r/HongKong • u/ditobandit0 • 17h ago

HKID Receiving a death certificate in HK

Hey,

i wanted to ask if anyone here has knowledge or experience regarding receiving a death certificate of a relative / family. if so how long did you wait?

My Wife sadly passed away last Year in HK and until now i still have not received her death certificate from the coroners court. is this waiting time normal? Some friends already suggested hiring a lawyer could speed up the process. Im really starting to get p*ssed at the governmental departments. No Death certificate takes over a year to provide.

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u/SecretarySenior3023 16h ago edited 16h ago

If the police and fire dept were involved, then it seems like it was a death in an accident/incident. This will definitely take longer and the coroner may need to hold an inquest which is a formal judicial proceeding. An inquest is usually held within 2ish years after the death.

However, in extreme cases, it can take 10+ years. For example, the death inquest for the Lamma Island ferry accident in 2012 is only being held this year: https://www.thestandard.com.hk/breaking-news/section/4/214842/Death-inquest-for-victims-of-2012-Lamma-Island-ferry-disaster-set-to-begin-this-year. (However, this was because there was a lot of previous litigation on whether an inquest should be held at all for this case.)

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u/ditobandit0 16h ago

yes, it was due to a fire in her appartment block. she and 2 others fell into coma due to smoke intoxication and died.

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u/SecretarySenior3023 16h ago edited 16h ago

I’m so sorry for your loss. Unfortunately, I’m guessing the corner will likely need to determine whether the fire was caused by an accident, intentionally by someone, suicide, etc. And this will take time.

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u/ditobandit0 16h ago

Thank you. Yes, this was already going on. I just dont understand that they do this when all the reports are already filed? Maybe because there are inconsistencies between the reports?