is present. 72.19 Responsibility if trustee for personal estate is present. 72.20 Responsibility if "partner in trade" is present. 72.21 Responsibility if will intended to operate locally exists. 72.22 Responsibility if will intended to operate in the United States exists. 72.23 Responsibility in case of Department of Defense personnel. 72.24 Responsibility in case of Coast Guard personnel. 72.25 Responsibility in case of citizens dying on the high seas. 72.26 Responsibility in case of seamen. 72.27 Responsibility in case of Foreign Service personnel. 72.28 Effects to be taken into possession. 72.29 72.30 72.31 Nominal possessions; property not normally taken into possession. Bank deposits in foreign countries. Action when immediate possession is impracticable. 72.32 Action when property is in other consular districts. Consular action on unproved claim to estate. Consular action on unclaimed estates. Disposition of estate upon departure of responsible officer. Final statement of account. Preparation and disposition of final statement of account. Fee services. No-fee services. Estates of Government personnel exempt from fee assessments. 72.55 Estates of citizens dying on the high seas exempt from fee assessments. AUTHORITY: The provisions of this Part 72 issued under R.S. 1709, as amended, sec. 302, 60 Stat. 1001; 22 U.S.C. 1175, 842. SOURCE: The provisions of this Part 72 appear at 22 F.R. 10841, Dec. 27, 1957, unless otherwise noted. REPORTING DEATHS OF UNITED STATES § 72.1 Consular responsibility. (a) A consular officer (or in his absence a diplomatic officer) is responsible for reporting to the Department, to the legal representative, and to the closest known relative the deaths of all United States citizens occurring in his consular district except as otherwise provided in § 72.2. In order that he may be informed of such deaths, the consular officer should enlist the cooperation and assistance of the local authorities and the members of the American community. (b) A consular agent is not authorized to report the deaths of United States citizens to the Department, to the legal representative and to the closest known relative. The consular agent should, however, immediately report the circum stances of the death to his principal consular officer, who then has the responsibility for reporting in the manner prescribed in this section through § 72.8. § 72.2 Exceptions to consular responsibility. (a) Department of Defense personnel. The Department of Defense is required to report officially the deaths of its military and civilian personnel. However, if no representative of the Department of Defense is present in the consular district where the death occurs, the consular officer should inform the Mission in the country to which he is assigned regarding the circumstances, for action by the appropriate attache. In colonial or trustee areas, or in countries in which no Defense Department attaches are assigned, the consular officer should telegraph the particulars of the death to the Department of State, indicating the maximum length of time before local burial is mandatory, for action by the Department of Defense. All inquiries concerning the death of any person falling within this category should be referred to the Department of Defense, Washington, D.C., 20301. Instructions in this paragraph do not apply to reporting the deaths of dependents of Department of Defense personnel, or to reporting the deaths of contractor personnel, i. e., United States civilians employed in foreign countries by commercial concerns operating under contract with the Department of Defense, or their dependents. The deaths of such persons should be reported in the manner prescribed in § 72.4. (b) Coast Guard personnel. The United States Coast Guard is required to report officially the deaths of its military and civilian personnel. If death occurs in any country in Europe or the British Isles in which a Coast Guard detail is not assigned, the consular officer should inform the Senior Coast Guard Merchant Marine Detail Officer (Europe), London, England, by telegraph. If the death occurs outside Europe or the British Isles, the consular officer should telegraph the particulars of the death to the Department of State, indicating the maximum length of time before local burial is mandatory, for action by the Coast Guard. All inquiries concerning the death of Coast Guard personnel should be referred to the Commandant, United States Coast Guard, Washington, § 72.3 Telegraphic notifications of death. (a) Use of telegraph. When instructions must be obtanied from the next of kin or other interested person in the United States as to disposition of the remains, notification of death should be sent by telegraph to the Department for forwarding. If available to the consular officer, the name and address of the next of kin or legal representative (§ 72.18) should be included in the message. Consular officers at posts in Canada and Mexico whose consular districts are contiguous to the United States may, in their discretion, communicate directly by telegraph with next of kin or legal representative, requesting instructions for disposition of the remains. (b) Content of notification. All such notifications should state the minimum cost of (1) Local burial; (2) Cremation (if applicable); (3) Embalming, preparing and shipping the remains; and (4) The maximum period of time before local burial is mandatory. (c) Payment of charges. The cost of these initial notifications of death by telegraph is a proper charge against official funds. Subsequent telegrams relating to matters for personal decision are normally at the expense of interested parties. [22 F.R. 10841, Dec. 27, 1957, as amended by Dept. Reg. 108.517, 30 F.R. 4412, Apr. 6, 1965] § 72.4 Normal reporting procedure. (a) Purpose and use of Form FS-192. Form FS-192, "Report of the Death of an American Citizen", is an administrative report established for the purpose of providing essential facts concerning the death of a United States citizen, and should be used to report the death officially to the Department, to the legal representative, and to the closest known relative of the deceased. Notification of death by telegraph does not eliminate the necessity for reporting the death on Form FS-192. (b) Information required on Form FS-192. All information