Guidance

India: bereavement information

Updated 23 December 2024

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.

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.

If the person who died has no family in India, we will do what we can to trace and inform next of kin as soon as possible. We will seek to do this in person via the UK police where possible. There may however be times when you hear of the death before we are able to inform you, for example, from the hospital where the person passed away, from a friend or someone known to them, or via social media.

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, Commonwealth & Development Office in London on 0207 008 5000.

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, Commonwealth & Development 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.

Next of kin

The next of kin will usually need to make decisions and practical arrangements. If you are not the next of kin, they will need to be informed. If required, we can help you do this.

While it is not necessary for next of kin or family to be in the country to make funeral arrangements, it is important they are involved in making decisions. The next of kin can sometimes appoint another person to act on their behalf.

Please note there is no legal definition of next of kin in the UK. Similarly, authorities in India do not follow any legal definition for next of kin but generally consider the spouse or adult children as next of kin. Indian law does not recognise same sex partners or spouses and may request the involvement of other family in these cases. Local authorities will also generally not recognise an unmarried partner as next of kin.

If there is disagreement over who is the next of kin, or the person who died did not choose a next of kin, family should appoint one person to make decisions.

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. Our consular staff may be able to obtain this themselves, or they may put you in touch directly with the authorities overseas. They may also be able to provide you with details of others who can advocate on your behalf such as lawyers, charities, or other organisations.

If the next of kin or a family member is in India, local authorities will readily release information and keep them informed of developments, except where there are suspicious circumstances around the death.

If the next of kin or family is outside of India, the local police or the hospital authorities where the person died may in some cases keep them updated on developments. However, they do not always have the facilities to make international calls. They may however use internet calling such as WhatsApp.

Insurance

It is very important to check if the person who died had travel insurance. If they did, contact the insurance company as soon as possible to check if they can help you make arrangements and cover all or some of the costs.

If the person who died did not have insurance, family or friends will have to make arrangements and bear all costs. The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office cannot make these arrangements or help with these costs.

Appointing a funeral director

It is advisable for next of kin to appoint a funeral director as soon as possible to help organise a local burial, cremation or a repatriation.

If the deceased had travel insurance, the insurance company will appoint the funeral director. If you have a preferred choice of funeral director, you should let the insurance company know as soon as possible. If local authorities are pushing for a quick decision, you should let them know the insurance company may take a few days to appoint a funeral director.

Where there is no insurance and you need help choosing a funeral director, we   have lists of international funeral directors based in the UK and in India:

• Funeral Directors in UK
• Funeral Directors in India

You will need to discuss the family’s wishes with the funeral director and decide whether to:

• repatriate the deceased to the UK
• have a local cremation and repatriate the ashes to the UK or have them scattered in India
• have a burial in India. Please check with the funeral director for advice on whether this is possible

In some states in India, local authorities may require the British High Commission to confirm family’s wishes in a letter before they release the deceased to the funeral director.  

Where family or next of kin is in India, local authorities will request that family identify the body of the deceased. Where family is not in country, local authorities may request that family appoint someone to identify the body. If you are not able to find someone who can do this in-country, you should speak with the local police.

It is important to note that most mortuaries in India have limited space and as a result, push for a prompt decision on a funeral. While there is no prescribed deadline by which a funeral must be held, it is advisable to appoint a funeral director as quickly as possible to make arrangements.

Please note that where a repatriation takes place to the UK, an inquest may be held. This means further investigations will be held by either the Coroner in England and Wales or the Fatal Accident Inquiries in Scotland. This process will seek to answer who, how, when and where someone died but does not apportion blame. In Northern Ireland, a Coroner does not have responsibility to hold an inquest for a death overseas.

Where a local cremation or burial takes place, there will be no inquest carried out in the UK.

Registering the death and obtaining a death certificate

Who can register a death

All deaths must be registered with the local authorities in India. To do this, a medical report or certificate stating the cause of death must first be obtained.

Registering a death in India is a two-step process:

1. A medical report or certificate stating the cause of death must be obtained. This will be done either by a doctor or a hospital. In some case, the police may be involved.

2.  The cause of death certificate must then be used to register the death with the local authorities. This must be done either by the hospital, or family/friends/neighbours, or the police, depending on the nature of the death.

