you want the cause of death established, the autopsy must be done within 48 hours after the person dies, and if the hospital has freezing facilities, the limit is relaxed to 7 days at most. The same article also says: “An autopsy requires the consent and signature of the deceased's close relatives; refusal to sign is deemed to mean that the deceased's close relatives do not consent to the autopsy.” If the family does not sign, it is treated as not consenting. It also says: “Where a party does not consent to or delays the autopsy beyond the prescribed time, affecting the determination of the cause of death, the party that did not consent or delayed bears the responsibility.” Whoever did not consent, or whoever let the time run out, bears the responsibility if the cause of death cannot be established later. Article 24: sealing and unsealing medical records “shall be carried out in the presence of both the patient side and the medical side.” When the medical records are sealed and unsealed, both you and the hospital must be present
Evidence grade
A
Notes
If you wait until after this time limit to say “I felt something was wrong from the start,” the responsibility falls back on the party that delayed. Once the body has been cremated, there is no longer any possibility of an autopsy, so this must be decided before you contact the funeral home. For how to have medical records sealed, see Section 24.
Canceling the household registration of the deceased has a statutory deadline: in cities before burial, in rural areas within one month
Value for cost Standard
In plain terms
In cities the registration must be canceled before burial, in rural areas within one month. Take the death certificate and the household register to the police station to do it. If you put it off, transferring inherited property, claiming benefits and canceling insurance will all get stuck on the household registration status.
Cost
No money. Take the death certificate and the household register to the police station once.
No moneyDone in passingNo willpowerBenefit size small
Benefit
Article 8, paragraph 1 of the Regulations on Household Registration (户口登记条例): “When a citizen dies, in cities before burial and in rural areas within one month, the head of household, a relative, a person who supported the deceased, or a neighbor shall report to the household registration authority for death registration and cancellation of the household registration. If a citizen dies at a place of temporary residence, the household registration authority of the place of temporary residence shall notify the household registration authority of the place of permanent residence to cancel the household registration.” Meaning: in cities, do it before the burial; in rural areas, within one month. The head of household, relatives, a person who supported the deceased, or neighbors can all go to the household registration authority (the police station) to report the death and cancel the registration. If the person died while staying temporarily somewhere else, the police station there notifies the police station where the household registration is held to cancel it
Evidence grade
A
Notes
If the household registration stays on the books, transferring inherited property, claiming benefits and canceling insurance will all get stuck, because these counters all look at household registration status. If the pension keeps being paid, that is fraudulent claiming, and it will have to be paid back sooner or later. When you go to the police station, also ask how to stop social insurance and medical insurance (医保) benefits and how to apply for the funeral grant. For those payments, see Item 9 (housing provident fund balance, social insurance benefits).
Funeral services are divided into basic and non-basic items; basic items have a list, and their fees are set according to law
Value for cost High
In plain terms
Transporting the body, storing it, the farewell ceremony, cremation, storage of the ashes and ecological burial are all on the national list of basic items. Burial of ashes in niches provided by public institutions is on it too. The prices for these items are set according to the rules. Outside the list, no separate items may be set up to charge money for. Before you set out, ask clearly which items count as basic and what the local standards are, and only then discuss anything else.
Cost
No money. Spend a few minutes looking at the list before you set out.
No moneyDone in passingNo willpowerBenefit size medium
Benefit
Transporting the body, storing the body, the farewell to the body, cremation of the body, storage of the ashes and ecological burial are all on the national list of basic items. Burial of ashes in niches provided by government-run funeral service institutions is also on the list. The fee standards for these items are set according to law; the prices are set by the rules and are not for the funeral home to decide on its own. The list of non-basic items is determined by civil affairs departments at the level of cities divided into districts or above (civil affairs departments of prefecture-level cities and above)
Evidence grade
A
Notes
Provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government can add items on top of the national list. First ask clearly which items are basic and what the local fee standards are, and only then discuss the rest. The prices of items on the list are fixed by the rules, and items off the list are optional; once you tell these two kinds apart, you have grounds to dispute the part you were overcharged. There is nothing wrong with wanting to give your loved one a dignified send-off; this is not urging you to keep it simple, and where the money goes is for you to decide.
If you run into forced bundled sales, charges added on top of the listed price, or one item split into several charges, write it down and complain
Value for cost Standard
In plain terms
These are all price violations the regulations name: not posting a price list, charging extra on top of the listed price, forcing you to buy funeral goods as part of a bundle, and forcing you to accept another company's paid services. Splitting one item into several charges also counts as a disguised price increase. On the spot, first ask for the price list, and keep the payment receipts and chat records. Complaining afterward is still not too late. For prices, go to market regulation; for the management of funeral services, go to civil affairs.
Cost
No money. The hard part is still being willing to push back at a moment like that.
