When a relative dies in Italy and an investigation opens
Where a death in Italy is unexplained, or follows an accident, medical treatment or an act of violence, the prosecutor opens a file and orders an examination of the body. Families are rarely told the things that matter most: the post-mortem is a technical examination in which they are entitled to appoint an expert of their own, and the body is released only once the examination has been carried out.
For relatives arriving from abroad this collides with everything they came to arrange, because the timetable belongs to the investigation and not to the funeral. The family is not merely waiting, however. The steps that can only be taken in those days are precisely the ones that shape what the file will later contain.
Avv. Massimo Romano — Ordine degli Avvocati di Napoli n. 14553, patrocinante in Cassazione dal 23/10/2015 — Roma, Via Avicenna 97, 00146 · Milano, Via Giuseppe Pecchio 3, 20129 · Napoli, Corso Umberto I 237, 80138 — +39 335 669 3954
In brief
- The prosecutor takes charge of the body, and until authorisation is given it cannot be released, which means repatriation and funeral arrangements wait on the investigation.
- A doctor may be instructed simply to establish the cause of death, while a full post-mortem is ordered where the death may be attributable to somebody's conduct.
- Because a post-mortem cannot be repeated, the people concerned must be given notice of it and may appoint their own expert to attend.
- An expert present in the room can ask for samples to be taken, have particular questions addressed and record disagreement as it arises, which an expert instructed later cannot do.
- The notice goes to the lawyer, so appointing a lawyer at once is what makes the right to attend usable rather than theoretical.
- The family can ask to be informed of any application to close the file, but that has to be requested expressly rather than assumed.
- Where closure is sought, an objection can be lodged within the period allowed, and it has to specify the further investigation the family wants carried out.
- Relatives can claim damages within the criminal proceeding as a civil party, on a deadline that is early and cannot be extended.
- Copies of the documents in the file can be obtained through the lawyer, which is how a family learns what the investigation has actually established.
- Repatriation is an administrative process that runs after release of the body, and it depends on documents issued by Italian authorities and on the requirements of the receiving country.
What happens in the first days
The prosecutor takes charge. A doctor may be instructed to establish the cause of death, and where the death may be attributable to someone's conduct a full post-mortem is ordered. Until authorisation is given, the body cannot be released, and that authorisation depends on the investigation rather than on the family's arrangements.
For a family arriving from abroad this collides with everything they came to do: repatriation, a funeral, flights already booked. It is worth knowing at once that the timetable is not negotiable, but that the family is not merely waiting — there are things to be done in exactly those days.
The post-mortem is a technical examination
Where the examination cannot be repeated — and a post-mortem cannot — the persons concerned must be given notice and may appoint their own expert to attend. That is a right, and it is the single most important one in this whole situation.
Once the examination has taken place, it cannot be done again. An expert instructed a month later works from photographs and a report written by someone else. An expert present in the room can ask for samples to be taken, for particular questions to be addressed, and can record disagreement at the time.
- Ask immediately whether an examination has been ordered and when it is scheduled.
- Appoint a lawyer, who can appoint the expert: the notice goes to the lawyer.
- Ask that the examination address the specific questions the family has.
- Ask for samples to be preserved.
- Ask for a copy of the record and, when available, of the report.
What the family can do in the proceedings
| Right | Content | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Appoint a lawyer | From the outset, before any charge exists | Opens access to the file |
| Take part in unrepeatable examinations | With your own expert | Notice must be given |
| Ask to be informed | Of any application to close the file | Must be requested expressly |
| Object to closure | Twenty days, with specified further investigation | Technical document |
| Claim damages in the criminal case | As a civil party | Early, non-extendable deadline |
| Obtain copies | Of the documents in the file | Through the lawyer |
The request to be informed of any application to close the file is the one that costs families most when it is omitted. Without it, an investigation into a relative's death can be closed without anybody telling them there was an application at all.
The situations that arise
Road deaths. The reconstruction decides the case and the defence and the family both need their own expert. The framework is in road accidents in Italy.
Medical treatment. The clinical record is the case, and it should be obtained in full and early. Requests for a copy are frequently the first sign to the hospital that a file is coming.
Workplace accidents. The investigation looks at the organisation as well as the individual, and the company's own liability is a separate proceeding.
Violence. The family is an injured party from the beginning, with the participation rights above.
Families confuse the medical examination ordered to establish a cause of death with the technical examination that founds a prosecution, and the table separates them.
| Aspect | Examination to establish the cause of death | Full post-mortem in the proceeding |
|---|---|---|
| Why it is ordered | To record what the person died of | Because the death may be attributable to somebody's conduct |
| Whether it can be repeated | Of limited scope, and limited use later | It cannot be repeated once carried out |
| Rights of the family | Limited, and frequently not notified | Notice is required, and an expert may attend |
| What can be asked for | Little beyond the report itself | Samples, specific questions, disagreement recorded at the time |
| Effect on release of the body | Release follows relatively quickly | Release waits on completion and authorisation |
Repatriation
Release of the body and the consular formalities for repatriation are two different processes. The consulate can assist with documents and with contacting funeral operators; it has no power over the timing of the release, which depends on the prosecutor.
