Belgium: bereavement information
Updated 22 September 2023
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Disclaimer
This information is not meant to be definitive, nor is it to be taken as a substitute for independent legal advice. Neither His Majesty’s Government nor its staff take any responsibility for the accuracy of the information, nor accept liability for any loss, costs, damage or expense that you might suffer as a result of relying on the information. Some of the information may not be relevant to your circumstances. The language used is intended to be general and factual and is not meant to cause offence.
Belgium bereavement information
Introduction
When a relative or friend dies abroad, the different procedures, laws or language can cause additional distress. You may be uncertain about what to do or who to contact.
This country specific information is designed to help you through some of the practical arrangements you may need to make. It supplements the general information on death abroad produced by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, which applies to all countries.
Please note, as each country has its own laws and customs when a death occurs, it may not be possible to make the arrangements that you prefer, or at the time you would like.
How to contact the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
There is a lot of information below, but you may have questions. You can speak to someone by phone 24/7, any day of the year by contacting the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in London on 0207 008 1500.
If you are not in the UK, you can find the contact details of the nearest British embassy, high commission or consulate.
The priority of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office is to provide assistance to British nationals overseas who need the most help. The level and type of assistance they can offer is tailored to the individual circumstances of each case.
Release of information to next of kin
The Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office will try to obtain as much information as possible after your relative or friend has died abroad. Some of this may be only available to next of kin. Consular officers may be able to obtain this themselves, or they may put you in touch directly with the authorities overseas. They may be able to provide you with details of others who can advocate on your behalf such as lawyers, charities, or other organisations
Insurance
It is very important to check if the person who died had insurance. If they had insurance, contact the insurance company as soon as possible. They may have a list of approved funeral directors to help you make arrangements, or be able to cover some of the costs.
Appointing a funeral director
If you decide to bring the deceased to the UK for the funeral or cremation, you may only need to appoint an international funeral director. The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office produces a list of international funeral directors based in the UK.
If you decide to hold a funeral or cremation in Belgium, you can find a list of English-speaking Belgian funeral directors. A relative or formally appointed representative/next of kin must instruct a funeral director in Belgium.
If there is no insurance cover, funds for repatriation or local burial/cremation will need to be met by the family. Neither the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, nor the British Embassy/Consulate General has budgets to meet these costs. If it is difficult for you and your family to pay the full fees at once, there may be a possibility to pay the costs in instalments – this option is important to explore when you instruct a funeral director. Some funeral directors may ask you for a deposit.
If you are resident in the UK, you may be able to apply for a Funeral Payment if you have difficulty paying for the funeral.
Reporting a death in Belgium
A death must be reported and registered at the earliest possible opportunity, although there is no official time limit. It must be reported to an officer at the local municipality (commune/gemeente) where the death took place. The death must be reported in person by two adults who are not necessarily relatives of the deceased – this can usually be arranged by the appointed funeral director.
Your appointed funeral director, when registering the death, can arrange for a Belgian death certificate to be issued. There are 3 types of death certificates that can be issued, the extract (extrait de acte/akte), the copy (copie de acte/afschrift van de akte) and the international version. The ‘copy’ version is the full certificate and the one which is officially recognised in the UK although the international version may also be accepted by a number of institutions. To help with administrative matters you should ask the funeral director for several extra copies of the local death certificate.
Cause of death
It is important to know that, unlike in the UK, the cause of death is never noted on a Belgian Death Certificate. This can be problematic in the UK, as it is often necessary for British authorities or organisations to have confirmation of this.
If the death occurred in hospital: the next of kin will need to make a request for partial access to the medical file. In Belgium, the law covering patients’ rights states that after a death the next of kin has no right to direct access of the medical file. To obtain partial access, a request must be made through the hospital in question. Although procedures differ slightly from hospital to hospital, in general, the next of kin will need to appoint a medical professional (for example, a General Practitioner) to carry out the request. At an appointed time, the medical professional can have ‘on the spot’ access to the file – he/she can note specific details of the file but is prohibited from taking any photocopies or photographs. In most cases the hospital’s website will contain details of their procedure, or you can direct your request to the social welfare department.
