Although not obligatory, it is possible to register the death of a British national who has died in France at the British Consulate-General in Paris. This service carries a statutory consular fee. Download the Consular Fees document [Word, 21KB]

If you wish to register the death of a British National in our Consular Register, you must first complete the Death Registration Form here and return it to the following address, with the person's local death certificate, birth certificate and passport. These documents will be returned to you.

British Embassy,
Consular Section
35 rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré,
75008 Paris

Deaths in France – judicial and other procedures

The death of a relative or a friend can be a traumatic experience. When the death occurs overseas, family and friends in the UK can feel additional distress as they are unfamiliar with foreign procedures maybe unable to communicate in the language of the country where the death occurred. Consular Division of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and our consulates in France are ready to help in any way they can.

These notes are designed to help you through the practical arrangements you will need to make. French procedures differ significantly to those in the United Kingdom and, while we understand your need for arrangements to be made quickly, this is not always possible.

While care has been taken in compiling these notes, no legal liability for their contents is accepted by the British Embassy, British Consulates-General in France or HM Government.

Repatriation and burial

A relative or a formally appointed representative must instruct a funeral director in France or the UK for a body to be repatriated to the UK or buried or cremated in France.

If the deceased was insured you should contact the insurance company so that they can make the necessary arrangements. If there is no insurance cover, funds for repatriation or burial will need to be met by the family. Neither the Foreign and Commonwealth Office nor our consulates in France can meet these costs.

A medical certificate certifying the death is issued by the local doctor and serves as a burial permit. A death is registered at the mairie (Town Hall) in the locality in which it occurred. A relative or their formally appointed representative usually registers the death. This, however, can also be carried out by a local firm of undertakers.

A certified copy of the entry is usually issued immediately if all necessary details are available. No fee is charged for the medical certificate or for the registration. French death certificates, however, do not show the cause of death. In France there is no central registry corresponding to the General Registry Office in the United Kingdom.

Coroners

When a body is repatriated to England or Wales from France, a Coroner will only hold an inquest if the death was violent or unnatural or sudden and the cause unknown. As the cause of death is not given on the French registration certificate, the Coroner may order a post mortem as part of the inquest (even if a post mortem has already been carried out in France).

The Coroner does not have access to the French judicial file. He may however request a copy of the French police and post mortem reports through Consular Division. However these reports will only be provided once the judicial process, if any, has been completed and the death is no longer subjudice. In some cases this can take several months.

Cremation

If there is no requirement for a Coroner to become involved and a cremation is to be carried out, a cremation order will need to be obtained from the Home Office. An application for the order is usually made by the local undertaker. There is no equivalent order required for burials.

Northern Ireland

Coroners in Northern Ireland are not obliged to hold an inquest into the cause of death, but next of kin can apply for a judicial review if an inquest has been decided against.

Scotland

Under the Cremation (Scotland) Regulations 1935 and 1952, a permit for cremation must be obtained from the Scottish Office in Edinburgh. Coroners do not exist in Scotland and there are no special formalities for a burial there.

Police and judicial inquiries

Inquiries are not held when the doctor who certifies a death is satisfied that no suspicious circumstances exist and the death was due to natural causes. However, an inquiry is held when the death occurs in a public place, for example in the street or at a hotel, or when foul play is suspected. In such cases the responsibility for issuing the burial permit lies with the Public Prosecutor (Procureur de la République) at the local high court (Tribunal de grande instance).

Payment:

The consular fees payable are as follows:

• Registration of death - 113.00 Euros
• Each death certificate - 72.00 Euros

Postal payments can be made in the following ways:

• Mandat Cheque or Mandat Cash (postal orders) available from French Post offices or guaranteed banker's cheque (not a banker's draft). Cheques must beworded in French and made payable to "British Embassy Paris". We no longer accept personal cheques.
  
• Credit card (payment authorisation form)
• Personal callers can also pay by credit card or cash.

For a full list of consular fees, please download the Consular Fees document [Word, 21KB]

Useful Addresses

British Embassy Paris Consular Section 16 rue d'Anjou 75008 Paris Tel. 00 33 1 44 51 31 00 Fax. 00 33 1 44 51 31 27 British Consulate-General Lille 11 square Dutilleul 59800 Lille Tel. 00 33 3 20 12 82 72 Fax. 00 33 3 20 54 88 16 British Consulate-General Lyon 24 rue Childebert 69002 Lyon Tel. 00 33 4 72 77 81 70 Fax. 00 33 4 72 77 81 79 British Consulate-General Bordeaux 353 boulevard du Président Wilson 33073 Bordeaux Cedex Tel. 00 33 5 57 22 21 10 Fax. 00 33 5 56 08 33 12 British Consulate-General Marseille 24 avenue du Prado 13006 Marseille Tel. 00 33 4 91 15 72 10 Fax. 00 33 4 91 37 47 06 Foreign & Commonwealth Office Consular Division Old Admiralty Building London SW1A 2PA Tel. 0207 008 0226/0205 Fax. 0207 008 0162

Home Office Coroners Unit 50 Queen Anne's Gate London SW1H 9AT Tel. 0207 273 3560 Fax. 0207 273 2029 Law Society 113 Chancery Lane London WC2A 1PL Tel. 0207 242 1222 Fax. 0207 831 0344 Incorporated Law Society of Northern Ireland Bedford House 16-22 Bedford Street Belfast BT2 7FL Tel. 01232 246441 Fax. 01232 332548 Scottish Legal Aid Central Committee 44 Drumsheigh Gardens Edinburgh EH3 7SW Tel. 0131 226 7061 Fax. 0131 220 4879 Scottish Executive Public Health Policy Unit St Andrew's House, Regent Road Edinburgh EH11 3XD Tel. 0131 244 2501 Institut National d'Aide aux Victimes et de Médiation 14 rue Ferrus 75014 Paris Tel. 00 33 1 45 88 19 00 Fax. 00 33 1 45 89 94 02