Guidance

Venezuela: bereavement information

Updated 24 November 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.

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 +44 (0) 207 008 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 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 through a (local) power of attorney.

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 Venezuela, the seniority of next of kin is usually as follows:

• spouse/partner/civil partner (same sex partners are not recognised in any case under local law or practice)
• children
• parents
• any ‘third degree’ blood relative

Same sex partners or spouses are not recognised under local law or practices 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 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.

Local authorities will usually keep the family informed of any developments; they normally do not have the ability to make international calls to inform next of kin if they are outside Venezuela, however, they will request the Embassy to get in contact on their behalf.

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

The next of kin or family must instruct a local funeral director in Venezuela, or an international funeral director in the UK, in order for the body to be repatriated to the UK, or buried or cremated in Venezuela.

Registering the death and obtaining a death certificate

You will need to register the death with the local authorities in the country where the person died. Sometimes a funeral director can do this for you. You will usually need documents about you and the person who has died, which include information such as full name, date of birth and passport number.

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.

You do not need to register the death with the UK authorities. The local death certificate can usually be used in the UK for most purposes, including probate. If it is not in English, you will need to obtain and pay for an official translation.

Venezuelan authorities will issue a death certificate in Spanish. Venezuelan death certificates include details of the cause of death. Please note that obtaining this information could be a lengthy process and local authorities will not provide a copy of the death certificate to a third party such as Embassy staff – the next of kin will need to appoint a legal representative for this purpose.

A certified copy of a local death certificate can be obtained from the “Registro Civil” office of the municipality where the death occurred. Please note there are no facilities to order/obtain civil records online in Venezuela: the next of kin or an appointed legal representative must make the request to the respective civil registrar in person.

Appointing a local funeral director can aid the family in obtaining this information more quickly.

For further information please visit the register a death page.

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.

Post mortem examinations (autopsies)

There is no requirement for authorities to seek permission from family to carry out a post mortem where the post mortem is compulsory by law, e.g: the cause of death was unknown or crime-related, etc. Nor is permission required for the removal of tissue samples or organs.

Obtaining full post mortem report could be a lengthy process, and it may take more time depending on how long it takes the authorities to complete all the laboratory examinations and if the post mortem was carried out outside Caracas. The report will be issued by the Public Ministry and it will be in Spanish. The post mortem report is usually made available to family and/or their legal representative.

Appointing a local funeral director would speed up the process of obtaining this document significantly.

Mortuary facilities

Local morgue and forensic services and capacity in country is severely limited and generally poor.

The deceased will normally stay at a local hospital or state mortuary. Standards of storage are very poor. There are facilities with temperature controlled storage in very few parts of Venezuela, mostly in the capital Caracas, and available in some private institutions and/or funeral homes.

Although we will do everything we can to ensure the deceased is in appropriate storage, we cannot guarantee its condition, causing difficulties to get the certificates required to repatriate the body to the UK.

We can arrange for the next of kin to view the deceased but should be aware that can be different to the UK standards.

There is a cost involved when the person who died is kept at the mortuary, costs should be covered by the next of kin.

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.

Burial

If next of kin choose to proceed with a local burial, they will need to instruct a local undertaker either privately or through their international funeral director. If the person died of natural causes, the undertakers in Venezuela will arrange for all paperwork and processes.

If there is an ongoing investigation about the circumstances of the death burial may not be allowed by the local authorities until the respective investigation is completed.

Cremation

If the next of kin chooses local cremation and wishes to repatriate the ashes to the UK they should appoint an international funeral director/local undertaker. They will be able to arrange the necessary paperwork and transportation. If there is an ongoing investigation about the circumstances of the death, the cremation may not be allowed by local authorities until the respective investigation is completed.

Repatriation

In certain circumstances, repatriation may not be possible. Our consular staff will try to inform next of kin as soon as possible if this is the case.

If your friend or relative had valid travel insurance, the company will normally appoint an international funeral director to arrange repatriation through a local undertaker. The international funeral director liaises with local undertakers to ensure that all necessary requirements are met in Venezuela. If your friend or relative is not covered by insurance, the next of kin will need to appoint an international funeral director/local undertaker themselves. There’s a list of local undertakers for Venezuela you may find useful.

When your friend or relative is being repatriated, they must be embalmed and placed in a special coffin. Very few undertakers in Venezuela are equipped to carry out these procedures. A local civil registry death certificate, plus the doctor’s death certificate (indicating cause of death), a certificate of embalming, and a certificate giving permission to transfer the remains to the UK is required to ship the deceased or its remains. This must be arranged by a local undertaker. The local undertaker can also provide covering certificates for British Customs.

Please note if a local burial or 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.

Return of personal belongings

If the person who died had insurance, check with the insurance company on coverage for the return of their personal belongings.

Local authorities do not usually store personal belongings, unless an investigation is ongoing and they are required as evidence of a legal proceeding. If this is the case, an inventory of the belongings of the deceased individual is produced and kept along with the court file of the legal proceeding. The family may request to see this inventory through their lawyer/legal representation; however, belongings are not usually returned to families and often go missing. 

Some international and local funeral directors may assist with returning a deceased individual’s belongings to the family or next of kin – you will need to consult privately with the provider of your choice.

Please note, the British Embassy, High Commission or Consulate cannot 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 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. 

Child deaths

There are no separate procedures for deaths involving children in Venezuela. Social services will be involved only in specific circumstances.

Deaths in road traffic accidents

There are no separate procedures for deaths in road traffic accidents in Venezuela.

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.

Police and local authorities in Venezuela will hold a full investigation. A Prosecutor will attend the scene of the death. Once the prosecutor and the police have gathered all the relevant information, the body is taken to the morgue in order to establish the cause of death.

Prosecutors are not normally happy to share details of investigations with the Embassy, to be passed to the family (in the UK). You should rely on your lawyer/legal representation in order to obtain updates of an ongoing case.

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

British nationals without the available means to appoint legal representation can apply for legal aid overseas. The Legal Services Commission in London is responsible for legal aid applications overseas.

The British Embassy cannot provide legal advice to British nationals in Venezuela. You may find here a list of local lawyers in Venezuela.

Compensation

If a British national has died due to an accident, murder or terrorist attack the Venezuelan State will not compensate the relatives regardless of nationality. However, the criminal judge in charge of the case could include in the sentence that the aggressor must pay a certain amount of money to the victim’s relatives as (private) compensation.

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

Translation and Interpretation

The official language of Venezuela is Spanish. English is not widely spoken.

Local authorities would not normally provide any translation nor interpretation services themselves. You may consult a list of local translators and interpreters in Venezuela.

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.