Which extract to order
The civil-status office of the Comune di Milano holds the register. Ask for the full extract of the death record, the one giving the date, the place and the details of the person, rather than the short certificate. Relatives asking how to legalize a Death Certificate need that long form, because banks and probate desks abroad ask for the detail. Tell the clerk the sheet will be used in another country.
Order more than one original if several offices will each want to keep a copy. Every reader tends to hold on to the sheet, and running the chain twice costs another fortnight. Check the spelling of the surname and the date against the passport of the person who died. A mismatch stalls an estate for months.
The Prefettura stamp
A death record is an act of the town hall, so it is legalized by the Prefettura (Prefecture) of Milan. The office keeps sample signatures of the city's registrars and matches yours before signing. Rulings from a judge and deeds from a notary go elsewhere, to the Procura della Repubblica at the court. The consular legalization of a Death Certificate in Italy is the step after the Prefettura, not instead of it.
The mission step
The sealed sheet then goes to the embassy or consulate of the country where the estate sits. Their officer checks the Italian seal and adds one of their own, often with a register entry. The embassy legalization of a Death Certificate in Milan is arranged with that mission and follows their rules. Some ask for proof that you are an heir or an executor before they will take the file.
Bring the mission everything they list on the first visit. A missing photocopy of your own passport, or of the deed naming you executor, means a second appointment weeks later. Ask whether they want the file in a folder or loose. Small counter rules like that are theirs to set and worth checking.
Cost and wait
The Italian stage takes a €16 tax stamp (marca da bollo) on the file. Buy it at a tobacconist first, since neither desk stocks one. The mission then charges a consular fee that it sets on its own and can change at any time.
Allow 10–15 business days from the Comune counter to the last seal. Estates run on deadlines set by courts and banks, so a lane of 3–5 business days is open when one is close. The mission keeps its own diary, so book that appointment before you order the extract.
What the reader on the other side wants
Families legalize a Death Certificate in Milan to release a bank account, to transfer a title, to claim a pension or a life policy, or to open probate. Each of those readers has its own list. A bank often wants the sheet plus proof of who the heirs are. A pension fund may want a recent extract rather than one issued years ago. Ask each of them what they need before you queue.
Whether that final seal is called for depends on the destination, so ask the receiving authority to confirm in writing first. The embassy attestation of a Death Certificate in Milan is time and money spent for nothing when the bank abroad accepts the state stamp alone. Ask them as well which language the record must be in, and whether the translation has to be bound to it.