When someone dies abroad: what to do next

Losing someone while they’re abroad is especially hard. You may be far away, dealing with unfamiliar rules and another language, while trying to take in the news. This guide explains the practical steps, who can help, and how the rules differ in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Key points

• Call the travel insurer first, if there is one. It may cover repatriation and other costs.
• The FCDO can advise 24 hours a day on 020 7008 5000, but can’t pay costs or investigate.
• The death must be registered in the country where it happened. UK registration is optional.
• You have three main options: bring the body home, hold the funeral abroad, or cremate abroad and bring the ashes home.
• A UK inquest can only happen if the body comes back and isn’t cremated abroad.
• Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own rules for bringing someone home.

First steps

1. Contact the travel insurer, if the person had one. Check with their bank, credit card company, tour operator or employer if you’re unsure. Insurers may have approved funeral directors.
2. Contact the FCDO on 020 7008 5000 (24 hours), or the local British embassy, high commission or consulate if you’re abroad.
3. Read the FCDO’s country-specific bereavement guide on GOV.UK. Each one explains local rules.
4. Keep the person’s passport. You’ll need it to bring them home. Don’t cancel it until afterwards.

What the FCDO can and can’t do

Registering the death abroad

You must register the death with the local authorities. The hospital, police, tour operator or funeral director can usually explain how. You’ll normally need your own ID, the person’s passport or details of it, and next-of-kin details.

• Ask for several copies of the death certificate.
• If it isn’t in English, you’ll need an official translation.
• If you disagree with the cause of death or a post-mortem report, get independent legal advice.

You don’t have to register the death in the UK. If the person is brought home for burial or cremation, the General Register Office keeps a record. If not, you can apply for a consular death registration in many countries.

Your options

Bringing the body home

You’ll need an international funeral director in the UK. They work with a local funeral director and you sign a form authorising both. The body can only leave once local procedures, such as a post-mortem or police enquiries, are complete. It is usually embalmed and placed in a sealed coffin.

Typical documents include:

• a certified English translation of the death certificate
• permission to remove the body, from the local coroner or equivalent
• an embalming certificate.

For more on the process and costs, see our repatriation guide.

What happens when the person is home

In England and Wales, if you arrange the funeral yourself, return the certificate of no liability to the registrar within 96 hours of the funeral.

Embalming can make a second post-mortem in the UK harder. If you have concerns about how the person died, tell the international funeral director and the coroner early. Don’t arrange a cremation abroad if you want a UK inquest. For Scottish residents, the FCDO says a further investigation may still be possible even after a funeral abroad.

Bringing ashes home

You don’t need a permit to bring ashes into the UK. You’ll normally need:

• the death certificate and certificate of cremation
• to tell the airline in advance, and check whether ashes can go in hand luggage or the hold
• a container that can be X-rayed, usually non-metallic.

Check the rules of the country you’re leaving too, and fill in a customs form when you arrive. See scattering ashes for what you can do next.

Costs, insurance and help

• Travel insurance may cover medical, repatriation, legal and translation costs.
• Without insurance, the family or estate usually pays, including any hospital bills abroad.
• Charities can help in some cases, such as the JackTheLad Foundation (young people aged 16 to 30 who die in an accident abroad), the Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust (repatriation to Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland) and the Repatriation Services Trust (families from Wales).
• A Funeral Expenses Payment can help with funeral costs in the UK if you get certain benefits. In England and Wales GOV.UK lists funerals in the UK, the EEA or Switzerland (funerals outside the UK only qualify in limited circumstances), but it only pays to move a body within the UK. Scotland has its own Funeral Support Payment. See help paying for a funeral.

Telling UK organisations

• Tell Us Once can be used if the person normally lived in England, Scotland or Wales and was abroad temporarily. The registrar may need the foreign certificate to be verified by that country’s embassy or high commission first. See Tell Us Once.
• Cancel the passport with form D1 once the person has been brought home, or after a funeral abroad.
• Bereavement Support Payment may be available if your husband, wife or civil partner died. See bereavement leave and pay.

Where to get help

• FCDO: 020 7008 5000, 24 hours.
• Support after a death abroad: Death Abroad – You’re Not Alone (Scotland) and the Kirsty Maxwell Charity. Road Peace and Brake support people bereaved by road crashes, including abroad.
• General support: see bereavement support.
• Plan the funeral at home with how to plan a funeral and find funeral directors near you.