First 48 Hours After a Death in France — What to Do

Hour Zero — Secure the Medical Certificate

The first thing that must happen after a death in France is medical certification. If the death occurred in a hospital or clinic, clinical staff handle this automatically — they issue the certificat de décès and place the deceased in the hospital mortuary, which is free for the first three days.

If the death happened at a private residence, hotel, or holiday rental, the family must call a local physician or SOS Médecins to verify the death and issue the certificate. Do not move the body before medical certification.

If the death appears suspicious, violent, or accidental, do not call a doctor. Call the police (Gendarmerie) or emergency services on 17 (or 112 for the European number). The public prosecutor (procureur de la République) will order the body transferred to a forensic institute for autopsy, and the remains cannot be released until the prosecutor issues the necessary judicial authorization.

At this stage, ask the certifying doctor for a separate medical attestation (attestation médicale) stating the cause of death. The standard French civil death certificate does not include this information, but UK insurers and some pension providers will refuse to process claims without it. Getting this document now, while you have access to the medical team, is far easier than trying to retrieve it later from a French hospital archive.

Hours 1–6 — Register the Death at the Mairie

For a home, hotel, or other non-hospital death, French law requires the death to be registered at the mairie (town hall) of the commune where the death occurred within 24 hours. Any adult with accurate details about the deceased can perform the registration — a family member, a friend who was present, or the funeral home on your behalf.

Bring to the mairie:

• Your own valid photo ID
• The medical certificat de décès
• The deceased's passport, birth certificate, or marriage certificate

Request 15 to 20 certified copies of the acte de décès — you will need them for banks, insurers, pension funds, and probate on both sides of the Channel. Also request the multilingual extract (extrait plurilingue), which includes English headings and is accepted by most UK institutions without separate translation.

The passport trap: if you intend to repatriate the body, tell the mairie registrar before completing the registration. French administrative procedure instructs the registrar to permanently retain the deceased's passport. If you do not declare the intent to repatriate up front, the passport is impounded and cannot be recovered — and customs officials need it to process the transit of remains across borders.

Hours 6–24 — Contact the Embassy and Insurance

Call the British Consulate in Paris or the FCDO consular helpline in London (+44 20 7008 5000). Consular staff can provide lists of English-speaking lawyers and funeral directors, explain local procedures, and liaise with French police if the death is under judicial investigation. They cannot pay for anything — funeral costs, medical bills, and repatriation are the family's responsibility.

If the deceased had travel insurance, contact the insurer's emergency assistance line immediately. If coverage is confirmed, the insurer will typically appoint a specialist repatriation funeral director to handle logistics and may cover some or all of the costs. Have the policy number, death details, and hospital contact information ready.

If the deceased was on a package holiday or cruise, notify the tour operator — they may have local support arrangements.

Hours 12–48 — Appoint Funeral Directors

You need to make two appointments:

1. A local French pompes funèbres to handle immediate logistics — collection from the hospital or mortuary, temporary storage, embalming if repatriation is planned
2. A UK-based international funeral director if you are repatriating the body

The local funeral home handles the practical steps that cannot wait: coffin sealing witnessed by a police or municipal officer, embalming, and the laissez-passer application to the prefecture. If the death occurred in a hospital, the body can stay in the hospital mortuary free for three days. After that — or if the death was at home or a hotel — the body must be moved to a private funeral home mortuary, which charges uncapped daily storage fees.

Do not let a hospital automatically transfer the body to a pre-appointed local funeral home without your consent, especially in Corsica, where limited mortuary facilities lead to high, unnegotiated storage bills. Appoint your own funeral director first.

What to Prioritise in the Next Week

Once the first 48 hours are handled, the next priorities are:

• Notify CARSAT (French pension) within 7 days if the deceased received a French state pension
• Decide between repatriation and local burial or cremation — you have 14 calendar days under current French law
• Gather documents for the French notaire if the deceased had French assets
• Contact the DWP International Pension Centre to stop UK state pension payments

Our British Person Dies in France — Family Emergency Guide gives you the full chronological checklist from hour one through month three, with bilingual templates for every French institution you need to contact. It is designed to sit on your phone and walk you through each step as you reach it.