What to Do When a Citizen of France Dies in Greece: 5-Step Official Checklist

1. 1

   Medical Certification of Death and Emergency or Forensic Clearance in Greece

   Before civil registration, cremation, burial, or international transport can proceed, a doctor in Greece must issue the official Medical Certificate of Death (Ιατρικό Πιστοποιητικό Θανάτου) [1][2].

   • Death in a Greek hospital or clinic: The attending hospital physician issues the Medical Certificate of Death directly, and the hospital mortuary holds the deceased while the family appoints a funeral provider [1][2].
   • Death at a residence, hotel, or public location (such as a beach or vessel): Call the National Centre for Emergency Care (EKAB at 166), the European emergency number (112), and the Hellenic Police (100) (or the Hellenic Coast Guard at 108 for maritime incidents) [1].
   • Forensic clearance (Ιατροδικαστική Υπηρεσία): When a death occurs outside a hospital, is sudden, unattended, or results from an accident, the police notify the competent Forensic Medical Service (Ιατροδικαστική Υπηρεσία, such as in Athens, Piraeus, Thessaloniki, or Heraklion) for a mandatory post-mortem examination (νεκροψία-νεκροτομή). Neither embalming nor international transport can take place until the forensic pathologist issues the medical certificate of cause of death and releases the body [1][2].
2. 2

   Insurance Check, Licensed Funeral Providers, and French Consular Support

   Before signing independent private contracts, check whether the deceased held travel insurance, repatriation coverage through a French bank card or mutuelle, or a dedicated funeral plan (contrat d'obsèques). If coverage applies, the insurer's 24/7 assistance platform usually appoints and pays the coordinating funeral operators directly [4].

   • Appointing coordinated funeral providers in Greece and France: You can mandate a licensed Greek funeral home (Γραφείο Τελετών) experienced in international repatriation, working in coordination with a prefecture-licensed receiving funeral operator in France (opérateur funéraire habilité en préfecture, such as a member of the Fédération Nationale du Funéraire - FNF or the Fédération Française des Pompes Funèbres - FFPF) [4][5]. The funeral directors handle the technical mortuary preparation, translation of local certificates, customs clearance, and flight booking [4][5].
   • Contacting the French consular authorities in Greece: Notify the Consulat général de France à Athènes (6 rue Akadémias, 106 71 Athens; email: [email protected]; France Consulaire information line: +30 21 0969 6483) or the Consulat général de France à Thessalonique [3][4]. As explained by France Diplomatie, the consulate can provide a list of local French-speaking funeral homes, transcribe the Greek death certificate into the French civil registry, and issue consular mortuary documents, although it cannot pay funeral or repatriation expenses [3][4].
3. 3

   Civil Death Registration in Greece and Recognition in France

   The death must first be registered with the Greek municipal civil registry and then recorded in the French civil status registers [1][2][3].

   • Registration with the Greek municipal Civil Registry (Ληξιαρχείο): Under Greek law, the death must be declared within 24 hours to the municipal Civil Registry Office (Ληξιαρχείο) of the municipality where the death occurred (for example, the Municipality of Athens or the Municipality of Rhodes), or digitally via the national portal Gov.gr [1][2]. In practice, the authorised Greek funeral director usually files the declaration on the family's behalf using the Medical Certificate of Death, the deceased's French passport or national identity card, and family civil status details to obtain the official Greek Death Certificate (Ληξιαρχική Πράξη Θανάτου) [1][2].
   • French consular transcription and multilingual extracts: Because Greece and France are both EU Member States (covered by Regulation (EU) 2016/1191 on public documents) and parties to international civil status conventions, request official copies of the Greek Death Certificate and have the death transcribed into the French consular civil status registers through the Consulat général de France à Athènes [3][4]. Once transcribed, the consulate issues a French acte de décès and updates the deceased's French birth record and livret de famille, which simplifies all subsequent French administrative steps on Service-Public.fr [3][4][6].
4. 4

   Choosing Between International Repatriation to France and Local Burial or Cremation in Greece

   The family must decide whether to repatriate the body or cremated ashes to France or arrange burial or cremation locally in Greece [3][4][5].

