American Citizen Services

Death of an American Citizen overseas

Death and Disposition of Remains

The death of an American citizen abroad should be reported as soon as possible to the nearest American Embassy/Consulate. In cases where no family member was traveling with the deceased American, a consular officer locates and notifies the decedent's next-of-kin. The Embassy also informs the individual’s family about options and costs for disposition of remains.

In Romania, if a foreigner dies unexpectedly, the state will require that an autopsy be performed to ascertain the cause of death. After the autopsy, the decedent is moved to the local morgue in advance of preparation by a local funeral director. At this stage, the next-of-kin may choose either to bring the decedent’s full remains back to the United States, to have the decedent cremated and the ashes returned to the United States, or to arrange for local burial/cremation. The Embassy can provide information to the family or U.S.-based funeral directors about Romanian funeral directors who can appropriately prepare decedents for return to the United States.

Costs for preparing and returning a deceased individual’s body to the United States from Romania are generally quite high and must be paid by the family unless appropriate insurance was acquired in advance. Often, local laws and procedures can make the return of remains to the United States a lengthy process. On average, 10 days to 14 days should be expected for return although it can take significantly longer depending on the circumstances of death.

Consular Report of Death Abroad

Romanian authorities issue two key documents after the death of an individual. The first, the Death Certificate, lists the individual’s name and the time and place of death. A separate Medical Certificate/Autopsy Report lists the cause of death. The Embassy combines the information in these two Romanian-language documents and prepares a Consular Report of Death Abroad in English. The Consular Report of Death Abroad is the equivalent of a U.S. Death Certificate for resolving legal matters in the United States including estate and insurance proceedings. The Embassy will provide 20 copies of the Consular Report of Death Abroad to the decedent’s next-of-kin free of charge. Additional copies are $6.00 each. Please note that it will take four to eight weeks to receive the Consular Report of Death Abroad in the United States. The Embassy will also cancel the decedent’s U.S. passport and return it to the next-of-kin and report the death to the appropriate government agencies if the decedent was receiving federal benefits.

Property

In limited circumstances, a consular officer from the Embassy can take temporary possession of a recently deceased American’s personal effects/property if no family members were traveling with the decedent. The Embassy will make a complete inventory of such possessions and will hold them for a very limited period until the next-of-kin makes arrangements for assuming possession of the property. In these circumstances, the Embassy may charge storage fees and/or maintenance fees if the amount or property exceeds an ordinary amount of personal luggage or if special circumstances exist.

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