called for under the various headings of Form FS-192 should be supplied in as much detail as possible. When prolonged delay is experienced in procuring full data, the consular officer should prepare and distribute a preliminary report of death on Form FS-192, marking the report "Preliminary." This should be followed by a final and complete report as soon as full data are available. Expanded comments necessary to cover special circumstances concerning the death, should appear under the heading "Remarks." When applicable, statements concerning the following subjects should also appear under the heading "Remarks": (1) Disposition made of the passport and certificate of naturalization (see § 72.8); (2) If the deceased is known to have been the recipient of continuing payments other than salary from the Federal Government (e. g., retirement, social security, disability compensation, or veterans insurance or benefits), indication of the nature of the payments received; (3) If the deceased is a Selective Service registrant of inductible age, his Selective Service registration number and the number and address of his Local Board, when known. (c) Signing and sealing of Form FS192. All copies of the Form FS-192 should be signed by the consular officer with his name and official title typed below, and the consular impression seal should be impressed on each copy. (d) Transmission of Form FS-192 to the Department. The original of Form FS-192 shall be sent to the Department, plus one additional copy for each agency concerned, if the deceased was: (1) A recipient of continuing payments other than salary from the Federal Government; or (2) An officer or employee of the Federal Government (other than Department of Defense or Coast Guard); or (3) A Selective Service registrant of inductible age. (e) Transmission of form to legal representative and next of kin. A copy of Form FS-192 should be sent to the legal representative. A copy should also be sent to the closest known relative of the deceased (or relatives, if there are two or more persons having equal interests). No fee is prescribed for sending one copy each of completed Form FS-192 to the legal representative and to the closest known relative or relatives. (f) Transmission of form to other consular districts. In the event that a part of the personal estate of the decedent is known to be in a consular district other than that in which the death occurs (see § 72.32), a copy of Form FS-192 should be sent to the consular officer in the other district. (g) Supplying copies of form. Copies of Form FS-192 shall be supplied by the Department of State or by the Foreign Service post upon request to any person having valid need therefor. Charges are as prescribed in the Schedule of Fees (§ 21.1 of this chapter) or in the Tariff of Fees, Foreign Service of the United States of America (§ 22.1 of this chapter). § 72.5 Reports of presumptive deaths. (a) Provisional report. Upon the receipt of evidence that a United States citizen is missing and is presumed to be dead, a report should be submitted to the Department on Form FS-192, with the title amended to read "Report of the Presumptive Death of an American Citizen". A statement should be inserted in the form under the heading "Cause of Death" such as the following: "Reported missing, believed to be dead", giving the source of the information upon which the presumption is based. A statement should also be included under the heading "Remarks" showing the requirements of local law for the establishment of legal presumption of the death of missing persons; i. e., whether under local law the legal presumption of death automatically arises at the expiration of a stipulated lapse of time, or whether formal action is necessary to obtain legal confirmation of the death of missing persons. (b) Final report. In the event that the fact of death is established, a final complete report shall be submitted to the Department on Form FS-192 marked "Final Report", in which reference shall be made, under the heading "Remarks", to the provisional report. If feasible, a "Final Report" should be submitted at such time as legal presumption of death arises in accordance with local law. § 72.6 Reports of deaths on the high seas. (a) On vessels of United States registry. When a United States citizen (not a seaman) dies on board a vessel of the United States making a voyage from a port in the United States to any foreign port, the master of the vessel is required to enter the circumstances of the death in the official log book (46 U. S. C. 201). Customarily, these circumstances are reported to the consular officer at the first port of call. On the basis of the log entry, the consular officer should report the death on Form FS-192 in the manner prescribed for other United States citizens (see § 72.4). A copy of the text of the log entry, certified by the master, should be retained with the office copy of Form FS-192. (b) On vessels of foreign registry. When a United States citizen dies on a vessel of foreign registry, all information obtained from the master of the vessel for purposes of reporting the death on Form FS-192, should be supported by a certified copy of the text of the log entry, if obtainable. § 72.7 Reports on deceased persons be lieved to be United States citizens. (a) Verification of citizenship. As Form FS-192 may be accepted in courts of law, or considered elsewhere, as evidence of United States citizenship at the time of death, the consular officer should consult the regulations describing the evidence of citizenship which is acceptable for passport and registration purposes and should exercise due care in determining the citizenship status of the deceased. In doubtful cases he should transmit the Form FS-192 to the Department under cover of a despatch stating that the citizenship of the deceased has not been verified. The Department will then determine whether Form FS-192 may be released to the legal representative, next of kin, or other in. terested person, and will inform the consular officer of whatever action is taken. (b) Presumptions as to citizenship status. When the deceased was not currently documented at a Foreign Service office as a United States citizen, it must be assumed that, if the deceased was (1) A native citizen, he had retained United States citizenship at the time