My spouse passed away while on vacation abroad — what should I do?

What to do if you want to use the services of BONGO International Funeral Services?

• Call our 24-hour phone number +48 22 831 00 36 or send us an email at biuro@bongo.com.pl. You can also visit us at our offices located at ul. Solec 5 in Łódź or ul. Etiudy Rewolucyjnej 48 in Warsaw. We also have representatives in many cities across Poland—if you want to complete formalities at one of our representatives’ offices, please contact us at +48 22 831 00 36.
• We will ask you for the full name of the deceased, the location of their body, and your spouse’s height and weight. We will estimate the costs related to transporting the body and completing the formalities.
• If you accept the costs, we will ask you to fill out the necessary authorizations and applications, which will enable us to efficiently handle all formalities and repatriate your spouse’s body. In most cases, we will need scanned copies of the authorizations. However, due to certain authorities, we may require the original documents.
• If the death occurred, for example, in Germany, Austria, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, the Czech Republic, or Slovakia, we will also ask you to provide the spouse’s birth certificate and marriage certificate.
• Stay calm. From the moment you submit the authorizations, we will immediately undertake all necessary formal actions—we will contact the hospital or place where your spouse’s body is located, arrange appointments with all offices that can issue the necessary documents for transporting the body, prepare the death certificate, apply for all transport permits, obtain permission for the transport of the body or ashes from the city or county office in Poland, as well as from the Polish consulate in the country where your spouse died.
• It may happen that we ask for your direct involvement in obtaining documents—in some countries and under certain circumstances, we must meet the requirements of the country where your spouse passed away.
• Within 12 months of the funeral, apply for a funeral benefit from the Social Insurance Institution (Zakład Ubezpieczeń Społecznych).
• Remember to check whether your spouse had an account in the Open Pension Fund (Otwarty Fundusz Emerytalny). The funds accumulated there can be used to cover the costs of repatriation and the funeral.