   • International repatriation of the body or ashes to France: Greece and France are parties to the Strasbourg Agreement of 1973 and the Berlin Arrangement of 1937 on the transfer of corpses [4][5].
     • For the repatriation of a coffin, the Greek funeral home arranges mandatory embalming (ταρίχευση), places the body in a hermetically sealed zinc-lined coffin certified by the competent regional Public Health Directorate (Διεύθυνση Δημόσιας Υγείας) in Greece, and obtains the mortuary laissez-passer (laissez-passer mortuaire) and consular sealing required for entry into France [3][4][5].
     • In France, the receiving funeral operator coordinates arrival clearance and obtains the municipal burial or cremation permit (autorisation d'inhumation ou de crémation) from the mairie of the destination commune [5][6].
     • For the repatriation of cremated ashes, the sealed urn must be accompanied by the Greek death certificate, the cremation certificate, and the consular or municipal transport authorisation [4][5].
   • Local burial or cremation in Greece: If the family chooses local burial in a Greek municipal cemetery or cremation at an authorised Greek crematorium (such as the Ritsona Crematorium), the Greek Ληξιαρχείο issues the burial or cremation permit upon registration of the death [1][2].
5. 5

   Post-Death Notifications, Survivor Benefits, Tax Filings, and Estate Administration in France and Greece

   Once the French consular death certificate (or Greek death certificate) is available, survivors should complete social security, tax, and probate steps in both jurisdictions.

   • Social security, pensions, tax, and estate steps in France:
     • Health insurance and lump-sum death grant (capital décès): Notify the deceased's Caisse primaire d'assurance maladie (CPAM). If the deceased contributed as an employee, received unemployment benefits, or held a qualifying disability pension in France shortly before death, eligible dependents can claim the capital décès using Form Cerfa n° 10431 (S3180) within 1 month for priority dependents (or up to 2 years otherwise) [7].
     • French retirement and survivor pensions: Report the death and apply for a survivor pension (pension de réversion) with L'Assurance Retraite (CNAV / CARSAT) for the basic state scheme and Agirc-Arrco for supplementary employee pensions [8].
     • Tax filings and French succession: Report the death to the French tax authority (Direction générale des Finances publiques) and appoint a French notary via Notaires de France if the estate includes real estate in France, a will, or assets requiring an acte de notoriété [9]. When a person domiciled in France dies abroad (Outside Metropolitan France), the French inheritance tax declaration (déclaration de succession) must generally be filed within 12 months of the date of death (compared with 6 months for a death occurring inside France) [9].
   • Social security and inheritance steps in Greece (if the deceased had Greek ties or assets):
     • Greek social security benefits (e-EFKA): If the deceased was insured or receiving a pension in Greece under e-EFKA, the person who paid the funeral expenses can apply electronically via Gov.gr for reimbursement of funeral costs (Πληρωμή εξόδων κηδείας), and eligible family members can apply electronically for the transfer of the main pension due to death (σύνταξη λόγω θανάτου) [10][11].
     • Greek estate and probate administration: If the deceased owned property or bank accounts in Greece, heirs can apply through a Greek notary or the competent Greek Court of First Instance for an inheritance certificate (Κληρονομητήριο) or execute a notarial acceptance of inheritance; the statutory period to renounce a Greek inheritance is 4 months if the deceased lived in Greece and the heir resides in Greece, or 12 months if the deceased's last residence was abroad or the heir resides abroad.

Official Authorities & Verified Contacts

Official Sources Checked by Clarvia

1. [1]
   Loss of a family member: Official bereavement and civil registry services — Gov.gr (Hellenic Republic)
2. [2]
   Issuance of the Greek Death Certificate (Ληξιαρχική πράξη θανάτου) — Gov.gr (Hellenic Republic)
3. [3]
   Death in Greece: Declaration, consular transcription, and repatriation — Embassy of France in Greece / Consulat général de France à Athènes
4. [4]
   Death of a French citizen abroad: Consular assistance, repatriation, and civil status — France Diplomatie (Ministère de l'Europe et des Affaires étrangères)
5. [5]
   Transporting the body of a deceased person to or from abroad — Service-Public.fr
6. [6]
   Civil registration of death and municipal formalities in France — Service-Public.fr
7. [7]
   Application for the lump-sum death benefit (Capital décès - Form S3180 / Cerfa 10431) — Service-Public.fr / Assurance Maladie (CPAM)
8. [8]
   Administrative formalities after a death and survivor pension (Pension de réversion) — L'Assurance Retraite
9. [9]
   Estate settlement, acte de notoriété, and inheritance tax deadlines in France — Notaires de France
10. [10]
    Payment of funeral expenses (Πληρωμή εξόδων κηδείας - e-EFKA) — Gov.gr / e-EFKA
11. [11]
    Transfer of main pension due to the death of an insured person (Μεταβίβαση κύριας σύνταξης λόγω θανάτου) — Gov.gr / e-EFKA