If the death occurred outside a hospital: the next of kin should seek to obtain a letter from the doctor who signed the medical certificate, with an explanation of the cause of death.
Repatriation
The initial registration of the death with the local commune remains the same. Thereafter the local funeral director should be able to provide you with the necessary documents needed for repatriation.
In addition to the Death Certificate and embalming certificate, additional documentation will be provided for the sealing of the coffin. The coffin will be sealed and verified by the police or an officer of the local municipality. A transfer licence, issued by the Ministry of Public Health and a medical certificate is also required, stating that the body has no infectious diseases. All documents issued will accompany the coffin.
Some countries insist that the body be embalmed before travel. Information regarding this can be provided by the funeral director instructed in the receiving country. Likewise they should also provide the necessary paperwork to confirm acceptance of the body.
Please note: If a UK Coroner requests an autopsy in the UK, embalming might hinder some autopsy results. You should discuss this with your locally appointed funeral director.
Repatriation of ashes
If you wish to have the ashes returned to the UK, after local cremation has taken place, you may do so – there are no restrictions on the movement of ashes to the UK. You will need to inform the local Belgian funeral director and/or crematorium before cremation takes place. They should help you with the required paperwork. The following three documents are required to accompany the urn:
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death certificate
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authority to remove the remains (issued by the local authority)
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cremation certificate stating the ashes are to be taken out of Belgium
Local burial or cremation
If you wish for the deceased to have a local burial/cremation, you will need to instruct your funeral director as such – they can make the necessary arrangements. A ceremony can be organised by the funeral director or a registered celebrant and you may make specific arrangements depending on your cultural and/or religious beliefs. Many local authorities allow for ashes to be scattered in certain publicly owned areas but you should check with the presiding authorities and comply with local restrictions.
UK coroners
When a person is repatriated to England or Wales from Belgium, a coroner will only hold an inquest if the death was violent, unnatural, sudden or the cause unknown. As the cause of death is not given on the Belgian death certificate, the coroner may still order a post-mortem as part of the inquest (even if a post-mortem has been carried out in Belgium). The coroner will not have access to the Belgian police/judicial file but can request a copy of all reports through the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, Consular Directorate. These reports will only be provided once the Belgian judicial process (if applicable) has been completed. In some instances this can take many months. If a cremation takes place abroad and the cremated remains are brought back into England or Wales, the coroner cannot become involved.
In Scotland, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) deals with the investigation of all sudden, suspicious, accidental, unexpected and unexplained deaths which occur in Scotland. The COPFS does not have the jurisdiction to investigate deaths that occur outside Scotland apart from in a few limited circumstances. Generally these circumstances include: terrorism, cases where the death may have been caused in Scotland but the person died outside Scotland, and cases where the death was a result of murder or culpable homicide caused by another British Citizen or subject.
Coroners in Northern Ireland operate similarly to those in England and Wales. They are not obliged to hold an inquest into cause of death, however the next of kin can apply for a judicial review if no inquest is held.
You can find further information about the role of UK Coroners with the Useful Links section.
Natural/accidental deaths
In the case of a natural or accidental death no inquest and no post-mortem would be held in Belgium – although it is still possible for the next of kin to request this. It is important to mention that this would need to be self-funded and can be expensive.
Murder, manslaughter, unlawful or suspicious deaths
If the death is deemed suspicious the court will appoint an examining magistrate. If the examining magistrate is not satisfied after a preliminary investigation then a further investigation, perhaps including a post-mortem, may be requested. Only once the examining magistrate has concluded the investigations and a cause of death has been determined, will permission for burial be issued.
In Belgium, post-mortems are carried out by a wetsdokter/médecin légiste (coroner) appointed by the ‘procureur du roi/procureur des konings’ (public prosecutor). The system under which they operate is very different to the UK – autopsies are rarely performed and are not highly regulated.