What shortens the wait, in practice, is not pressure but participation: a lawyer on record who knows when the examination is scheduled and can ask for the authorisation as soon as it is complete.
Frequently asked questions
Why can we not take the body home?
Where an investigation is open the body is released only when the examination ordered by the prosecutor is complete and authorisation is given. The consulate cannot change that timing.
Can we have our own expert at the post-mortem?
Yes. Where an examination cannot be repeated the persons concerned must be given notice and may appoint their own expert to attend. It cannot be done afterwards.
Will we be told what is happening?
Only if you ask. The request to be informed of any application to close the file must be made expressly, otherwise the file can be closed without notice to you.
Can we claim compensation?
Yes, by joining the criminal proceedings as a civil party, subject to an early and non-extendable deadline, or separately before the civil courts.
If this has just happened
If an examination has not yet taken place, the right to appoint an expert is still available, and it will not be later. First contact is free and covered by professional privilege, at any hour.
Who arrives here, and in what state
The people who read this page are almost never calm. A relative has died in Italy, perhaps while travelling or working, perhaps in a hospital, perhaps in an accident or a violent incident, and a police officer or a hospital administrator has said that a prosecutor is involved and that the body cannot be released yet. The family is usually in another country, sometimes on a plane to Italy while reading this on a phone. They do not know who is in charge, they do not know whom they are allowed to speak to, and they have been given forms in a language they cannot read.
Some arrive because the death looks to them unexplained and the explanation they were given does not fit what they knew of the person. A fall, an overdose, a hospital outcome that nobody expected, a drowning, a fire in a rented flat. They want to know whether they can ask for more checks than the authorities have ordered, and whether they have any role at all if nobody has been accused.
A further group is made up of people who may themselves be involved: a travelling companion, a driver, a host, a doctor, an employer. They were present or responsible, and they are now afraid that the investigation will turn toward them. Their position is different, since they may be treated as a witness today and as a suspect later, and they should read the sections below with that in mind and take advice before giving any account to the police or the prosecutor.
The family holds rights inside the proceeding that exist only if they are exercised, and the table sets out what each gives and what it requires.
| Right | What it gives | What it requires |
|---|---|---|
| Appointing a lawyer | Access to the file and standing in the proceeding | Can be done before any charge exists |
| Attending the unrepeatable examination | An expert of your own in the room | Notice, which reaches the lawyer rather than the family |
| Asking to be informed of an application to close | Warning before the file is shut | An express request, lodged in advance |
| Objecting to closure | A chance to have further investigation ordered | A short period, and specified investigative requests |
| Claiming damages as a civil party | Participation with a claim inside the criminal case | An early deadline that cannot be extended |
| Obtaining copies of documents | Knowledge of what the investigation has gathered | A request made through the lawyer |
The decisions of the opening hours and days
The family faces a small number of real choices very quickly. Each carries a cost, and none can be postponed until arrangements have settled.
Whether to appoint an expert for the post-mortem. The examination is a technical procedure in which the family may be represented by their own medical expert. Appointing an expert means finding a forensic pathologist immediately, accepting a fee, and making sure the person is notified in time to attend. The price of not appointing is that the examination goes ahead with experts chosen by the authorities only, and what it records cannot be repeated later. After burial or cremation, a repeat examination is not possible.
Whether to take part in the proceedings as an injured party. A relative may be recognised as someone with rights in the case, including being informed of key steps and putting questions through a lawyer. The price is time and the cost of a lawyer; the benefit is access to what is happening. Not taking part leaves the family dependent on news that the authorities decide to share.
Whether to repatriate the body at the earliest possible moment or to wait. The wish to bring the person home is overwhelming, but release depends on the investigation, not on the family's arrangements. Pressing for release before the family's own expert has had a chance to act can close off questions that later turn out to matter. Postponement is painful, and it is sometimes the only way to keep the evidence available.
What to gather while the file is still being built
- The identity documents of the person who died, and proof of kinship for each relative who will act: marriage and birth certificates, with certified translations if they are not in Italian.
- Every paper given by the hospital, police or prosecutor, photographed in full. Note the name of the person who handed it over, the date and the office.
- Medical history of the person, including recent treatment abroad, medicines and known conditions. An expert needs it to interpret what the examination finds.
- Travel details: tickets, hotel or rental bookings, the route taken. These help to reconstruct the last days.