A local death certificate will then be issued – this will be the formal, legal death certificate for all purposes going forward.                                      

Examples:

• if the person died in hospital, and the hospital issues the cause of death report, they should also register the death with local authorities

• where the person died outside of hospital, for example, at home, a local doctor or hospital may issue the ‘cause of death’ report. This is more likely where the person was being treated by the doctor. In cases like this, the death will need to be registered with local authorities by others like family, friends, neighbours, or hotel management

• where the death is due to an accident, or where there is no treating doctor involved, police will need to be involved and will be responsible for registration

Funeral directors do not normally undertake registration. If you need help with registering the death, please check whether the funeral director will do this on your behalf. There may be an additional charge for this service. You should be aware the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office cannot register a death with local authorities on your behalf.

Information to be provided

The municipal/government death certificate will state the name, date and place of death, address of the deceased, and names of their parents (if that information was available while registering the death). It does not normally mention the cause of death. Please ensure the information provided at registration is correct as it is difficult to make changes later.

Registration forms may be available on the state government website, however the registration process cannot be completed online and must be done at the local office. You will have to check on office opening hours as they will vary across the country.

A death must be registered at the office of the local registrar within 21 days. It is possible to register after this period, but the procedure is different. You will be required to submit additional documents to different departments, and there is no set time frame for the process.

The death certificate is normally issued within 10 to 15 working days of registration but can take longer in some places. In some states, a record of the registration may be available on the state government’s website, but you will need to collect the paper certificate directly from the office.

Most funeral directors will collect the death certificate on your behalf. Please confirm this directly with your funeral director or insurance company and request they do so. Where this is not part of their regular service, there may be an additional fee. They can also courier it to you if you are outside India.  

You should check that all details are correct on the certificate. If corrections are necessary, you or someone on your behalf will have to apply to the local registrar for the changes. Some funeral directors may provide this service.

You do not need to register the death with the UK authorities. The local death certificate can be used in the UK for most purposes, including probate. If it is not in English, you will need to get it officially translated.  

Consular/UK death registration

You do not need to register the death of a British national that occurs overseas with the UK authorities, but you can choose to do so. If you do:

• the death will be recorded with the General Register Offices or the National Records Office of Scotland
• the death record will be held in the UK
• you can order a consular death registration certificate - this is an optional document that says you’ve registered a death abroad with the UK authorities

There is further information available on how to register a death in the UK.

Post-mortem examinations (autopsies)

Post-mortem (PM) examinations are not conducted in all deaths. They are generally conducted where the death is not by obvious natural causes or where a doctor has not certified the cause of death. Where one is required, the police will organise it and you will not be charged for it.

The post-mortem examination will be conducted by a police forensic surgeon. You do not have the option of appointing a private surgeon in police cases.

In some parts of North and South India and in Goa, forensic surgeons will insist that next of kin is informed before the post-mortem examination takes place. However, this is not the case in all parts of the country. 

The police are likely to request you, a representative or any other person known to the deceased to identify the body before a post-mortem examination. They will make the arrangements for this and will let you know if you will be needed.

If the family or next of kin is not in country, police may request that they appoint someone to identify the body.

The post-mortem examination is conducted to establish a cause of death. Where this cannot be established, the forensic surgeon may retain whole organs, or parts of them, along with tissues and blood, for further testing. Forensic surgeons will not seek consent of next of kin before retaining organ samples, but they will record the retention in the post-mortem report. In some cases, the report will also state that the cause of death will be determined after further tests.

Forensic tests can take between six months and a few years. Where possible, our office can check periodically with police for the reports, if this is something either family or a UK Coroner requires.

Retained organs or samples are not returned on completion of tests. Any samples collected will be disposed according to the laboratory’s procedures. 

In all cases, police generally receive the post-mortem report within a couple of days. In many states including Goa, the report is in English. However, in some parts of India, the report may be in the local language. If you need a translation, you will need to arrange for and pay for one.  You can obtain the post-mortem report directly from the police or via your appointed funeral director if it is part of their service.

Following the post-mortem exam, the police will release the body of the deceased to the funeral director, family or to their representative. They will do this even where the final opinion on the cause of death is pending the results of further tests.

Mortuary facilities

Most mortuaries in the country are government-run and are usually found in larger government hospitals. A few private hospitals in large cities like Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata also have mortuaries. Standards may vary across the country and may be different from those in the UK.

Many rural areas do not have mortuaries or refrigeration facilities, in which case it is important to appoint a funeral director or have a representative take charge right away. Some funeral directors may be able to provide their own mortuary facilities for a fee.

Consular staff or your funeral director can help with arrangements if you want to view the body of the person who died. Most mortuaries have a shortage of space and do not have separate viewing rooms. You should expect the facilities to be different from those in the UK.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office can issue a letter confirming the appointment of a funeral director by yourself or the insurance company. However, our office cannot make arrangements on your behalf.

