Embalming certificate

An embalming certificate is a signed statement from the embalmer or funeral director confirming that your loved one has been embalmed. It is one of the documents a repatriation from the UK usually needs, alongside the death certificate, the out of England form and the freedom from infection certificate.

Why it is needed

The UK itself does not ask for embalming before someone leaves the country. The requirement comes from the destination and the carrier. Nearly every country asks for embalming certified by the funeral director who carried it out, and every airline expects the certificate attached to the coffin when it travels as cargo. A road repatriation across Europe in practice meets the same standard. The few countries that accept a sealed coffin without embalming are the exception.

Who issues it

A qualified embalmer, such as an accredited member of the British Institute of Embalmers, or the international funeral director who arranged the work. The embalming is done at the chapel of rest before your loved one leaves, and the coffin is prepared there too, with a certificate for each. If you would like a viewing before departure, that is the time for it, at the same chapel of rest.

What happens next

The certificate joins the rest of the papers: the death certificate, the out of England form and the freedom from infection certificate. Many consulates ask to see it before they issue the laissez passer that lets a coffin cross their border. From then on it stays with your loved one, by road or by air, and the receiving funeral director at the destination receives it with every other document. Families rarely have to request it themselves, because the funeral director preparing the repatriation includes it in the document set.