Guidance

Lebanon: bereavement information

Updated 9 July 2024

1. 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.

2. Lebanon: bereavement information

3. 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.

4. 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 1500.

If you are not in the UK, you can find the contact details of the nearest British embassy, high commission or consulate online

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.

5. Next of kin

The next of kin of the person who died will usually need to make decisions and practical arrangements. The next of kin can sometimes appoint another person to act on their behalf.

If you are not the next of kin, they will need to be informed. If required, the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office can help you do this.

There is no legal definition of next of kin in the UK. Please note that if there is a disagreement over who is the next of kin, or the person who died did not choose a next of kin, this can cause additional complications.

When someone dies in Lebanon and the next of kin is in the UK or abroad, Lebanese authorities normally notify the British Embassy in Beirut. We will do whatever we can to trace the next of kin as soon as possible and would ask the UK police to pass on the news. However, you might also be notified about the death directly by someone else, for example a doctor, a social worker or a police officer.

• In Lebanon, the seniority of next of kin is usually as follows:
  • Spouse/Partner
  • Adult child (i.e. over 18 years old)
  • Parent
  • Adult sibling (i.e. over 18 years old)
  • An adult with sufficient relationship to the deceased

An ex-partner is not regarded as next of kin. Same sex partners or spouses are not recognised under local law or practices as next of kin.

5.1 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.

6. 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.

If the person who died did not have insurance, the next of kin will usually have to appoint a funeral director and will usually be responsible for all costs. The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office cannot help with these costs.

7. 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 Lebanon, you can find a list of funeral directors in Lebanon

A relative or a formally appointed representative must instruct a local funeral director in Lebanon or an international funeral director in the UK for a body to be repatriated to the UK, or buried or cremated in Lebanon. However, if the deceased was insured, you should immediately contact the insurance company to establish if they are able to cover for the repatriation expenses and make the necessary arrangements. You may need the insurance policy number and the associated 24-hour medical emergency contact number to do this. If the travel insurance company confirm that there is a current policy, you should not appoint your own funeral director or be pressurised by the local funeral agencies to do so;it will be the insurance company that will appoint the funeral director, both locally and in the UK.

8. Registering the death and obtaining a death certificate

You will need to register the death with the local authorities in Lebanon. A funeral director can do this for you. The funeral director will collect the death attestation from the hospital and take this to the nearest mayor (Mukhtar) who will issue the death certificate. The same doctor who signed the attestation must sign and stamp the death certificate. Again, the funeral director will arrange this for you.

Birth, death and marriage records are kept at the Office of the Registrar in each of five jurisdictions (called muhafazat), each covering subdivisions of 10-15 villages (Kalam Al Noufouss). A death should be registered in the place where the doctor certifies it took place.

Copies of death certificates can be obtained within one week of issue from the mayor (Mukhtar) by submitting an application and paying a nominal fee. The death certificates state the cause, date and time of death.

Local government working hours: Monday-Friday 08:00-15:30. There is no public holiday or out of hours procedure for registering a death in Lebanon.

Registering a death cannot be done from outside Lebanon.

The local authorities will need to be told if the person suffered from an infectious condition such as hepatitis or HIV so that they can take precautions against infection.

9. Consular death registration

You do not have to register the death of a British national that occurs overseas with the UK authorities. The local death certificate can usually be used in the UK for most purposes, including probate.

The local death certificate will be in Arabic; you will need to have it translated into English if you intend to use it in the UK. Please refer to the section on Translation and Interpreters below.

You can apply for a consular death registration; however, this is not mandatory and cannot be used instead of a death certificate issued by the Lebanese authorities. If you wish to do this, you can find more information and apply online

10. Post mortem examinations (autopsies)

If the cause of death is not clear, if it is a suspicious death, or a crime is involved the authorities will want to carry out a Post Mortem. They will not do this without the family’s permission.

If a doctor cannot sign that no communicable diseases are involved, a Post Mortem may also be needed before an airline will accept the body for repatriation to the UK. Organs are not removed or retained without the family’s consent. The General Prosecutor’s Office approval is also needed to carry out a post mortem.

To get a copy of the post mortem report, you will need to write a letter to the General Prosecutor’s Office. It may be possible for the Embassy to get a copy of the report for you. The report will normally be in Arabic. We can provide a list of local translators who can translate the report for you but there may be a charge for this. Please refer to the section on Translation and Interpreters below.

11. Mortuary facilities

There are mortuaries in all hospitals. If someone dies in hospital, the hospital will keep the body in the mortuary and call the next of kin or Embassy (for foreigners). There is a charge for storing the body.

12. Burial, cremation, repatriation

The next of kin of the person who has died will usually need to decide between a local burial, cremation or bringing the person home, which is known as repatriation. Your funeral director will usually be able to explain the options available, the costs, and help you make arrangements.

Local burial is possible for foreign nationals. In Lebanon, burials take place in religious burial grounds. You will be asked which religion the deceased belonged to. If the deceased has no religion, they could be buried in the Catholic or Latin burial grounds. The cost of the cheapest burial is currently around $3000.

In general, Lebanese law prohibits cremation. Hence, the facilities are not currently available in Lebanon.

13. Return of personal belongings

Personal belongings of the person who died are usually returned to the family. A funeral director can help to return the belongings.

Please note that the British Embassy cannot take responsibility for the personal belongings of the person who died.

14. Steps to take in the UK

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 on gov.uk.

15. British passport cancellation

In order to avoid identity fraud, the passport of the person who died should be cancelled with His Majesty’s Passport Office (HMPO). To do this, you will need to complete a “D1 form”.

The form and instructions on where to send it 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.

16. Child deaths

Police in Lebanon will hold a full investigation into any death and there are no separate procedures for deaths involving children.

17. Deaths in road traffic accidents

There are no specific local procedures for deaths in road traffic accidents.

18. Deaths investigated as murder or manslaughter

If the local police have confirmed that they are investigating the death as a murder or manslaughter, a dedicated team within the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office will be available to provide support, including by referring you to specialised organisations. You can find more about what they can do online

The General Prosecutor decides if a death should be investigated. The police take the lead in all cases of incidents involving foreign nationals under the magistrate’s supervision. The local authorities will be forthcoming with their updates and they will proactively reach out to inform the Embassy, family or the appointed lawyer. If a suspect has been detained but then let go, they can be investigated again.

Please be aware that it can take up to three years for a case to conclude, once it reaches the judicial stage. The case will be passed to a Public Prosecutor, once the investigation has concluded. You should note that if the deceased is repatriated to parts of the UK a coroner or procurator fiscal might decide to hold an inquest. See the section on UK Coroners and inquests below.

19. 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 you repatriate the person who died to Scotland, the Procurator Fiscal may decide to call for a Fatal Accidents or Injuries Inquiry.

If you repatriate the person who died 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 Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office guide on Death Abroad

20. Legal Aid

Legal aid is not available in Lebanon. A list of lawyers

21. Compensation

There is no government compensation scheme available in Lebanon.

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

22. Translation and Interpretation

The official language in Lebanon is Arabic. English is quite widely spoken. You can find a list of translators

22.1 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