What to do after a death in France

While this guide focuses mainly on practical matters, coping with a loved-one's death is often very difficult emotionally. If you need extra support you can find English-speaking counsellors and psychotherapists via this website.

Timeline of tasks

French government information website service-public.gouv.fr has a simple website for checking key things to do after a death depending on your personal situation. It will tailor steps to take that are very specific to your situation and relationship with the deceased.

Within 24 hours

• Obtain a medical certificate (un certificat de décès) from a doctor certifying the death. Violent deaths, including road accidents, must be notified to the police or gendarmerie, who will supply a certificate; in which case the body may be transferred to a special mortuary where an autopsy may be conducted before it is transferred to a usual mortuary after judicial permission.

Apart from the basic proof of death, the medical certificate will also contain information that is important for admission to a private or municipal mortuary; transport of the body before the coffin is sealed and transport abroad after sealing; embalming or cremation.

In such cases, the certificate must show that there are no medical/legal issues of concern, that the person did not have a contagious illness and, if they are to be cremated, that they did not have a pacemaker – or if they did, that it has been removed, as these can explode.

• Declare the death to the mairie of the area where it occurred. This can be done by the funeral directors or a care home or medical establishment if the death happened there. It must be done within 24 hours (not counting weekends and bank holidays). Some mairies have limited opening hours and you may need to call the mayor directly.

If you do this yourself you will need personal ID, the certificat de décès, plus ID for the deceased such as a marriage, birth certificate or passport. This is the same for anyone else who is charged with declaring the death. You will then be given a death certificate acte de décès – and we advise getting at least a dozen copies.

• Wherever the death takes place, the close family can ask for the body to be transferred for example, from a hospital or retirement home, before the placing in the coffin – whether to their home, a relative’s home or to a chambre funéraire. The latter is a private or municipal mortuary, often run by funeral directors and which costs more than using a hospital mortuary. This requires authorisation from the local mairie and usually must take place within 24 hours, or 48 hours if there has been embalming. 

If the body is to be transferred to a different commune, authorisation from that commune’s mairie is required. In the case of transfer from an institution, transfer also requires permission from the home director or the doctor in charge.

Organising a funeral

Contact your chosen firm of funeral directors (pompes funèbres) within about 48 hours of the death and instruct them of your wishes.

They will help with subsequent formalities and arranging the obsèques (funeral). A list of firms can be found at the mairie. You should check if the deceased had expressed a choice of cremation or burial.

Before signing anything make sure the quote includes all charges and labour. The average cost of a funeral is around €4,300 for a funeral with burial and €3,800 for one with cremation, a study by a professional body for the sector, CPFM, found.

However the organisation said prices vary widely, and can be twice as much in Paris or the Riveria compared to Hauts-de-France. 

You may wish to obtain quotes from several firms. Vocabulary may include: a fully-equipped oak coffin for burial in a cemetery (cercueil en chêne équipé). Equipped means with inner lining, handles, plaque, screws etc; a coffin equipped for cremation (cercueil équipé destiné à la crémation);or equipped and zinc-coated (zingué et équipé) for shipment abroad;a hearse (corbillard) and pallbearers (porteurs de cercueil).

The tasks of the funeral director may include: cleaning and dressing the body (if not already carried out at hospital), looking after it in their chambre funéraire, embalming, providing a coffin and accessories (or an urn), organising the cortège (hearse and bearers), a civil or religious ceremony (with or without a maître de cérémonie in charge), fees for the burial plot, grave digging, funeral monument or for storage of an urn.

There may be extra fees for the firm’s help with general organisation, printing cards and for a notice in the paper.

A funeral must take place within fourteen days unless there are special circumstances and permission.

The placing in the coffin (mise en bière) usually happens at the place where the person died. 

Wherever a death takes place, in general no one can impose removal of the body to the deceased’s home or to a chambre funéraire without permission from the family. 

How does repatriation to the UK work?

If a person dies in France, a number of formalities must be completed before their remains can be repatriated to the UK.

