What to do in the first hours after a death in Spain

Terms used

• Registro Civil — The Registro Civil is the civil registry where births, marriages and deaths are officially recorded.
• Tanatorio — A tanatorio is a funeral facility where the body is kept and relatives hold the wake before burial or cremation.
• Juzgado de guardia — The juzgado de guardia is the duty court that handles urgent cases, including violent or unexplained deaths.
• Médico forense — The médico forense is the court's forensic doctor, who examines deaths that are violent, suspicious or unexplained.

Key rules

• First call: A doctor must confirm the death before anything else can happen.
• Funeral home: Call a funeral home, or your insurer's funeral service if you have a funeral policy, once the death is certified.
• Suspicious death: If a death looks violent, suspicious or unexplained, tell the police and expect an autopsy before release.
• Hospital or care home: You sign the facility's release form so the funeral home can collect the body.

The order to follow

A doctor must confirm the death first. Then you call a funeral home. Burial or cremation cannot be immediate: it cannot normally happen until 24 hours after death, and should happen within 48 hours. Regional rules vary, and refrigeration or a judicial autopsy can extend this. The funeral home applies the rules for your region, so ask it which times apply.

If the death is at home

Call a doctor straight away.

• Sudden or unexpected death: call 112, or your region's emergency number.
• Expected death (for example, after a long illness): call your family doctor or the on-call primary-care service. Emergency and on-call arrangements differ by region.

The doctor confirms the death and issues the medical death certificate at once. Once you have it, call a funeral home. If you have a funeral policy, call your insurer's funeral service instead. The funeral home collects the body and handles the paperwork.

If the death is in a hospital or care home

The facility's doctor certifies the death and usually phones the family. The body is moved to the hospital mortuary or the home's own room. You then choose a funeral home. It usually collects the body within hours.

You sign the facility's release form so the funeral home can take the body. The facility passes the certificate and any clinical documents to the funeral home. Procedures and mortuary hours vary by facility, so ask staff what they need from you.

Who issues the certificate

It is the doctor who confirms the death: your treating doctor, the hospital doctor, or the emergency or on-call doctor who attends. The funeral home normally sends the form on to the Registro Civil.

If the death looks violent, suspicious or unexplained

Tell the police. A court (juzgado de guardia) becomes involved, and a forensic doctor (médico forense) issues the certificate. The body goes to the forensic institute for an autopsy before it is released, which delays the funeral. See the section below on sudden or unattended deaths.

How long until the funeral

Burial or cremation usually takes place 24 to 72 hours after death. Cremation often takes 2 to 4 days in practice, depending on crematorium availability and paperwork. Waiting for relatives to arrive from abroad can extend this. The funeral home can keep the body refrigerated at a tanatorio meanwhile.

The timeline, documents and checklist below set out the steps and papers in detail.

Timeline and deadlines

• A doctor confirms the death and issues the medical death certificate: at once, when the death happens

• Call a funeral home, which collects the body: right after the certificate is issued; from a hospital or care home, usually within hours

• Expect extra delay after a judicial autopsy or while relatives travel from abroad: if the body must be released first or relatives are still arriving

Documents you need

• Medical death certificate (certificado médico de defunción), issued at once by the doctor who confirms the death. If the death is violent, suspicious or unexplained, the forensic doctor issues it under a judge's authority.

• The facility's release form, which you sign when the death happens in a hospital or care home so the funeral home can collect the body.

• Clinical documents from the hospital or care home, which the facility hands to the funeral home along with the medical certificate.

Checklist

• Call 112 if the death at home is sudden or unexpected, or your family doctor or on-call primary-care service if it was expected.

• In a hospital or care home, wait for the facility's doctor to certify the death and phone you.

• Make sure the doctor who confirmed the death issues the medical death certificate.

• Tell the police if the death looks violent, suspicious or unexplained, and expect a court and an autopsy before the body is released.

• Call a funeral home, or your insurer's funeral service if you have a funeral policy, once the death is certified.

• Sign the hospital or care home's release form so the funeral home can collect the body.

• Ask the funeral home to confirm the waiting times that apply in your region before burial or cremation.

What if the death is sudden, unattended or needs a judge's involvement?

A death that is sudden, unexplained or possibly violent goes to a judge, and that adds days to the normal timeline. The body cannot be released until the court allows it.

When a judge gets involved

A court takes over when any of these apply:

• The death is or may be violent or suspicious. This includes accidents, work accidents, overdoses, suicide and traffic deaths.
• The cause is unknown, or the death was sudden and unexplained.
• No doctor can sign the medical death certificate.

The same rules apply to residents and foreigners.

What happens at home

1. Call 112, or 061 for medical emergency services. Medical staff come and try to resuscitate if that is appropriate.
2. If a doctor can certify a natural death from a known illness, they sign the certificate. You then contact a funeral home and the court is not involved.
3. If no doctor can certify, or the death is sudden or unexplained, the doctor notifies the police (Policía Nacional or Guardia Civil). They inform the duty judge.
4. The judge orders the levantamiento del cadáver. A forensic doctor and the police scientific unit examine the scene.
5. The body is taken to the Instituto de Medicina Legal or a mortuary. An autopsy may be ordered there.

Do not disturb the scene. Expect to give a statement to the police. If you are a foreigner, contact your consulate. If the person had a decesos policy, call the insurer.

Autopsy and release

The judge decides whether a forensic autopsy is needed. It is mandatory when a crime is suspected, and normally also for sudden, unexplained deaths.

Once the judge authorises release (the licencia de enterramiento), the forensic doctor issues the certificate and the death can be registered.

How long it takes

Release usually comes 1 to 5 days after the autopsy. Simple cases can be released within 24 to 48 hours.

Complex cases can take one to several weeks. Common causes are:

• toxicology tests
• a second autopsy
• DNA identification
• repatriation paperwork

Weekends, holidays and a busy forensic institute also slow things down. So does a disputed cause of death, or a request for further steps from relatives or a foreign consulate.

The funeral home normally deals with the court for you. Ask them for updates rather than contacting the court yourself. If the body is to be sent abroad, tell them and your consulate early, because that paperwork is often what adds the weeks.

Frequently asked questions

What happens if a death at home looks suspicious or unexplained?

If a death at home looks violent, suspicious or unexplained, the police and a court are involved and the body goes to the forensic institute for an autopsy before it is released. A forensic doctor issues the death certificate instead of your own doctor. The funeral cannot be fixed until the body is released, so ask the police when to expect it.

Can a funeral be delayed beyond 48 hours?

Yes, a funeral can be delayed beyond 48 hours if the body is kept refrigerated at a tanatorio (funeral centre) or embalmed. A judicial autopsy or waiting for relatives to arrive from abroad can also push it back. Ask the funeral home which limits your region applies.

How many days does it usually take from death to the funeral?

Burial or cremation usually takes place 24 to 72 hours after death. Cremation often takes 2 to 4 days in practice, depending on how busy the crematorium is and on the paperwork. A death abroad also adds delay.