If a post-mortem is carried out, organ removal (including tissue and toxicology tests) can be carried out without consent from the next of kin – the next of kin cannot legally object. After the post-mortem is completed, all organs have to be replaced in accordance with the Belgian ministerial directive of 16 September 1998 from the Minister of Justice.
Release of information
Access to information concerning the inquest into a death, including the post-mortem and police reports is restricted. The Belgian authorities will not provide this information directly to next of kin or to third parties so any requests by interested parties must be made through a legal representative. You can find an online list of English speaking Belgian lawyers. They will only release this information to the British Consulate General, for the attention of the UK Coroner. The release of any information will only occur once the Belgian inquest has concluded. This usually takes several months and, in some more complicated instances, years. It will be in Dutch, French or German.
Organ donation/medical science
Belgian law covering organ donation applies the principle of ‘presumed consent’ – a person who is registered as living in Belgium for more than six months is presumed to give consent to organ donation unless their objection is registered with the local authorities. Donation for the purpose of scientific research can only occur if the person has explicitly consented beforehand.
Legal aid
British Nationals who are unable to engage the services of a lawyer privately can apply for free legal aid. If you are in the UK this can be through the Legal Aid Agency – they offer help with your application from a publicly funded solicitor, including getting documents translated.
For specific legal aid abroad you can email ho.complaints@legalaid.gov.uk
If you are resident in Belgium you can apply for free legal aid from any of the Bar associations in Belgium. Please see the list of lawyers in Belgium for a list of contacts. They provide free legal advice as well as court representation and grants of legal aid funds to pay for a legal aid lawyer.
Victim support
Victim Support Europe is the leading European umbrella organisation advocating on behalf of all victims of crime, no matter what the crime, no matter who the victim is, support and assistance in the aftermath of crime, regardless of whether or not the crime is reported to the police.
British passport cancellation
In order to avoid identity fraud, the passport of the person who died should be cancelled with HM Passport Office (HMPO). To do this, you will need to complete a “D1 form”.
The form and instructions on where to send the passport is available online
If you plan to repatriate the person who died to the UK, you may require their passport to do this. In these circumstances, you should cancel the passport after they have been repatriated.
It is important that the passport of the deceased is cancelled in order to avoid identity fraud. In order to do this, the passport should be returned to the HM Passport Office with the accompanying form. If you wish, you can request to have the passport returned to you after cancellation.
Steps to take in the UK
The Belgian issued death certificate (copie de acte/afschrift van de akte) is accepted by all UK authorities although you may need to obtain a translation depending on the individual organisation. The International version of the Belgian death certificate is also widely accepted, although not considered the official death certificate.
You can find more information on the steps to take in the UK online. This includes information on arranging the funeral, telling the government about the death, UK pensions and benefits, and dealing with the estate of the person who died. There is a step-by-step guide about what to do when someone dies.
Additional support
There are a number of organisations in the UK and Belgium that can help bereaved families and friends come to terms with the death of a loved one, whether that death was natural or otherwise.
SAMM Support after Murder and Manslaughter Supports families bereaved by Murder and Manslaughter.
BRAKE Campaigns for safer roads and supports people bereaved or injured in road crashes.
Survivors of Bereavement by Suicide Helpline and other support services offered by a self help group for people bereaved by suicide.
The Compassionate Friends Offers many different kinds of support for bereaved families.
Cruse Bereavement Care Offers support, advice and information to children, young people and adults when someone dies.
Coroner’s Support Service Offers emotional support and practical help to bereaved families, witnesses and others attending an Inquest.
Victim Support UK Delivers tailored support to help people recover from the effects of crime and traumatic events. Advocate on behalf of victims’ rights and ensuring their needs are met b the criminal justice system.
CHS Belgium English speaking helpline and Mental Health Centre which can offer a variety of support and information with a 24/7 support line.
Useful Links
List of funeral directors in Belgium
List of international funeral directors in the UK
List of translators in Belgium
The Coroner’s Society of England and Wales
Coroner’s Service of Northern Ireland