Within 24 hours of a death in intensive care, the doctor draws up a death certificate, certifying the person's death and specifying the date and time of death.
Under certain conditions, your loved one's body can be transported to his or her home, to another place of residence or to a funeral home outside the hospital. Transportation must take place within 48 hours of death.
Within the same timeframe, the death must be declared at the town hall of the place of death.
At the hospital, this declaration is usually made by the administrative team or the mortuary team, within 24 hours of the death.
Once the death has been declared, the town hall draws up a death certificate and forwards the information to Insee, which informs the pension funds via the Répertoire national d'identification des personnes physiques (RNIPP).
You will need to request a copy of the death certificate in order to carry out certain formalities and assert your status as heir. You can obtain this death certificate from the town hall, on presentation of your family record book.
Requesting a death certificate
In certain cases, you can also request the deceased's medical file. Only spouses, PACS partners, cohabitants and children can access the deceased's medical records, provided that the deceased did not object to this consultation during his or her lifetime. Requests to consult medical records must be justified.
Find out more.
To facilitate administrative procedures, please bring the following documents from the deceased:
Funerals are organized within 6 days of death, by an authorized funeral operator chosen by the deceased. In the absence of an expressed wish, the next of kin are responsible for contacting the funeral operator of their choice.
To help you make your choice, the managers of the hospital registry office and the mortuary can provide you with a list of funeral operators in Paris, drawn up in accordance with regulatory requirements. This list is also posted in both locations. We recommend that you request several estimates.
If a funeral is to be organized, you will need to contact a funeral director. You can ask them for a quote on the services they will provide and the fees they will charge.
Please note: It is possible to deduct funeral expenses directly from the deceased's bank accounts, on presentation of invoices, up to a maximum of 5,000 euros (depending on the available balance).
You can make certain declarations online.
In some cases, you may be eligible for a death benefit to cover the costs associated with the death of a loved one.
Learn more
If the deceased was a jobseeker, contact Pôle Emploi directly.
In the event of the death of a close relative, you may be entitled to a lump-sum death benefit, a survivor's pension and certain allowances, depending on your relationship to the deceased. To find out more :
To organize the blocking of bank accounts, you can ask to consult the bank account file (Ficoba).
The notary will check whether there is a will filed by the deceased and will organize the succession.
The French Labor Code and the General Statute of Civil Servants provide for a right to leave for employees in the private sector or civil servants in bereavement, a right reserved for the family of the deceased.
The law sets a minimum duration, but a higher duration may be set by the company's collective agreement or, failing that, by the branch agreement.
However, the collective bargaining agreement or an agreement applicable in the company may cover leave in the event of the death of other family members (grandparent, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, etc.).
NB: The number of days of in-company bereavement leave may not be less than 5 for the death of a child, and 3 days in other cases (French Labor Code, art. L3412-4). In the absence of an agreement, all employees are entitled to the same amount of leave (Code du travail, art. L3412-5).
Bereavement leave is open to all employees, whatever their length of service or the nature of their employment contract (permanent, fixed-term, part-time, temporary, seasonal, etc.), depending on their relationship with the deceased.
The period of leave cannot be deducted from annual leave. Such leave does not entail any reduction in remuneration and is treated as time actually worked.
The employee must take his leave during the period in which the event occurs, but not necessarily on the same day.
Employees must inform their employer of the date and duration of their bereavement leave at least 24 hours before the start of each period of absence. They must also enclose a death certificate with their request.
The employer cannot refuse to grant bereavement leave to an employee.
Sources and additional resources :
French Funeral Information Association
=> organization independent of any union, federation, trading company or other association
=> Here you'll find sample letters
My Social Rights
=>Government portal
Association empreintes
=>Accompanying bereavement
European Federation for Bereavement
=>Grouping of bereavement associations