Guidance

What to do after a British person dies in Botswana

This guide gives advice about the death of a British person in Botswana, including information on burial, cremation and repatriation.

This guide gives advice about the death of a British person in Botswana, including information on burial, cremation and repatriation.

If you are dealing with the death of a child, multiple deaths, a suspicious death or a case of murder or manslaughter, call +267 3952841.

Contact the travel insurance company

If the person who died had insurance, contact their insurance company as soon as possible. Insurance providers may help to cover the cost of repatriation. Repatriation is the process of bringing the body home. Insurance providers may also help with medical, legal, interpretation and translation fees.

If the person who died had insurance, the insurance company will appoint a funeral director both locally and in the UK.

What to do if the person who died didn’t have insurance

If you are not sure whether the person who died had insurance, check with their bank, credit card company or employer.

If the person who died did not have insurance, a relative or a formally appointed representative will usually have to appoint a funeral director and be responsible for all costs. The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) provides a list of UK-based international funeral directors.

The FCDO cannot help with any costs. In some cases, funeral directors and lawyers may provide services on a pro bono basis. Pro bono work is done for free or for a reduced cost depending on your circumstances. This is decided on a case by case basis.

Charities and organisations that offer support

Some UK-based charities and organisations may be able to provide help and information to people affected by a death abroad. The FCDO provides a list of UK-based charities and organisations.

Register the death and obtain a death certificate

Deaths must be registered in the country where the person died. To register a death in Botswana, you will need to obtain a ‘Death Notification tear-off’ from the doctor who initially examined the body and certified the death.

Take the ‘Death Notification tear-off’, along with an identity document for citizens or passports for non-citizens, to any branch of the National Registration Office to obtain a death certificate. You can find a branch at all government hospitals.

Death certificates are provided in English and can be collected the same day during working hours (7:30am to 4:30pm). Funeral directors can do this if they have written authorisation from you to act on your behalf, along with your notarised form of identity.

You can get your identity documents notarised by a local notary or commissioner of oaths in Botswana. The FCDO provides a list of English-speaking lawyers in Botswana.

UK documents that are certified by a UK notary can also be used in Botswana. More information on the death registration process is on the Republic of Botswana government website.

You do not need to register the death in the UK. The local death certificate can usually be used in the UK for most purposes, including probate.

If you wish, you can register the death with the Overseas Registration Unit (ORU). You can buy a UK-style death certificate, known as a Consular Death Registration certificate. The ORU will send a record to the General Register Office within 12 months.

If the person who died suffered from an infectious condition, such as hepatitis or HIV, you must tell the local authorities, so they can take precautions against infection.

Mortuary facilities

Mortuary facilities vary throughout Botswana. Most major towns and cities have mortuaries with temperature-controlled storage facilities, but these may not be available in rural areas. This may mean the body cannot be preserved in a good condition.

Deal with a local post-mortem

Post-mortems are normally performed when the cause of death is unknown, unnatural, sudden or violent. Post-mortems are carried out by forensic doctors appointed by the court. Cultural or religious sensitivities may not be taken into account. The FCDO cannot stop or interfere with the process.

In Botswana, post-mortems are performed in government hospitals that have pathologists. The process usually takes a week although it can take longer (due to a shortage of pathologists).

There is usually no fee for a forensic post-mortem. Clinical post-mortems conducted on non-citizens or non-residents cost P2500 and must be paid for by the next of kin.

If there has not been a post-mortem, the next of kin can ask for one. However, the attending medical team may reject this if the cause of death is very clear. The post-mortem request form requires written consent by both next of kin and the pathologists of the investigating body e.g. police.

During a post-mortem, small tissue samples and organs may be removed and retained for testing without the consent of the family. You will not automatically be told if this happens. These tissues are not returned and are disposed of by the hospital.

If you want a copy of the post-mortem report, you must apply through the coroner in the UK (if you bring the body home) or request the preliminary report from the medical or forensic team. You should ask for this when you request the post-mortem. The attending pathologist will provide the report in English, usually within one week of the examination, unless further testing is ongoing.

Bring the body home

If the person who died had insurance, find out if their insurance provider can help cover the cost of repatriation. Repatriation is the process of bringing the body home. If so, they will make all the necessary arrangements.

If the person who died is not covered by insurance, you will need to appoint an international funeral director yourself.

Find an international funeral director

A relative or a formally appointed representative must appoint a UK-based international funeral director for the person who died to be repatriated to the UK. The FCDO provides a list of UK-based international funeral directors.

Local funeral directors will work with UK-based international funeral directors to make sure all the necessary requirements are met both locally and in the UK. This includes providing documents such as a local civil registry death certificate, a certificate of embalming and a certificate giving permission to transfer the remains to the UK.

Advice and financial assistance for repatriation

There are UK organisations and charities that may be able to offer assistance with repatriation.

Requesting a post-mortem in the UK

If you want to have a post-mortem in the UK once the body has been repatriated, you can request one from a UK coroner. The coroner will then decide if a post-mortem is needed. If you want the person who died to be cremated, you need to apply for a certificate from the coroner (form ‘Cremation 6’).

Bring the ashes home

You should not have the person cremated abroad if you want a UK coroner to conduct an inquest into their death.

If you choose local cremation and wish to take the ashes back to the UK yourself, you can usually do so. Check with your airline about specific restrictions or requirements, for example whether you can carry the ashes as hand luggage. To leave Botswana with human ashes you will need to:

  • show the certificate of cremation
  • fill in a standard customs form when you arrive home

If it is not possible for you to transport the ashes yourself, a funeral director will be able to make the necessary arrangements. The FCDO provides a list of UK-based international funeral directors.

Bury or cremate the body locally

To have a local burial or cremation, a relative or a formally appointed representative needs to appoint a local funeral director.

The FCDO provides a list of English-speaking funeral directors in Botswana.

The funeral director will be able to explain the local process.

Botswana law states that foreigners may only be buried in Botswana with the permission of their country of nationality. This means the next of kin must obtain a letter from the British High Commission.

If a local burial or cremation takes place, there will not be a coroner’s inquest carried out in the UK.

Retrieve belongings

Personal belongings found on the person who died at the time of death are given to the police if the family is not present.

If you choose to repatriate, instruct the local funeral director to collect all personal belongings from the police or court and ship them together with the person who died.

If there is an investigation into the death, clothing may be retained as evidence and will not be returned until the court case is finished.

The FCDO cannot help with the cost of returning personal belongings to the family.

Find a lawyer

You can apply to appoint a lawyer in certain circumstances, such as a suspicious death. The FCDO provides a list of English-speaking lawyers in Botswana.

Cancel a passport

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

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.

Check you have done everything you need to do in the UK

Check this step-by-step guide for when someone dies to make sure you have done everything you need to do in the UK after someone has died. You can find information on how to tell the government about the death, UK pensions and benefits and dealing with the estate of the person who died.

Published 13 October 2022