US Embassy London Death Notification

Which Office to Contact

The US maintains three consular presences in the United Kingdom, and which one you contact depends on where the death occurred — not where you live in the US or where the deceased was staying before they traveled to the region of death.

England and Wales: American Citizen Services at the US Embassy in London, 33 Nine Elms Lane, London SW11 7US. Death reports go through the digital ACS Navigator portal. Phone from the UK: 020 7499 9000. Phone from the US: +1-202-501-4444.

Scotland: US Consulate General in Edinburgh, 3 Regent Terrace, Edinburgh EH7 5BW. Death reports are emailed directly to EdinburghConsular@state.gov.

Northern Ireland: US Consulate General in Belfast, Danesfort House, 223 Stranmillis Road, Belfast BT9 5GR. Reports go through the Belfast ACS online contact form.

If you call the wrong office, they'll redirect you — but starting with the correct jurisdiction saves a day or two of back-and-forth.

What to Have Ready Before You Call

The embassy needs specific information to open a death report and begin processing the Consular Report of Death Abroad (CRODA). Before your first call:

• The deceased's full legal name, date of birth, Social Security number, and permanent US address
• A scan of the deceased's US passport (biographical page)
• The certified UK death certificate — or the Coroner's Interim Certificate if an inquest is pending
• Your own government-issued photo ID
• Proof of your relationship (marriage certificate, birth certificate, or a court-certified copy of the will naming you as executor)
• Details about when and where the death occurred, including the hospital or facility name

What Happens After Notification

The embassy opens a case file and assigns a consular officer. Their actual authority is narrower than most families expect:

They will: Issue the CRODA (the federal equivalent of a US death certificate, used for probate, insurance, and SSA), liaise with UK police, coroners, and funeral directors on your behalf, formally cancel the deceased's passport, and provide vetted lists of local solicitors, funeral homes, and repatriation specialists.

They will not: Pay any funeral, burial, cremation, or shipping costs. Intervene in estate disputes. Act as executor or administrator. Override a coroner's or Procurator Fiscal's hold on the remains.

The CRODA itself takes three to four weeks from receipt of a complete document package. It's issued as a secure, digitally signed PDF — no physical document is mailed. This digital format is accepted by US probate courts, banks, insurers, and the SSA.

The London Federal Benefits Unit

If the deceased was receiving Social Security or federal pension benefits, the embassy houses the London Federal Benefits Unit (FBU) at the same Nine Elms Lane address. The FBU handles death reporting to the SSA, stops ongoing benefit payments to prevent overpayment liability, and processes survivor benefit applications for spouses living abroad.

Contact the FBU at FBU.London@ssa.gov or call the embassy number and ask for extension 23926. Under the Social Security Fairness Act (January 2025), the old GPO and WEP offsets are repealed — surviving spouses receive full benefits regardless of foreign pension income.

Our American Dies in the UK — Family Emergency Guide includes complete embassy contact protocols, the CRODA application checklist, and a document-tracking worksheet so nothing falls through during the three-to-four-week processing window.