Repatriation from Toulouse, France

Toulouse sits at the centre of a substantial British community in south-west France. The surrounding Occitanie and Nouvelle-Aquitaine regions — the Gers, Lot, Tarn, Aveyron, and Dordogne departments — have attracted British permanent residents for decades, many of whom use Toulouse as their regional city for healthcare, travel, and services. Toulouse itself has a secondary British professional community: the Airbus campus at Blagnac employs British aeronautical engineers on secondment, and the city’s universities attract British students and academics. Deaths here span three distinct categories: rural property owners in the surrounding countryside who are hospitalised in Toulouse, Airbus-sector workers, and university community deaths.

What the British Consulate does — and does not do

The British Consulate General Bordeaux (353 Boulevard du Président Wilson, 33073 Bordeaux Cedex) covers south-west France including Haute-Garonne and Toulouse.

The Consulate can: Register the death in UK consular records. Advise on French documentation for UK authorities. Provide a funeral director list.

The Consulate cannot: Repatriate the body. Pay any costs. Override the decisions of the French legal authorities.

FCDO 24-hour emergency line: +44 (0)20 7008 5000.

What French law requires

Under the Code de Procédure Pénale (France), sudden, unnatural, or unexplained deaths are reported to the Procureur de la République at the Tribunal Judiciaire de Toulouse (2 allée Jules Guesde, 31068 Toulouse Cedex 7). The procureur may direct a judicial post-mortem (autopsie judiciaire), conducted at the Institut Médico-Légal (IML) de Toulouse, operating through CHU Toulouse-Rangueil or Purpan.

Death certificates (actes de décès) are issued by the Mairie de Toulouse, Service État Civil, and the registrar of the relevant commune.

The documentation chain

1. Acte de décès. Issued by the Mairie de Toulouse.

2. Procureur’s release (required in sudden death cases).

3. French laissez-passer mortuaire. Issued by the Préfet de la Haute-Garonne for international transport. France has ratified the Council of Europe Strasbourg Agreement on Transfer of Corpses (1973), which provides the legal framework for the international transport document.

4. Embalming certificate (certificat de thanatopraxie).

5. IATA cargo documentation.

Source: Code de Procédure Pénale (France); Décret no. 2011-121 relatif aux opérations funéraires; Circulaire DGS/MC1 no. 2009-365 relative au transport de corps.

Airport and cargo routing

Toulouse-Blagnac Airport (TLS) has direct services to London Heathrow and London Gatwick operated by British Airways and easyJet, and seasonal connections to other UK airports. Cargo capacity for human remains on TLS-LHR and TLS-LGW routes is reliable. For deaths in rural Occitanie departments well outside Toulouse, the funeral director manages road transfer to Blagnac.

Timeline from Toulouse

• Hospital-certified natural death: 7 to 14 days
• Judicial post-mortem (autopsie judiciaire): 14 to 21 days
• Extended forensic or toxicological investigation: 4 to 8 weeks

Key local considerations

Deaths of British nationals who were permanent French residents — holding a titre de séjour, registered with the French social security system, and owning French property — involve an additional dimension: French succession law (succession en France) applies to French-based assets. Repatriation of the body proceeds independently of estate matters, but the family will need a French notaire to handle the estate. This is separate from the repatriation process and does not delay it.

For the full repatriation process from France, see our France repatriation guide.

Contact our team via our enquiry form or WhatsApp.

Information based on Code de Procédure Pénale (France), Décret no. 2011-121, and FCDO France consular guidance. Last reviewed May 2026.