Burial, cremation, repatriation

The next of kin will usually need to decide between a local burial, cremation or bringing home the body of the person, which is known as repatriation. If the person who died had travel insurance, next of kin should contact the insurance company as soon as possible. A funeral director will be able to explain the options available, the costs, and help make arrangements. It is important to remember that if the person had been travelling with a tour operator, they can be a valuable source of assistance and advice.

In cases where we are unable to locate next of kin for the person who has died, local authorities will organise a cremation or a burial in accordance with local procedure. There is no specified time frame within which this may happen. Ashes or remains are unlikely to be preserved under these circumstances. 

If the deceased did not have insurance, next of kin will need to appoint an international funeral director in the UK or directly in India. All costs around a funeral and/or repatriation must be borne by the family. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office cannot cover these costs on your behalf.

Insurance companies may ask for a medical cause of death before committing to pay. If it is not possible to get this in a reasonable time frame, you may consider making alternative arrangements to pay and reclaim the cost from the company later.

See a list of local funeral directors.

If you wish to donate the body to medical research, you will need to check with the local authorities in the area. It may not be possible to do this in many parts of India.

Please note that an inquest in the UK is not possible if a local burial or cremation takes place. For more information on inquests, see the information on UK coroners and inquests.

Repatriation

A number of documents and permissions are needed to arrange repatriation. The funeral director will make all necessary arrangements.

A body must be embalmed before repatriation. The hospital or mortuary should be able to do this. Some funeral directors can also help with arranging for embalming. Embalming costs will normally be met by insurance where involved but will otherwise fall to family.

Local formalities for repatriation generally take about two weeks to complete. The nearest British High Commission will issue a letter confirming the appointment of a funeral director.

In very rare circumstances, a doctor or a funeral director may advise that repatriation is not possible. Consular staff will try and inform you as soon as possible if we are made aware of this.

If you plan to repatriate the person who died to the UK, you will need their passport to do this. Consular staff at the nearest British High Commission will cancel the passport before repatriation and will return it to you or the funeral director arranging the repatriation.

Local burial

A local burial may be possible in some parts of India. Please check this with your funeral director.

Local cremation

Cremations are easily available in most places. They are normally performed on a wooden pyre although bigger cities have electric crematoriums. You can choose to carry the ashes back to the UK yourself, have them scattered in India, or have them returned to you in the UK. Please speak to your funeral director who will be able to organise the option you choose. Please be aware that ashes cannot be returned by courier or regular post and must travel via airfreight.

Return of personal belongings

If the person who died had insurance, check with the insurance company if they will cover the cost of returning their personal belongings.

In cases where the police are involved, personal belongings may be handed to a family member if they were with the person who died at the time of death. However, where the deceased was unaccompanied, police may “seal” the place of accommodation, especially if it is where the death occurred. This means that all personal belongings in the room are then under police care until they are informed of whom to hand over to locally.

Police will normally conduct an inventory before they release them to next of kin or to the person acting on their behalf. The inventory proceedings are usually overseen by a senior police officer. If no further investigations are required, the police will pass on the inventory report directly to next of kin, via a representative or the appointed funeral director.

Consular staff do not attend inventory proceedings. If next of kin have appointed a representative, they should be able to attend as well as collect the personal belongings soon after it is done. Speak with your funeral director about any belongings you would like returned to you in the UK and for an idea of costs. It is also possible to arrange for someone like a friend to carry the belongings back to the UK for you. There are normally no deadlines by which belongings should be claimed but most police will push for it to be done immediately. They do not normally destroy unclaimed belongings but may do so where they lack storage facilities.

If the death is being investigated as a crime, some belongings may be retained by police as evidence. Let your funeral director know if there will be belongings you would like returned to you at a later date.

Please note, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office cannot take responsibility for personal belongings nor pay for and arrange for their return to next of kin.

Steps to take in the UK

You can find more information online on the steps to take in the UK. 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 available on what to do when someone dies.

British passport cancellation

To avoid identity fraud, the passport of the person who died should be cancelled. Consular staff can do this for you. If you are doing it yourself, you will find information on how to do so at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/what-to-do-with-a-passport-when-the-passport-holder-has-died

If you plan to repatriate the person who died to the UK, you will need their passport to do this. Consular staff will cancel the passport before repatriation and will return it to you or the funeral director arranging the repatriation.

Further information

Child deaths

The procedures following the death of a child are the same as those of an adult.

Like in the death of an adult, the death of a child must have a medical cause certified by a doctor. Where a doctor is unable to certify the cause of death or if the death was unexplained, police will investigate the cause and circumstances of death. They will normally release the body of the child for a funeral soon after the initial investigation or post-mortem examination. 

