Travelling with Mum's ashes

gundo

My mother passed away before Christmas and I'm planning to travel to Chile to return her ashes to the country of her birth (and mine as it happens). It will also be an opportunity for her family to have some kind of memorial (she has 3 siblings there).

I checked with the airline website and it appears to indicate that it's not a problem for me to take them with me but I don't know if there's anything else I need to consider.

I'll be taking along her death certificate as well.

Rodders53

Firstly, I'm sorry for your loss.

I think you'd be wise to contact the Chilean Embassy for advice on this? https://chile.gob.cl/reino-unido/

There may be specific requirements / licences / documentation you need to permit the Import of the ashes into the Country?

I seem to remember getting some form of Crematorium certificate from the Funeral Director when we collected my Mother in Law's ashes? That may also be needed?

gundo

Replying, as my response may help others in the same situation. After some emails to the Chilean Consulate and phone calls the upshot is that I need to have the death cert and cremation cert legalised, which is a service whereby the documents are confirmed as genuine and an "apostille" is stamped on them to certify they're real.

https://www.gov.uk/get-document-legalised

The consulate also suggested that I might also need to have the documents officially translated into Spanish but considering the extra cost this will involve I'll make do without and rely on the fact that I'll have my Mum's Chilean passport and her UK one, plus my own Chilean and UK passports, it should be obvious what the situation is and that no one is trying to "pull a fast one".

It's all a bit of a palaver but I hope the my Mum's family and siblings will appreciate my efforts to provide them with a memorial for my mother.

silvercar

I know that to bring ashes into the UK you don't need to declare anything. Take them as hand baggage on the flight and no one will be bothered.

Yorkshireman99

silvercar wrote: »

I know that to bring ashes into the UK you don't need to declare anything. Take them as hand baggage on the flight and no one will be bothered.

Given the information the Chilean authorities have given the OP that would stupid. Other countries have very different rules to ours.

MothballsWallet

gundo wrote: »

Replying, as my response may help others in the same situation. After some emails to the Chilean Consulate and phone calls the upshot is that I need to have the death cert and cremation cert legalised, which is a service whereby the documents are confirmed as genuine and an "apostille" is stamped on them to certify they're real.

https://www.gov.uk/get-document-legalised

The consulate also suggested that I might also need to have the documents officially translated into Spanish but considering the extra cost this will involve I'll make do without and rely on the fact that I'll have my Mum's Chilean passport and her UK one, plus my own Chilean and UK passports, it should be obvious what the situation is and that no one is trying to "pull a fast one".

It's all a bit of a palaver but I hope the my Mum's family and siblings will appreciate my efforts to provide them with a memorial for my mother.

Do you have a local centre that helps refugees and migrants to the area?

We've got one in Coventry and one of the services they provide is translations - our solicitor suggested them as the cheapest option here for some of the documents in my wife's visa application.

Spelunthus

I did this from Canada to UK. We followed the advice on the airline's website. I hand-carried the ashes in a marked container. I had a copy of the death certificate and a notification of cremation (from crematorium). I quietly declared all this at the hand-baggage scan in Canada. The container was put though the scanner (they had a "special" tray to put through the scanner) , the documents were not asked for. No other issues, and nothing required at UK end.

pimento

I'll be doing this for my late husband when we take his ashes back to New Zealand where he was born.

I have the death certificate and the cremation certificate and before I go I will contact the Kiwis and see if there's anything else I will need.

I'm sure it's much more common than I originally thought.