- Phone and messages: do not delete anything from the person's phone or accounts. If the family holds the phone, do not unlock or alter it; ask the lawyer how to preserve it.
- Photographs and videos of the scene, of the person in recent days, and of any injuries seen by the family. Keep originals with their metadata.
- Names of witnesses the family has met: staff, companions, neighbours. Record only names and contact details; do not interview them.
- Insurance policies for life, travel and accident, with the policy numbers and the insurer's emergency contact.
- A signed authority from the nearest relatives for a named person to act, so that offices deal with a sole contact.
What a death in an investigation does to practical life
Grief arrives together with a long list of tasks that cannot be avoided. Employers need to be told. Children need to be looked after, and sometimes taken out of school at short notice. Flights have to be booked at a moment when nobody can think clearly, and for a family from another continent the cost and the visas can be a serious obstacle in themselves. A person who has no right to enter Italy without a visa needs help to obtain a visa immediately, and the consulate of the home country may be able to explain how.
The investigation adds a layer. The family cannot hold the funeral at the time they would like, because release depends on the authorities. Funeral directors in Italy may not know how to handle foreign repatriation, and the paperwork for moving a body across a border involves several offices. Life insurance and travel insurance claims depend on documents that will not exist until the file reaches a certain point, so the family should keep every receipt and ask the insurer in writing which documents it will require.
For a relative who lived with the person who died, the practical issues multiply: a tenancy, a bank account, a car, a pension. If the dead person was the main earner, the household is in difficulty within weeks. And if the family stays in Italy while waiting, accommodation and food become a cost that nobody planned. It helps to write down on a sheet of paper every immediate obligation and decide who in the family handles each, so that the investigation does not absorb every available hour.
Questions to put to the lawyer on a death under investigation
- Which type of procedure has the prosecutor opened, and is anybody under investigation at this stage?
- Has the post-mortem been ordered, when will it be carried out, and can our expert attend it?
- Who has the right to appoint an expert and to be notified, and what happens if the notice does not reach us in time?
- May we examine the file now, or only at certain stages, and what can the lawyer ask for before then?
- When can the body be released, and does the authorisation come as a general release or in stages?
- How do we coordinate repatriation with the consulate and with a funeral director who knows how to move a body abroad?
- What is our role in the criminal case, and does taking part affect a separate claim for compensation?
- If a hospital or a company may be responsible, how does that change the evidence we need to preserve?
- Should we say anything to the press, and how can we protect the family's privacy?
- If the person was working when the death occurred, which employer, insurer or public body must be notified, and who writes to them?
- Can we ask for copies of the examination report and the photographs, and when would they normally be released to us?
These questions have different answers depending on the cause of death and on the facts. A lawyer should be able to explain which of them matter in this case and why.
Several authorities each hold a piece of what a family needs, and the table sets out who issues what and what it is used for.
| Document | Who issues it | What it is used for |
|---|---|---|
| Authorisation to release the body | The prosecutor directing the investigation | Nothing concerning the funeral can proceed without it |
| Death certificate and registry extract | The municipality where the death was registered | Required by banks, insurers and foreign authorities |
| Record of the post-mortem and the expert's report | The prosecutor's file, through the lawyer | Shows what was examined and what was concluded |
| Hospital notes and treatment records | The hospital or the treating service | Central where the death followed medical treatment |
| Police or inspection report on the circumstances | The authority that attended the scene | Fixes what was observed before anything was moved |
| Repatriation papers and consular documents | Italian authorities and the consulate of the home country | Allows the body to be transported and received abroad |
What not to do in the days after the death
- Do not arrange a cremation or burial before the authorities have released the body. It cannot be undone and it forecloses any further examination.
- Do not clean or tidy the place where the person died if you have access to it. Evidence is lost in the process.
- Do not post accusations on social media. They may harm the case, expose the family to claims and encourage people to stop cooperating.
- Do not discuss the details in family or community groups. Messages travel further than intended and can be read out of context.
- Do not sign papers about the cause of death or about waiving rights without reading them with a lawyer and a translator.
- Do not speak for the family to the press. Choose a spokesperson for contact and keep statements to facts.
- Do not accept money or promises from a hospital, company or insurer before a lawyer has read the terms. A payment can come with a condition that closes the question.
- Do not delete messages or accounts of the person who died. They may become evidence of what happened.
- Do not confront the people who were with the person at the time. A confrontation can make witnesses defensive, can be recorded, and can later be described as pressure.
- Do not hand the person's phone, laptop or papers to anyone who asks informally. Give them only to the authorities against a written receipt, after the lawyer has advised on copies.
- Do not take medicines, samples or personal items from the hospital room without a written record. Their absence can be misread later.
