If a friend or relative dies abroad this can be very distressing. The local police or the British consul can give you advice and help with practical details especially if you do not speak the language of that country.
If you are staying in the same country as the person who died you will need to provide the following for both of you
- full name
- date of birth
- passport number
- where and when the passport was issued
and for the person who died
- details of the next of kin, if you are not their closest relative
You must register the death in the country where it happened. You do not have to register a death at the British Consulate, but if you do you will get a UK death certificate and the death will be recorded at the Register Office. If you are in Australia,Canada, New Zealand, Republic of Ireland, South Africa and Zimbabwe you will be given a local death certificate. This is all you need for British purposes.
The British Consulate can help you to
- inform the next of kin
- advise you on how much a local burial, local cremation and transport of the remains and personal property back to the UK will cost
- give you a list of local funeral directors and helping you if there is no English speaking firm
- help you to arrange for money to be sent from the UK to pay for costs.
- if there is anything suspicious about the death they can advise you how to deal with this.
If the person who died had an infectious disease you must tell the authorities so they can any necessary precautions.
If you are living in the UK and a relative or friend dies when abroad, then you should contact the
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
King Charles Street
London
SW1A 2AH
tel: 020 7008 1500
and they can help you with
- informing the next of kin
- they will try to make sure the next of kin do not hear of the death through the media
- and they will let the overseas Consul know what the wishes are about disposal of the body are and try to make sure these wishes are carried out. This is not always possible, for example some countries do not have crematoriums so they cannot do cremations.
There are British Consulates in most capital cities and in other cities. You can find out their details from Foreign and Commonwealth Office website by using the link on this page.