In principle, civil status documents (extracts and full copies) shall be valid irrespective of the date of issue. One birth certificate, of marriage or death shall remain valid as long as the elements contained therein have not been modified.

However, for next steps, seniority cannot be exceeded :

• National identity card or passport: the date of the act is Maximum 3 months
• Marriage: the date of the deed is Maximum 3 months if the department issuing the document is French (Maximum 6 months if the department issuing the document is foreigner). But there's no time-out condition if the country's system does not provide for the updating of acts.
• Civil partnerships: the date of the act is Maximum 3 months if the department issuing the document is French (Maximum 6 months if the department issuing the document is foreigner).

For other procedures (e.g. application for a survivor's pension), a period of validity of the civil status document is not required. However, in practice, it is possible that pension funds ask you to provide a recent act to ensure that you have not remarried (the condition of not remarrying is mandatory).