of death, in the absence of evidence of an affirmative act of expatriation under paragraph 1, section 2 of the act of March 2, 1907, section 401 of the Nationality Act of 1940, or sections 340 or 350 of the Immigration and Nationality Act; (2) A naturalized citizen, he had retained United States citizenship at the time of death, in the absence of evidence that he had lost nationality of the United States by having a continuous residence for three years in the territory of a foreign state as provided in section 352 (a) (1) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, or by having a continuous residence for five years in any other foreign state or states as provided in section 352 (a) (2) of the same act, unless there is evidence that his case comes within one of the exceptions established under sections 353 or 354 of the act. Nationality may also have been lost under similar provisions contained in section 404 of the Nationality Act of 1940. The term residence as used herein means the place of general abode, and residence shall be considered continuous for the purpose of sections 350 and 352 (a) (1) and (2) of the act where there is a continuity of stay but not necessarily an uninterrupted physical presence in a foreign state or states or outside the United States. § 72.8 Disposition of nationality docu ments. (a) Passport. The passport of a deceased United States citizen should be cancelled by the consular officer and either returnd to the Department or delivered to the person having a legitimate interest therein. Only a person who is included in the passport may be considered to have a legitimate interest in it. The date and place of death should be noted on the passport, and an appropriate notation made on Form FS192 (see § 72.4 (b) (1)). (b) Certificate of naturalization. The certificate of naturalization of a deceased United States citizen should be taken up by the consular officer and forwarded to the Department for transmission to the Department of Justice; or, if the certificate is claimed by any person who may have a legitimate interest therein, it should be endorsed by the consular officer to show the date and place of death of the person to whom it was originally issued, and should then be delivered to the person entitled thereto, with appropriate notation made on Form FS192 (see § 72.4 (b) (1)). should exert all reasonable effort to carry out the expressed wishes of the deceased or next of kin as to local burial, cremation, or shipment of the remains, taking care that the legal requirements of the country are met. However, the consular officer is neither authorized nor expected to assume any financial responsibility for, or to incur any expense in connection with, the disposition of the remains of deceased persons unless specifically instructed to do so by the Department. When the next of kin or other interested person cannot be reached within the period provided by local law for the interment or preservation of dead bodies and sufficient funds can be realized from the personal estate of the deceased in the consular officer's possession, he should arrange for disposal of the remains locally and draw funds from the estate to cover the costs (see § 72.39; also § 72.30 as regards withdrawals from bank accounts). If there are not sufficient funds in the estate to cover the costs, and funds are unobtainable from relatives or other interested persons, there may be no alternative but to accept disposal of the remains by the local authorities in accordance with local law or regulations. (See also § 72.13 for remains requiring special handling.) (b) A consular agent may, upon instructions from his principal consular officer, arrange for the disposition of remains of deceased United States citizens. His principal consular officer has, in accordance with this section to § 72.14, the responsibility for reporting to relatives and for complying with the laws of the country in which the death occurred as well as the requirements of the United States. § 72.10 Local burial. (a) Arrangements for funerals. When the responsibility for local burial falls on the consular officer (see § 72.9), he should endeavor to carry out the expressed instructions of the deceased or, in the absence of such instructions, the wishes of the next of kin. Funeral services should be conducted in accordance with the rites of the religious faith of the deceased, if known. In each instance the consular officer should notify known friends of the deceased and other interested persons in the consular district (such as any American community organizations) of the date and place of the funeral. When practicable, the services should be attended by a member of the consular staff. (b) Report to relatives. The next of kin, or other person whose wishes have been considered in making the arrangements for local burial, should be informed by letter of any funeral service that is held. (c) Erection of markers. If the consular officer is requested to make arrangements for the erection of markers on graves, he may assist to the extent of ascertaining any feasible procedure for making local arrangements and effecting direct remittance for this purpose, and informing the interested party accordingly. (d) Upkeep of graves. The maintenance and repair of graves of persons whose remains are interred abroad, including officers and employees of the Foreign Service, is not a proper charge against official funds unless specifically authorized. If the consular officer is requested to make arrangements for the upkeep of graves, he may assist to the extent indicated in paragraph (c) of this section with respect to the erection of markers. Disposition (b) Disposition of ashes. of the ashes should be made in accordance with the expressed wishes of the deceased or the next of kin, or other interested person. If shipment to the United States is desired, only local health requirements must be met, as there are no sanitary requirements for entry of ashes into the United States. A marking should be made on, or a marker firmly affixed to, the container in which the ashes are shipped. The latter should be accompanied by (1) An official death certificate; (3) Certificate from the crematorium stating that the container holds only the cremated remains of the deceased; and (4) A permit to export (if required locally). |