# Registering a Death in Malaysia: The JPN Process, Death Certificate and What Comes Next

> A death in Malaysia must be registered with the National Registration Department (JPN) within a set deadline before a death certificate can be issued — and that certificate then becomes the key to nearly every step that follows, from the deceased's bank account to the distribution of the estate.

- Category: settling-in
- Language: en
- Status: published
- Updated: 2026-07-24
- Canonical: https://negaraku.md/en/settling-in/registering-a-death

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Before a bank can freeze a deceased person's account, before the EPF (KWSP) can
release their savings, and before a single heir can begin the estate process —
one document has to exist first: the death certificate. And that certificate
does not issue itself. It begins with a blue form that has to reach a National
Registration Department (JPN) counter within a limited window, often while the
family is still grieving and least prepared to deal with bureaucracy.

## The deadline that's easy to miss

According to the official JPN portal, the informant or the deceased's next of
kin must submit a copy of the **Death Register/Burial Permit (Form JPN.LM02)**
to the nearest JPN office within **7 working days** of the death being
confirmed. This form is not something the family has to obtain themselves — it
is issued by the agency that confirms the death (a hospital, PDRM, or the
relevant local authority) as soon as the death is confirmed, and it is that
blue copy that is brought to JPN to be registered in the I-JPN system.

Once this 7-working-day period has passed, the application switches to the
late-registration category, with additional conditions and checks. This means
that "sorting out the certificate once the funeral is over" can end up just a
day or two late.

## Documents to bring to the counter

| Document | Notes |
| --- | --- |
| Copy of the Death Register/Burial Permit (JPN.LM02) | Issued by the agency that confirms the death |
| Original identity/identification document of the deceased | MyKad, MyPR, MyKAS or passport depending on status |
| Informant's identity card | Original and a copy |
| Medical certificate of cause of death | Form JPN.LM09, or JPN.LM10 if a post-mortem is involved — if the death occurred at a hospital |

**No fee is charged** for ordinary registration of a death at a JPN counter.
The death certificate can then be claimed by an eligible individual —
typically a parent, spouse, child, sibling, or the informant recorded at
registration.

## Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak are not the same

The JPN portal lists death-related services separately by region — Peninsular
Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak each have their own application categories and
forms for ordinary registration, late registration, and error correction. Do
not assume the same form or timeframe that applies in the Peninsula also
applies in Sabah or Sarawak — check the relevant regional page at jpn.gov.my
before going to the counter.

## If there's an error on the certificate

Two correction routes exist, and which one applies depends on the type of
error: clerical/printing errors (for example, a misspelled name) are corrected
under one section of the Births and Deaths Registration Act 1957, while
factual errors (for example, a wrongly recorded date of death) require an
application under a different section. Both must be done at a JPN counter, not
online.

## Once you have the death certificate in hand

The death certificate becomes the key to what follows, not the end of the
process. Common next steps include:

- **Bank** — the deceased's account must be notified and frozen before any
  claim by an heir can be processed.
- **EPF (KWSP)** — an heir or nominee can claim the deceased's savings, but
  additional estate-administration documents are required if no valid nominee
  was registered during the deceased's lifetime.
- **Estate** — for property (movable and/or immovable) worth no more than
  **RM5 million** where the deceased left no will, the distribution
  application is made as a "small estate" at the Estate Distribution Unit,
  Department of the Director General of Lands and Mines (JKPTG) — not at the
  high court.

## Common mistakes

- **Waiting until the funeral rites are over before thinking about
  registration.** The 7-working-day clock runs from the date the death is
  confirmed, not the date of the funeral.
- **Bringing the wrong-coloured or incomplete copy of the form.** JPN
  specifically refers to the blue copy of JPN.LM02 issued by the agency that
  confirmed the death.
- **Assuming the procedure is the same in every region.** The forms and
  section references for Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak are not
  uniform.
- **Trying to settle bank or EPF matters before the official death
  certificate has been issued.** Most institutions require the original
  certificate or a certified copy before any claim can be started.

## What's next

For a fuller picture of JPN as an agency — the statutes behind it, the other
registers it also administers (births, marriages, divorces) and the history
of its establishment — see
[JPN — National Registration Department](/en/government/jpn). To understand
the identity documents you need to bring during this registration process,
see [MyKad](/en/glossary/mykad).

## Sources

- Kematian — Portal JPN — https://www.jpn.gov.my/my/perkhidmatan/kematian (Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara Malaysia (JPN))
- Ordinary Registration of Death (Peninsular) — https://www.jpn.gov.my/en/services/death/ordinary-registration-of-death-peninsular/ (Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara Malaysia (JPN))
- Soalan Lazim — Pusaka Kecil — https://www.jkptg.gov.my/my/soalan-lazim-3?layout=edit&id=1084 (Jabatan Ketua Pengarah Tanah dan Galian Persekutuan (JKPTG))

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