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Disclaimer / Limitations
This country’s legal measures were reviewed by our legal staff in consultation with in-country lawyers and/or CRVS legal experts. All efforts were made to ensure the accuracy of the legal analysis, however, if you consider there to be any discrepancies or if there have been changes in the law of the country since our staff last updated the legal analysis, we welcome any additional information or insights. Please contact us via this form.
Death Registration
Ghana
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Ghana
Death Registration
Burial, ID and Related Services
Burial, ID and Related Services
Burial Permits and Disposal of Bodies
Does the law require that a burial permit be obtained to dispose of a body? If so, does the law require that death is reported to the civil registrar before a burial permit can be obtained?
Yes
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
A permit should be required to bury or cremate, or otherwise dispose of, a body. The law should require the reporting of death to the civil registrar before a permit to dispose of the body is issued, to incentivize death registrations. To enforce the requirement of death registration, funeral, burial and cremation services should be required to request proof of reporting of death or death certificate before proceeding with services.
A “burial permit” is defined in the Registration of Births and Deaths Act as an authorization that grants permission for the “burial, cremation or any other form of disposition of the body of a deceased or a foetus”. Disposal of the body of a deceased person requires a burial permit. When a death is registered in Ghana, the District Registrar issues a burial permit free of charge. If a dead body is brought in from another country and the death is not required to be registered in Ghana, the District Registrar may issue a burial permit on application, after payment of the prescribed fee (20 Ghana cedis in 2025).
A person who conducts a burial or other disposition must inspect the death certificate and burial permit before proceeding with the burial. The owner or manager of a burial ground or any other disposition facility must not permit the burial or disposition of a dead body without a burial permit, and must endorse the burial permit with the required particulars and return it to the District Registrar of the district in which the burial or disposition takes place. If there is to be a cremation, the District Registrar of the district where the cremation is to take place must amend the burial permit to indicate that the body is to be cremated, and the person who supervised the cremation must endorse the burial permit after the cremation and return it to the District Registrar of the district in which the cremation took place.
Registration Linked to Access to Key Services and Other Incentives
Is proof of death registration required in order to access any public services or benefits?
Unclear
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
Some countries incentivize higher death registration rates by tying them to key benefits like accessing pension of deceased spouse or permitting remarriage. Some countries offer cash incentives to register deaths.
Analysis of the legal instruments available to the reviewer did not identify any provisions relevant to this question.
Law Source
Retirement of Legal Identity
Does the law link retirment of a UPI and/or identity credential to death registration?
Yes
Recommended Practice based on International Guidelines
When a death is registered, the civil registration authority must transmit this information to the identity management authority so that the identity management authority may retire or deactivate the unique personal identifier and the identity credential of the deceased individual. This information should also be shared with the population register (if a population register is maintained).
Under the National Identity Register Act, the National Identity Authority is required to request the Births and Deaths Registry at quarterly intervals to furnish the Authority with records of deaths that occur in a particular year, to enable the Authority invalidate the national identity cards issued to deceased persons. The Births and Deaths Registry is legally required to comply with this request.
In addition, in terms of the National Identity Register Regulations, when the holder of an identity card dies, a person in possession of the deceased's identity card is required to notify the Authority of the death in writing and to deliver the card to the Authority for cancellation within 30 days after the cardholder’s death. The Authority may request proof of the death of the cardholder.
