When someone dies in France: a calm, practical guide
It's the guide nobody wants to need — but if you're living in France, or have loved ones here, knowing what happens when someone dies removes one source of panic from an already hard moment. The French process is orderly and, reassuringly, the funeral director carries most of it for you. This is what happens in the first days, the one deadline that matters, and the things worth knowing in advance so grief isn't compounded by confusion.
The short version
- A doctor issues the death certificate first — at home, call the GP or the SAMU (15). Nothing proceeds until this exists.
- Declare the death at the mairie within 24 hours — you'll receive the acte de décès; ask for around ten copies.
- The funeral director (pompes funèbres) carries most of it — expect to lean on them. Burial or cremation happens within six working days.
- Funeral costs commonly run €3,000–4,000; you're entitled to a written quote.
- A notaire handles the estate; the succession declaration is generally due within six months.
- For a British person, you can also inform the UK authorities, and repatriation to the UK is possible if wished.
We've written this one gently, because if you're reading it in a hurry, you may be reading it at the worst time. So let us say the reassuring thing first: the French system for a death is clear, humane, and designed to be leaned on. You are not expected to know it, and you will not be doing it alone — the pompes funèbres (funeral director) exists precisely to carry most of the burden, and does. What follows is a calm map of the first days, so that whether you're facing this now or simply want to understand it before you ever have to, the shape of it holds no fear.
The first days, step by step
It's a short, defined sequence, and you'll rarely walk it unaided. Open each.
Start here1 · A doctor certifies the death
First, a doctor must issue the certificat de décès — the medical death certificate. If it happens at home, call the person's GP, or the emergency medical service (SAMU, 15, or 112). In a hospital or care home, the staff handle this. Nothing else can proceed until this certificate exists.
The one deadline2 · Declare it at the mairie within 24 hours
The death must be declared at the mairie — of the place of death or of residence — within 24 hours. You take the doctor's certificate and ID for yourself and the deceased. The mairie issues the official acte de décès; ask for around ten copies, because every bank, insurer and authority will want one. In practice the funeral director often makes this declaration for you.
They guide you3 · The funeral director (pompes funèbres)
You'll engage a pompes funèbres (funeral director), and it's entirely normal — expected, even — to lean on them heavily. They handle the declaration, the paperwork, the care of the body, and arrange the burial or cremation, which by law must take place within six working days. Costs commonly run around €3,000–4,000. As with any such service, you're entitled to a clear written quote.
Over the months4 · The notaire and the estate
For anything involving property or significant assets, a notaire handles the succession — establishing the heirs, valuing the estate and dealing with the inheritance tax. The déclaration de succession is generally due within six months of a death in France (twelve if it occurred abroad). This isn't a first-day task; it unfolds over the following weeks and months.
The thing to remember above all
Call a funeral director early — and let them carry it
If you take one thing from this guide, take this: contacting a pompes funèbres is one of the first things to do, and once you have, most of the rest is lifted from your shoulders. They will make the mairie declaration, care for your person, handle the permits, and arrange the funeral within the six-day window — guiding you through each decision at your pace. It is entirely normal to rely on them heavily; that is what they are for. Many British families seek out an English-speaking or expat-experienced director, which makes an unfamiliar process gentler still. You do not have to hold all of this yourself.
Funeral costs can be planned for
A funeral in France runs to several thousand euros, and there are ways to provide for it in advance — funeral-cover policies (assurance obsèques) and prepaid arrangements — that spare the family both the bill and the decisions at a hard moment. Worth considering while it's not urgent.
Explore funeral cover options →Pimpernel may earn a small commission if you use this — it never changes what we recommend, and there's nothing to sell you.
The British dimension
When the person was British, a few extra threads run alongside the French process. Open each.
The British sideTelling the UK authorities
Alongside the French process, you can inform the UK side: the death of a British national abroad can be registered with the UK authorities, and there's a government 'Tell Us Once'-style path for UK pensions and records. Keep several acte de décès copies for UK institutions too — an official translation is sometimes requested.
A personal choiceRepatriation, if you want it
If the wish is to bring the person home to the UK for the funeral, repatriation is possible but involves extra formalities and real cost — specialist funeral directors arrange it. Equally, many British families choose a burial or cremation in France, in the community that had become home. There's no right answer; the pompes funèbres can cost and arrange either.
See successionWho inherits — and the will
French succession law decides a great deal here, and it may not match a UK will's intentions — forced heirship reserves a share for children, and an unmarried partner faces steep tax. If a French will or a Brussels IV election exists, it shapes what happens. This is exactly why sorting a will in advance matters so much; our succession guide covers the ground, and a notaire will guide the family through it.
Facing this now, and unsure where to start?
In the first days there's a lot to hold, in a second language, while grieving. Pimpernel can lay out the exact steps, deadlines and who to call for your situation — and point you to English-speaking funeral directors and a notaire — so the practical side is one less weight.
The kindest preparation
If you're reading this not in crisis but in foresight, there's a quiet gift you can give the people you love: getting a few things in order while you're well. A will that works under French law spares your family the harshest surprises of forced heirship and the unmarried-partner tax trap. A note of your wishes — burial or cremation, here or home — spares them agonising decisions at a raw moment. Knowing where the key documents live, and perhaps an assurance obsèques to cover the funeral cost, removes both a bill and a scramble. None of it is morbid; it's the opposite. It's making sure that, when the time comes, those you leave behind can grieve — and aren't left fighting paperwork in a language of loss and a language not their own.
The kindest admin is the admin done in advance
A will, an assurance obsèques, your wishes written down, the key documents where family can find them. Pimpernel Pro helps you put these quietly in place while you're well — so that if the worst comes, those you love face grief, and not a paperchase.
- End-of-life planning prompts
- The succession & tax guides
- Document organisation
- Every Library guide, in depth
The inheritance side, in depth
What actually happens to a French estate — forced heirship, the tax, the will that protects against it — is covered in full in our succession guide.
Read: French wills & succession →Protecting a partner
Marriage or a PACSPacte civil de solidarité — a registered civil partnership, lighter than marriage but with real legal effects. transforms a partner's position when the worst happens. Our guide explains which does what, and why it matters here.
Read: Marriage or PACS in France →Straight from the source
The official steps after a death, and who to notify, are on service-public.fr; the succession itself runs through a notaire (notaires.fr).
The procedures, deadlines and costs here are current for 2026 and drawn from official and specialist sources, but they vary locally and by circumstance, and cross-border estates are complex. Pimpernel are not notaires, funeral directors or legal advisers. In the moment, rely on the pompes funèbres and, for the estate, a notaire. This guide is general information offered with care, not legal advice. If you are grieving, please also reach out to people who can support you.