British nationals can be repatriated to the UK whether they were living in France or visiting at the time of death. However, whether repatriation takes place will depend on the wishes of the deceased (if known) and their next of kin, particularly given the costs involved.

The death of a British citizen abroad should always be reported to the relevant UK authorities via the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), typically through the nearest British Embassy or Consulate. Even if burial or cremation takes place in France, a consular death registration can be arranged, which may help with handling the estate in the UK.

In France, burial or cremation must usually take place within six working days of death (excluding Sundays and public holidays), although repatriation can extend this timeframe where necessary. In straightforward cases, repatriation is often completed within around one to two weeks, though delays can occur if the death is subject to investigation (for example, following an accident or suspicious circumstances or suspicious circumstances).

Initial formalities

Following a death, a doctor issues a certificat de décès (medical death certificate). This allows the death to be officially registered and an acte de décès (official death certificate) to be obtained from the mairie where the death occurred.

You should request several copies of the acte de décès, as these will be required for administrative procedures, including repatriation and settling the estate.

Procedures may differ slightly depending on the circumstances of death. For example, if the death occurred in a hospital or care home, staff will often assist with the administrative process. Deaths in public places or involving legal investigations may involve additional authorities.

Organising repatriation

Next steps will depend largely on whether the deceased had insurance covering repatriation.

Travel insurance policies often include repatriation cover for visitors, while some long-term residents may have funeral or life insurance policies that include this provision. It is important to check the terms carefully and contact the insurer as soon as possible.

If no such cover exists, you will need to appoint a funeral director specialising in international repatriation. This may be a French, UK or international firm. Costs typically range from around €7,000 to €9,000, depending on the circumstances and distance involved.

The British Embassy or Consulate should be informed of the repatriation. While they do not cover costs, they can assist with procedures, documentation and lists of specialist providers.

Repatriation of a body

If the body is to be repatriated before burial, the following documents are generally required:

• Official death certificate (acte de décès)

• Medical certificate confirming the death was not due to a contagious disease

• Embalming certificate (usually required for international transport)

• Certificate confirming the coffin has been sealed (often issued by local authorities or police)

• Authorisation for transport of the body (laissez-passer mortuaire)

French law does not always require embalming, but it is typically necessary for repatriation to the UK.

Repatriation of ashes

If the deceased has been cremated, the process is simpler. You will usually need:

• Official death certificate

• Certificate of cremation

• Document confirming the ashes are sealed in an appropriate urn

• Transport authorisation

Airlines may have specific requirements regarding the transport of ashes, so it is important to check in advance.

Useful vocabulary for speaking about death in France

La mort (silent ‘t’) – death

Le décès – death (more formal)

Le deuil – mourning

Mourir, décéder – to die

Il est mort (‘t’ silent), elle est morte (‘t’ pronounced) – he/she is dead

Il est décédé, elle est décédée – deceased (not to be mistaken with décider – to decide)

Le défunt, la défunte – the deceased

Un enterrement – burial

Les obsèques (feminine) – funeral

La crémation – cremation

Etre enterré/e – to be buried

Etre incinéré/e – to be cremated

Les pompes funèbres – undertakers

Une tombe, une sépulture – a tomb

Un cimetière – cemetery

Un cercueil – a coffin

Une couronne mortuaire – wreath

Un convoi funéraire – a funeral convoy

Un corbillard – a hearse

Une urne – urn for ashes

Le corps – the body

Les cendres (feminine) – the ashes

Une chambre mortuaire – chapel of rest

Une veillée mortuaire – a wake

Un maître de cérémonie – (funeral) celebrant

Un crématorium – crematorium

Laïc – non-religious

Un faire-part de décès – death notice

Un monument funéraire – funeral monument

Un caveau – a vault

Feu (example: feu votre femme): '(the) late'.

Invariable adjective (so no feminine or plural form), used in expressions such as: j’ai bien connu feu votre tante – I knew your late aunt very well.

The vocabulary in this column supplied by Camille Chevalier-Karfis of French Today.

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