Repatriation from the UK

adocholiday

Hi all. My apologies if this isn't really the appropriate forum for this but it seemed to be the most relevant.

My uncle passed away in England on Thursday and I can't find any information on how long it will take to repatriate him for burial here. There's a lot of speculation going on amongst family right now but nobody really knows. Some are talking about arranging flights home for the weekend but I think it possibly takes longer?

His brothers are over there at the moment to begin the arrangements but they're not really any the wiser. Any info, even just anecdotal, is very much appreciated. Many thanks in advance

LynnGrace

Hi OP, sorry for your loss. The attached link gives information on procedures for repatriation. I hope that it helps.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=94879607&postcount=2

sullivlo

I know that this is probably too late for you but my experience is as follows.

My aunt died in the UK last year. She died Wednesday night/Thursday morning at home. As it was an expected death (cancer) the nurses could certify the death.

Then we called the undertaker. It was actually a laborious process as they're fairly busy. We also had an undertaker based here to organise the cremation from this end.

The undertaker had experience in repatriation and they dealt directly with the airline. Not every airline will accept a coffin. There is also limits in terms of airports, and it can end up being a last minute thing.

So travelling on the same flight as the coffin is difficult.

The coffin arrived as cargo and was brought to the mortuary where the funeral people collected it and brought it to the funeral home.

One thing that is potentially important - we were told to say our goodbyes before the coffin was closed in the UK as they very strongly suggest that the coffin doesn't get opened on arrival.

The coffin arrived on a Wednesday. We had the cremation on the Friday. So a week and a day after she died.

purplepanda

It took over two weeks for my uncle to be repatriated back home 12 years ago from London. The funeral director in Ireland arranged the flight booking with Aer Lingus & picked the coffin up from Dublin airport & the London funeral director took the coffin to Heathrow.

From what I remember it took a lot of time off work with multiple visits to the funeral director, hospital. council death certificates, sorting out the will & countless phone calls including to Ireland. The directors took a while to arrange all the details involved.

It was during August so the airlines are busy anyway, but funerals often take more than a week over here & sometimes two weeks plus.

I remember people in the early 90's traveling over by ferry to Ireland with their deceased family member & accompanying them on the journey.

adocholiday

Thanks everyone for the replies. Just in case anyone else is wondering - my uncle died on a Thursday evening and his body was home the following Thursday. There was an open casket removal too, probably because the time between that and his passing was just a week. The short timeframe was likely due to a few things though, mainly that he lived in a quiet area in England so there isn't so much of a backlog on paperwork, and because he had known health issues which resulted in his death so there wasn't an investigation as such. Speeds things up considerably apparently. Thanks again everyone.