No moneyDone in passingSome willpowerBenefit size medium
Benefit
The regulations list five types of price violations; four of them are described below. Not posting a price list, or charging more than the listed price, is failing to mark prices clearly or adding charges on top of the listed price. Refusing to provide one thing unless you buy another is forced sales through bundling or attaching unreasonable conditions. Pushing another company's paid services on you is forcing, openly or in disguise, acceptance of a third party's paid services. Charging more under a different name is a disguised increase in fee standards. In addition, “disguised increases in fee standards through splitting items, expanding the scope of charges and other means” are prohibited. Splitting one service into several separate charges, or expanding the scope of what is charged for, are both prohibited
Evidence grade
A
Notes
Investigating price violations falls to the market regulation departments; funeral services themselves fall to the civil affairs departments. On the spot, first ask for a price list and keep both the payment receipts and the chat records; complaining afterward is still not too late.
Intermediaries such as funeral agents, purchasing agents for funeral goods, and planners and hosts must file with the county-level civil affairs department
Value for cost High
In plain terms
Intermediaries such as funeral agents, purchasing agents for funeral goods, planners and hosts, and information consultants must file with the county-level civil affairs department. Those that have not filed are not in the civil affairs department's funeral service information system. Whether you can look this up yourself differs from place to place; the safest way is to call the county-level civil affairs department and ask. Those who charge improperly through deception or resell the deceased's information will be dealt with according to law.
Cost
No money. Ask whether they have filed.
No moneyDone in passingNo willpowerBenefit size medium
Benefit
Intermediaries that have not filed are not in the funeral service information system managed by the civil affairs department. Those that charge improperly through deception, lure people into lavish funerals, force services on people, or resell the deceased's information will be dealt with according to law, and will also be flagged in the system and made public, for anyone to see
Evidence grade
A
Notes
“Reselling the deceased's information” is the most common trap in this trade. If you get a flood of sales calls right after finishing the paperwork, the information has most likely been resold. Online memorial platforms are regulated too. Article 45 of the regulations forbids them from inducing spending and from handling the deceased's information unlawfully.
Money scattered in different places has to be claimed one by one: the housing provident fund balance, social insurance benefits, work-injury benefits
Value for cost High
In plain terms
Heirs can withdraw the housing provident fund balance; it is not in a bank account, so it is the easiest to miss. What remains in the pension insurance individual account can also be inherited. If the person died of illness, the family also receives a funeral grant and a survivors' allowance of 3 to 24 months. If the death was work-related, there are also the three work-injury payments.
Cost
No money, but you have to visit several counters. Before you go, have the death certificate and proof of the family relationship ready.
No moneyA few hoursNo willpowerBenefit size large
Benefit
The housing provident fund account balance (the money still left in their housing provident fund account) can be withdrawn by heirs and legatees. A legatee is the person written into the will to be left something. For a work-related death there are three additional payments: a funeral grant, a survivors' allowance for supported relatives, and a one-time work-death grant. What remains in the pension insurance individual account can be inherited; the Social Insurance Law (社会保险法) states this explicitly. If someone enrolled in employee pension insurance dies of illness or of causes not related to work, the family can also receive a funeral grant and a survivors' allowance, together called survivor benefits. For enterprise employees, the standard follows a single nationwide formula. The funeral grant is 2 times the province's average monthly per capita disposable income of urban residents for the previous year. The survivors' allowance uses this monthly income as its base and is paid for 3 to 24 months depending on years of contributions: under 5 years, 3 months; 5 to 10 years, 6 months; 10 to 15 years, 9 months; 15 years or more, 1 more month for every 1 additional year, up to 24 months at most. For someone already retired, it is reduced by 1 month for every 1 year of pension received, to a minimum of 9 months
Evidence grade
A
Notes
The housing provident fund money is the one most often forgotten, because it is not in a bank account and does not automatically go into the distribution of the estate. What remains in the pension insurance individual account and the survivor benefits are calculated and paid separately; go to the social insurance counter where the person was insured to handle them together. The documents required differ from place to place. For those who contributed for under 5 years, the survivor benefits combined do not exceed what they themselves paid in. This formula comes from the measures for enterprise employees' pension insurance; for survivor benefits under the pension insurance for government agencies and public institutions and under urban and rural residents' pension insurance, ask at the counter. For the formal requirements of wills and inheritance, see Section 17.
Close relatives can ask to access, copy, correct and delete the deceased's accounts and personal information
Value for cost Standard
In plain terms
After a person dies, close relatives, for their own lawful and legitimate interests, can ask a platform to let them access, copy, correct and delete the deceased's personal information. If the platform refuses, it has to give its reasons. You can also sue in court. There is one exception: if the deceased made other arrangements while alive, such as designating an account heir or leaving clear wishes, follow their arrangements.
Cost
No money. Only if the platform won't cooperate do you need to complain or sue.
No moneyDone in passingSome willpowerBenefit size medium
Benefit
The law states explicitly: when a natural person dies, close relatives, for their own lawful and legitimate interests, may exercise rights such as access, copying, correction and deletion over the deceased's relevant personal information. Close relatives can ask a platform to bring out the deceased's information for them to look at, make a copy of it, correct errors, and delete it
Evidence grade
A
Notes
The provision contains the sentence “except where the deceased made other arrangements while alive”; if the person designated an account heir or left clear wishes while alive, follow what they left. So while the person is still clear-headed, it is worth writing down where their accounts and passwords should go; see Section 17. Closing an account and deleting personal information are two different things; see Section 14.