No special permissions are needed, and the funeral director can assist with obtaining or collecting any documentation needed for a repatriation, cremation or burial. Local formalities for repatriation can take between 5 to 7 working days to complete after the body is released. Procedures may take longer if the death occurred in unusual or suspicious circumstances.

Consular staff can issue a letter confirming the appointment of a funeral director by the parents or the insurance company. 

If the family is normally resident in the UK, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development office will request the parents to provide their UK address and contact details.

Deaths in road traffic accidents

A post-mortem examination will normally be ordered by the police as the death is not from natural causes.

The procedures for release of the body for repatriation, local burial or cremation will be the same as for deaths due to other causes.

Deaths investigated as murder or manslaughter 

Murder and manslaughter

If the local police have confirmed they are investigating the death as murder or manslaughter, a dedicated team within the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office will provide support, including by referring you to specialised organisations. You can find out more on how the FCDO can help with murder and manslaughter abroad.

Where murder or manslaughter is suspected, the local police will investigate. They are likely to arrest suspects, and will charge them in a court according to the local law. Once the case reaches the courts, a Public Prosecutor will be appointed who will represent the State against the accused.

The family of the victim does not need to appoint their own lawyer, although they may do so if they want independent legal advice. They may also do so if they want their own lawyer to assist the Prosecution. The lawyer will need the court’s permission for this.

It can take several months for the trial to begin after charges are filed, and murder trials usually take many years to conclude. Delays are largely owing to the volume of cases in courts.

Police forces across the country may work very differently from one another. Where police are unable to update you, we will do our best to seek information from them as far as possible. We can also guide you on how to seek seeking timely updates on court proceedings.

You should note that if the person who died is repatriated to parts of the UK, a coroner or procurator fiscal may decide to hold an inquest. See the section on UK Coroners and inquests below.

Unnatural deaths

Police must investigate a death which may have been caused by unnatural means – (such as from an accident; by homicide or by suicide).

Where a death seems to have occurred from unnatural causes, the police must inform the nearest magistrate and forward all reports of their findings. The magistrate will examine the reports before passing orders on the cause of death. Police reports would usually include witness statements around the scene of the death, the description of the body, and medical reports such as that of the post-mortem examination and other toxicology tests.

It can often be a few years before police have all relevant reports (especially toxicology/chemical analysis reports) and can therefore be three or four years before the magistrate passes final orders on the cause of death. This process will not however, hold back the release of the body which will be done immediately following the initial post-mortem examination.

If the family or the UK Coroner require the toxicology/chemical reports, consular staff can follow up with the authorities in India.

UK coroners and inquests

If you repatriate the person who died to England and Wales, there may be an inquest. The decision on when to hold an inquest is made by His Majesty’s Coroner. Please note, an inquest will usually only happen in certain situations, for example, when someone has died in suspicious, unnatural, and violent circumstances or whilst in detention. If the person who died is cremated and only their ashes are brought home, there will not be an inquest.

If the repatriation is to Scotland, the Procurator Fiscal may decide to call for a Fatal Accidents or Injuries Inquiry.

If the repatriation is to Northern Ireland, there will be no coronial inquest or further inquiry.

Please note, Procurators Fiscal and Coroners do not have jurisdiction in another country, nor do they seek to apportion blame to a named individual. 

You can find more information on Coroners and the Procurator Fiscal in the FCDO guide on death abroad.

Legal aid

If you need legal advice on any matters around the death, police investigations or court proceedings, it is advisable to seek advice from a lawyer.

State provided legal aid is available to those who meet the eligibility criteria. You would have to make an application in court for it and it is normally provided to those whose income is below a certain threshold. Information on the scheme is available on the National Legal Services Authority website.

Compensation

You can find information on UK compensation for victims of terrorism overseas.

Some states provide compensation dependent on the cause of death. In some cases, a court may order those responsible for the death to monetarily compensate the bereaved family.

A lawyer would be able to advise if this is likely to be available.

Additional support

Translation and interpretation

While English is widely spoken, regional languages are often used in many parts of India. Most official documents like death certificates and medical reports will be issued in English. However, where they are not available in English you will need to arrange and pay for translations. There is a list of translators and interpreters you may find useful.

Local support organisations

We are not aware of specific local organisations or charities that offer support to bereaved families. If you have a funeral director, they may be able to advise if support is available locally.

Support organisations in the UK

In the UK, there are many organisations that can help bereaved families. Some of these are listed in the guide coping with death abroad.