Death of a close family member

When starting to manage the matters of the deceased person, the first thing you need is the report on the deceased person’s family relationships.

You can request the document

• from a parish if the deceased person was a member of an Evangelical Lutheran or an Orthodox parish all their life.
• from the Digital and Population Data Services Agency if the deceased person was registered in the population register or was a member of a registered religious community.

If the deceased person was a member of a parish and another register during their life, you must request the report on family relationships from both places.

If the close family member died outside Finland, you can get advice for the burial, cremation and transport arrangements from the local Finnish diplomatic mission. Notify the Digital and Population Data Services Agency of the death.Opens in a new window.

Check whether the deceased person had an insurance policy covering transport to Finland. If the deceased person did not have any such insurance policy, the estate or the family members are responsible for the costs.

If the deceased person was not a Finnish citizen, contact the diplomatic mission of the deceased person’s home country for advice on transport, burial and cremation arrangements. Also notify the authorities in the deceased person’s home country of the death.

Close family members can arrange the funeral themselves or contract a funeral home to provide the service or a specific part of it.

The wishes of the deceased person with regard to the burial, cremation and the treatment of the ashes should be respected,

A memorial gathering can be held after the funeral service or the farewell ceremony. You can arrange the gathering if you feel that it is appropriate but there are no specific rules for the event.

If one of the parents dies, the surviving parent remains the child’s guardian.

A substitute guardian is needed if the interests of the guardian and the child are in conflict with each other. The duties of the substitute guardian end after they have completed the tasks they were appointed for.

If the parent that was also the child’s only guardian dies, the social welfare authorities will determine whether the child needs a new guardian.

In connection with the distribution of inheritance, the child’s guardian manages the child’s property and submits the required notifications to the Digital and Population Data Services Agency.

The post receives notification of a person’s death directly from the Digital and Population Data Services Agency and you do not need to submit any separate notification.

However, if you know that the deceased person is expected to receive mail, you should redirect the mail to an address of a close family member. Submit the address change notification in the electronic address change notification service of the postOpens in a new window., by phone or on a form available at a service point.

The Finnish Tax AdministrationOpens in a new window. must also be notified of the new address of the estate. The notification must be done in writing and the address change must be approved by all estate shareholders.

If necessary, notify the following parties of the deceased person’s death:

• employer or education institution
• school or daycare provider
• manager of the housing company
• landlord
• telephone and data communication companies
• electricity company
• postal service (if you redirect the mail to the estate’s address)
• magazine and newspaper publishers
• associations in which the deceased person was a member
• social media services used by the deceased person
• other companies in which the deceased person was a customer.

For example the following parties are automatically notified of the death of a person but you can also contact them yourself:

• different authorities
• municipalities and wellbeing services counties
• banks
• insurance companies and employment pension institutions
• parishes.

When you need quick counselling in a crisis, you can turn to the social and crisis services of your own wellbeing services county. A number of localities also have crisis centresOpens in a new window..

Many people feel that peer support and professional assistance gives them strength in grief. Peer support is provided by a range of different associations and organisations. Support is provided in groups, by support persons, by phone and online.

The death of a close person shakes the sense of security of a child. Talk to the child about the death as truthfully as you can but take their age and level of development into account.

Professionals working for health and social services and other service providers help children and young people to cope with the loss.

Survivors’ pension consists of surviving spouse’s pension and orphan’s pension. They are paid by employment pension institutionsOpens in a new window. and KelaOpens in a new window..

You may be eligible for a surviving spouse’s pension if you and the deceased person were

• married
• lived in a registered partnership
• lived in cohabitation.

An orphan’s pension may be paid by an

• employment pension institution to persons aged under 20
• by Kela to persons aged under 18 and to students aged between 18 and 20.

If the deceased person had not accumulated any earnings-related pension, the survivors’ pension will only be paid by Kela.

Check your right to surviving spouse’s pension with an employment pension institution and Kela.

As a rule, the invoices sent to the deceased person are paid from their bank accounts. Before the estate inventory, you can pay from the deceased person’s account invoices for the funeral and the estate inventory and invoices sent to the deceased person. Keep the invoices or copies of them for the estate inventory.

The estate inventory must be carried out within three months of the deceased person’s death. The estate inventory must be carried out if the deceased person was living in Finland on a permanent basis at the time of their death.

The estate inventory is an occasion where the assets, debts, heirs and beneficiaries of the deceased person are determined. If necessary, you can use expert assistance, such as law firms and banks, in the estate inventory. An estate inventory deed is prepared in the estate inventory and this document must be submitted to the Finnish Tax Administration within one month of the estate inventory.

The amount of the inheritance tax that you must pay depends on the size of your inheritance. Wait for the inheritance tax decision sent by the Finnish Tax Administration and pay the inheritance tax in accordance with the instructions received from the Finnish Tax Administration.

In the division of property, the property falling within the scope of the marital rights is added up and divided equally between the spouses. The division is carried out to determine how much belongs to the widow(er) and how much belongs to the estate. The division of property must be carried out before the inheritance is distributed.

The deceased person’s property is transferred to the new owner on the basis of inheritance law or a will.

The inheritance can be distributed after the estate inventory has been carried out and the debts of the estate have been paid. It is not necessary to distribute the inheritance if none of the estate shareholders requests it.

Each of the direct heirs will receive an equal share of the estate’s assets unless otherwise specified in the will. The inheritance will be distributed on the basis of an agreement between the estate shareholders (deed of estate distribution).

The estate of the deceased person ceases to exist after the inheritance has been distributed among the heirs and the deed of estate distribution has been submitted to the Finnish Tax Administration.

The estate will still receive a pre-completed tax return for the year when the inheritance is distributed. After that the shareholders will report in their tax returns the income and assets they have received and the estate is no longer taxed.