When the family and the death are in different countries
Distance changes almost every step. A family abroad cannot attend the examination without a visa and a flight, and the notice of the date may reach them after it has already happened. Naming a person on the spot, a lawyer or a trusted representative, to receive notices and to attend on the family's behalf is often the only way to be present. That person needs a written mandate, and the mandate may have to be signed in front of a notary and certified for use in Italy, which takes time. Ask the lawyer in the opening call which form is accepted, and whether an electronic copy will do for the early steps.
Documents that prove kinship or authority must usually be translated and certified. Delays here are common, and the lawyer can ask the authorities to accept provisional copies while the certified versions travel. Calls to Italian offices are best made in their working hours, and the family should expect to be called back, not to be put through immediately. Time zones mean that the mornings of the family are often the evenings in Italy; agree a slot with the lawyer for the daily update.
The consulate or embassy of the home country can help with the repatriation paperwork, with locating the right hospital office and with exceptional travel documents. It cannot take part in the investigation or give legal advice. A funeral director who regularly moves bodies abroad is worth finding early, since the requirements of the destination country must be met before the body leaves. Finally, if there are parallel inquiries in the home country, for instance by the police or a coroner, the Italian lawyer and a local lawyer should share the information, so that statements made in either country do not contradict those made in the other.
How the studio assists a family in the opening days
The initial contact is usually a call or a message from a relative who has just been told. We ask for the basics: where the death occurred, which office has been in touch, what paper has been handed over, and whether anyone has been identified as a suspect. We explain in plain terms what a post-mortem is, who may take part, and what decisions need to be made before it. If the family is travelling, we agree on how and when they will be reached.
The engagement is confirmed in writing, with an estimate of cost, and documents can be sent by email as photographs or scans from a phone. We do not require the family to come to an office before we begin. The studio works in English and Italian, and if a relative prefers another language, we say so early so that an interpreter can be arranged for the key conversations, in particular for those involving the post-mortem and the release of the body.
Offices in Rome, Milan and Naples allow a lawyer to attend the examination, the hospital and the prosecutor's office in whichever city the file sits. Where the family or the person who died was based abroad, we coordinate with a lawyer in that country for documents, parallel inquiries and the repatriation steps, while keeping the Italian file coordinated. We are reachable outside office hours when an examination is about to take place. The email address is avvmassimoromano@gmail.com, and other contacts are on this site.
Italian words that may appear in the papers you are given
- Autopsia: the post-mortem examination of the body. It is a technical procedure and the family may appoint their own expert to attend.
- Consulente tecnico: a technical expert, appointed by the prosecutor or by a party, who examines the body and writes a report.
- Nulla osta: the authorisation to release the body. Without it, burial, cremation or transfer abroad cannot proceed.
- Salma: the body of the deceased, the word used on release and transport forms.
- Persona offesa: the injured party, which in a death includes close relatives who have the right to be informed and to take part.
- Fascicolo: the case file held by the prosecutor, to which access is limited at the outset.
- Accertamento tecnico: a technical examination of the kind that cannot be repeated, which is why notice to the parties matters.
- Ignoti: unknown persons. A file opened against unknown persons means nobody has yet been identified as responsible.
- Rimpatrio della salma: the repatriation of the body, which needs the release authorisation and the paperwork of the destination country.
- Camera mortuaria: the mortuary of the hospital, where the body is kept until release and where the funeral director collects it.
- Certificato di morte: the death certificate, needed for insurers, banks and the registry office; ask for several certified copies.
About the lawyer
Criminal defence is the whole of this practice. Avv. Massimo Romano is enrolled with the Ordine degli Avvocati di Napoli and pleads before the Court of Cassation; the work that reaches him concerns Italian criminal procedure, extradition, European arrest warrants, and cases where an Italian citizen is held by a foreign authority. He takes instructions directly. The first contact is short and factual: what the charge is said to be, where the person is, what has already been signed or handed over. Nothing is promised at that stage, because the file has usually not been read. What follows the call is practical, a list of documents to collect, contact with the authority or with local counsel abroad, and a plan for the next hearing or request. Where relatives do not speak Italian, the conversation continues in their own language, and written updates are sent in that language as well, so nobody relies on second-hand translation.
Ring the office directly, or write on WhatsApp if calling is difficult. Keep beside you the summons or the record of the search, and the name of any lawyer already acting.
Avv. Massimo Romano — criminal defence lawyer, admitted to the Italian Court of Cassation
Iscritto all'Ordine degli Avvocati di Napoli n. 14553 | Patrocinante in Cassazione dal 23/10/2015
Roma, Via Avicenna 97, 00146 · Milano, Via Giuseppe Pecchio 3, 20129 · Napoli, Corso Umberto I 237, 80138
+39 335 669 3954 · WhatsApp