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Life is Pleasant.
Death is Peaceful.
It’s the Transition

That is Troublesome.
Issac Asimov

Many of us have chosen to live
and die here in this paradise of
San Felipe. It is to our advantage
to understand the death process
in Mexico as it is different from
the United States. By Celeste Feldman

This article is an attempt to demystify the process you maybe going thorough at your time
of loss, and help prepare you for the challenges you will encounter.
There are different costs, paperwork and timeliness. Whether it is a spouse, friend or yourself,
forewarned is forearmed.
Recently a good friend’s husband of 50 years passed away. Even though the couple had
been living here part and full time for 20 years, the ins and outs of death and dying were a
new process, with unexpected surprises. At the time of his death this 84-year-old male was
living at a residential care home. When the residing physician pronounced the individual
deceased, the police were called along with an ambulance. The attending physician
completed a Certificate of Death which is quite a lengthy form. At that time, the spouse
also needed to provide a marriage certificate, proof of the deceased’s residency in Mexico,
passport, permanent residence card, etc. The deceased was then transported to the local
Mortuary, Monte Sinai.
The following day, a Request for Cremation needed completion by the Director of Funeral
Services. Numerous documents were also required, i.e. marriage license, passport, etc.
At this time a cash payment in full for this cremation was due. The fee was $2,500.00 an
additional $500.00 is added cover translation and attorney fees. Another normal proce-
dure was an interview of the surviving spouse at the local police department which was
scheduled that afternoon. There another form called United Mexican States Free And Sov-
ereign State of Baja California State Registry for Deceased was completed by authorities.
Now remember all these forms are in Spanish.
The mortuary delivered the deceased’s remains along with one original Death Certificate,
copies were sent to the wife and doctor via email. The process of death to cremation was a
total of three days, a lot faster than expected.
There is where additional work required. The surviving spouse had to hire an online group
to translate and notarize the Death Certificate. This cost was yet another expense. The
translated and notarized document was then emailed back and one hard copy sent to the
spouse by The Spanish Group (name of on-line-translation service). This was essential to

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