Guidance

Peru bereavement: death abroad

Updated 25 July 2022

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.

Peru: 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 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 Peru the seniority of next of kin is usually as follows:

• spouse/partner/civil partner (same sex partners are not recognised in all cases under Peruvian 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 Peru, 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 Peru, you can find a list of funeral directors in Peru.

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

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.

The Peruvian authorities will issue a death certificate in Spanish. This is likely to take a couple of days. The Peruvian Authorities will issue initially a temporary death certificate in Spanish. After a couple of days a certified copy can be obtained from the ‘Registro Civil’.

Consular death registration

You do not have to register the death of a British national, which 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. The permission of the family is only needed when the post mortem is performed for clinical reasons, ie. to evaluate the accuracy of the diagnose and the quality of the treatment. Please see Annex A for further information.

The full post mortem report is usually issued within a few months, however, 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 Lima. The report will be issued by the Public Ministry and it will be in Spanish. The next of kin will need to pay a fee for it.

Please visit the following link for further information

Mortuary facilities

Most of the morgues in Peru have cold storage facilities. These are normally only located in main cities. In cases in which a death occurs in more remote locations, the body will normally be taken to a designated morgue, which can take a few days. Not all funeral homes have their own cold storage facilities and some have a room for the wake.

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 next of kin choose to proceed with a local burial, they will need to instruct a local undertaker.

Local 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 the local authorities.

Repatriation

If your friend or relative had a valid travel insurance, the insurance 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 Peru. 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. A list of local undertakers is available on.

When your friend or relative is being repatriated, they must be embalmed and placed in a special coffin. Local undertakers in Lima 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 body. This will be arranged by the local undertaker. The local undertaker can also provide covering certificates for British Customs.

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

Inquests

In the event of a death in Peru the Prosecutor will consider the evidence. If the circumstances of the death were not unusual, registration of the death is permitted and the body will be released for repatriation or burial to the mortuary. However, if the Prosecutor is not satisfied after the preliminary examination a post-mortem may be required. Further investigations and interviews with witnesses may also be requested before a decision is made as to cause of death.

In cases of accident or misadventure a report of the Prosecutor’s findings will be issued, and the body will be released. However if the death was caused by a criminal act the police will be ordered to conduct a full investigation. The Prosecutor will then decide whether to prosecute. This can delay the release of the body for burial/repatriation.

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

Generally the return of personal belongings is not included in the funeral director’s service. You should have an early discussion with the international funeral director to see whether they can arrange for the return of personal effects for an additional fee.

If the funeral director is unable to do this, you might want to consider getting the personal effects returned by private courier.

You will have to authorise someone to collect them. This person will be asked to sign an inventory upon collection.

The British Embassy in Lima can only store the deceased’s UK passport and driving license. Please note, the British Embassy cannot take responsibility for the personal belongings of the person who died and neither any of our Honorary Consulates outside Lima.

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 Peru. Social services will be involved only in specific circumstances.

Deaths in road traffic accidents

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

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 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 Peru will hold a full investigation. The Prosecutor will go to 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.

Please see Annex B for further information on criminal proceedings in Peru.

Prosecutors are normally happy to share details of investigations with the Embassy, to be passed to the family (in the UK).

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 happens 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 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 and Tel: +44 0845 345 4345 is responsible for legal aid applications overseas.

The British Embassy cannot give legal advice to British nationals in Peru. However, we can provide them with a list of local private lawyers who speak English.

Compensation

If a British national has died due to an accident, murder or terrorist attack the Peruvian State will not compensate the relatives regardless of his/her 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 regardless of the victim’s nationality.

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

Translation and interpretation

Spanish is the official language in Peru and official documents issued by Peruvian authorities will be in Spanish. The local authorities do not have to provide official translation or interpretation in English.

If required, a list of translators and interpreters can be found in.

Peruvian Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ list.

Additional information

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