Overview

The registry office (état civil) registers all civil events which take place in the life of a person (birth, marriage, death), his / her personal and family statuses (coming of age, descendants, matrimonial relationships), his/her family names, cantonal and communal civil rights as well as his/her nationality. The events are written both in the special registers at the location where the event has taken place (register of births, marriages and deaths or recognitions) and in the family register which is held at the “lieu d’origine” (ancestral home town).

Most of the registrations in the family registers are the result of an event. Other registrations derive from judicial and administrative decisions, for example a divorce or change of name.