Guidance

Argentina: bereavement information

Updated 31 October 2023

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.

Argentina: 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, 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.

The priority of the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office 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 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.

In Argentina the seniority of next of kin is usually as follows:

• spouse/civil partner/same-sex spouse/same-sex civil partner
• adult child (over 18 years old)
• parent
• adult sibling (over 18 years old)
• adult with the sufficient relationship to the deceased
• ex-partners are not regarded as next of kin

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 the 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.

Inquiries into deaths in Argentina are not public. Access to information concerning a death such as post-mortem reports, toxicology and histopathology results and police reports may be restricted until the Investigating Judge has reviewed the evidence. The Argentine authorities will not usually provide this information directly to the next of kin, nor to third parties, including our Consulate, until after the conclusion of the preliminary investigation.

Consular staff can assist with making requests for information but courts have no obligation to pass on the information to us. Depending on each court, the release of any information can take days, weeks, several months and in some more complicated instances, years.

In some cases, in order to have access to the investigation and obtain information from the court files, the next of kin will have to appoint a local lawyer to represent them and make their request through them.

Find an English-speaking lawyer

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.

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 Argentina, you can find a list of funeral directors in Argentina.

A relative or a formally appointed representative must instruct a local funeral director in Argentina or an international funeral director in the UK for the person who died to be repatriated to the UK, or buried or cremated in Argentina. However if the person who died was insured the relevant insurance company should be notified immediately as they will be able to help with the arrangements the next of kin decides upon.

You may need the insurance policy number. If the insurance company confirms that there is a current policy, you should not appoint your own funeral director or be pressurised by local funeral agencies to do so. It will be the insurance company that will appoint the funeral director both locally and in the UK.

Registering the death and obtaining a death certificate

In Argentina, the funeral director will arrange for the registration of the death with the Argentina civil registry, who will issue a death certificate in Spanish. This is likely to take 1 to 3 days depending on the city.

The local death certificate can usually be used in the UK for most purposes, including probate. It will be legalised and in some cases, depending on each funeral director, it might be accompanied by an official English translation. If this is not the case, if necessary, you will need to obtain and pay for an official translation.

In order to register the death the funeral director will ask you for some information. This is likely to be the full name of the deceased, date of birth, passport number, home address, date and place of death, name of parents, usual occupation and, if the funeral arrangements are in the UK, the cemetery and town of final destination.

In Argentina, the cause of death will normally show on the death certificate.

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

In case a copy of the death certificate is needed from the UK, the local funeral director can help obtaining one for you.

Consular death registration

You do not have to register the death of a British national that occurs overseas with the UK authorities. You can sometimes apply for a consular death registration. This is not mandatory and cannot be used instead of a death certificate from the country where the person died. It is only available in some countries. If you wish to do this, you can [find more information on registering a death and apply online[(http://www.gov.uk/register-a-death).

Post mortem examinations (autopsies)

A post-mortem, which is also known as an autopsy, is normally performed in all cases and certainly when the death is not by natural causes. A doctor in a state hospital may also request a post-mortem for a death by natural causes when the cause of death is unclear.

Post-mortems are carried out by forensic doctors appointed by the hospital or by the court sometimes called pathologists. They normally include a histopathology and toxicology studies. Reports on these two studies can take between 40 days and 12 months to become available depending on the mortuary’s resources.

During a post-mortem, small tissue samples and organs may be removed and retained for testing, at the discretion of the forensic doctor, without you being informed or consulted.

This is done in order to better understand the cause of death and to evaluate any disease or injury that might be present. It can be crucial to establish cause of death in cases where criminal or civil legal procedures may eventuate. The Argentine authorities will not charge next of kin to conduct a post-mortem. Cultural or religious sensitivities may not be taken into account.

Copies of post-mortem reports can be requested by the next of kin usually through a Consulate’s letter on their behalf. However, this is always at the discretion of the relevant Judge as we are considered a third party. The person who died can normally be buried or cremated in Argentina or returned to the UK before tests on removed organs are completed. Any organs removed are retained for the duration of the tests, and are then put in storage for a period of time, usually 6 months, before being destroyed.

In some cases, it may be necessary to have a further post mortem in the UK even though one has been carried out overseas and, when repatriation is to England or Wales, it is probable that the Coroner will wish to hold an inquest.

Mortuary facilities

Cold storage facilities are available in the capital and most mayor cities in Argentina. Outside these areas however, standards vary and most morgues will not have the same standard as those in the UK. Where a death occurs in more remote locations, the person who died will normally be taken to a designated morgue and this can take a few days. Not all funeral homes have their own cold storage facilities.

Only in exceptional circumstances will family members be allowed to visit the person who died if they are being kept in a Judicial Morgue.

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

If you choose to proceed with a local burial in Argentina, you will need to instruct an Argentine funeral director. The British Consulate in Argentina can provide a list of local and international funeral directors on request. If an English-speaking firm is not available, consular staff can help you to communicate with the funeral directors in Argentina.

In Argentina, unless ordered by a judge, the remains are not allowed to be exhumed for a number of years, depending on the region of the burial. In Argentina, it is not possible to donate a body to medical science. Please note that if a local burial takes place, then an inquest in the UK will not be possible.

For more information on inquests, see the information on UK coroners and inquests.

Cremation

There are local cremation facilities in Argentina. If you choose local cremation, a local funeral director will be able to arrange the necessary paperwork and transportation of the ashes.

You might be asked to identify the body prior to cremation either through physical inspection or a photograph. If you appoint someone to do this for you, let the funeral director know in writing the name of this individual and their relationship to the deceased.

Following the identification, you or your representative will most likely be asked to sign an identification form or a letter of consent. However, when post-mortem examinations are being carried out, the cremation has to be authorised by the judge. Not every judge will allow for a cremation to take place.

There are no regulations to the local scattering of ashes. Ashes are considered of free disposal and some funeral directors can be instructed by the family to carry it out. Please note that if cremation takes place, then an inquest in the UK will not be possible. For more information on inquests, see the information on UK coroners and inquests.

Repatriation

If you decide on a repatriation and the person who died is covered by travel insurance, you should immediately contact the insurance company to establish if they are able to cover for the repatriation expenses and make the relevant arrangements. If the insurance company confirms that there is a current policy you should not appoint your own funeral director or be pressurised by local funeral agencies to do so.

The insurance company will normally have a standing agreement with an international funeral director in the UK to arrange repatriations.

If the person who died is not covered by insurance, you will need to appoint an international funeral director as soon as possible, who will in turn appoint a local funeral director to act on your behalf.

Funeral directors in Argentina are equipped to carry out repatriation procedures and will provide the special caskets required. They will also arrange any necessary documentation such as a local civil registry death certificate, a certificate of embalming and a certificate giving permission to transfer the remains to the UK.

When a Court is involved, the acceptance of this representation would be up to the judge and he may also request that the family appoints a lawyer. A written authorisation and other original documents may be requested for this purpose. If the family is in the UK, they can have their British documents legalised at the Legalisation Office and make an affidavit at the Argentine Consulate in London to nominate a funeral director or lawyer to represent them in Argentina if they are not able to travel.

The British Consulate can usually issue an authorisation letter on your behalf to ease the process but the judge will not always allow this. If allowed, our consular staff will send you a template and ask you to sign to allow us to do this.

Local formalities for repatriation will normally take between two and four weeks but this can vary and take longer. Consular staff can get in touch with the Court to offer support in the repatriation process but this won’t necessarily speed up the process.

Administrative burial

If no relatives have been traced or if family members are unable to pay for funeral arrangements or repatriation, an administrative burial will be carried out by the local authorities 60 days after arriving at the morgue. In Buenos Aires City the person who died is taken from the morgue to the Chacarita Cemetery. Burial will take place in an identifiable plot of land. Remains can only be exhumed after 24 months or on the orders of a judge.

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

Return of personal belongings

Personal belongings found on the person who died at the time of death are either handed over to the family, if they are present, or taken by the police. If the next of kin chooses to repatriate the person who died, it is advisable to instruct the local undertaker to collect the belongings from the police or court and to ship them together with the person who died. If there is an investigation into the death, the clothing may be retained as evidence and is not returned until the court case is finished.

Please note that neither the British Embassy nor the Consulate can take responsibility for the personal belongings of the person who died.

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 about what to do when someone dies.

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 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.

Child deaths

Local authorities in Argentina will hold a full investigation into any death, other than those of natural causes; there are no separate procedures for deaths involving children.

Stillbirth in Argentina is defined as the birth of a baby who has died at any time from 20 weeks into the pregnancy through to the due date of the birth. The neonatal period is from birth to 28 days old.

In Argentina if the obstetrician suspects an inherited genetic disorder or malformation an autopsy is carried out in order to know the cause of death and let the parents know in case they need to take genetic tests.

Deaths in road traffic accidents

Local authorities in Argentina will hold a full investigation into any death and there are no separate procedures for deaths involving road traffic accidents.

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 a specialised organisation. You can find more about how the FCDO can help with murder and manslaughter abroad.

You should note that if the deceased 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.

If a death is regarded as suspicious, the relevant Judge or Public Prosecutor will investigate in full. If a perpetrator is identified, they will be charged but not normally detained until the trial hearing unless the Judge considers there is a risk the person might flee from justice or hinder the investigation.

Judges or Public Prosecutors will not reach out to inform the family with their updates. If the family would like regular updates, our consular staff can ask the Prosecution Office for information. However, it will be at the discretion of the relevant Judge or Prosecutor to share information with us as we are considered a third party. If the relevant Prosecution Office is not forthcoming, the family will need legal representation to obtain updates for them.

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 FCDO guide on death abroad

Legal Aid

There is no legal aid available in Argentina.

Compensation

There is no government compensation scheme in Argentina

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

Translation and interpretation

The official language is Spanish in Argentina. Most local authorities and organisations do not have a good ability to communicate in English.

Argentine local authorities do not provide translation or interpretation in English.

You may need to use an official translator when dealing with Argentine procedures.

Additional support

Local support organisations

There are some organisations in Argentina that can provide information, support or advice to bereaved families but they can only offer support in Spanish.

• Fundación Aiken – supporting bereaved children and adolescents

• Dolus Counseling en duelo – supporting bereaved people (private organisation)

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