Practical matters in the event of death

Banks receive notification of the death of a person automatically from the Population Information System. Banks will revoke the online banking codes of the deceased person. Banks will not close the accounts of the deceased person as they will become the accounts of the estate.

Insurance companies are automatically notified of the death of a person. All personal insurance policies taken out by the deceased person will terminate on the day of death.

The joint insurance policies taken out by the deceased person and their widow(er) or family (such as home insurance policies) will remain in effect. Changes to the insurance policies can be made with the agreement of all estate shareholders but the changes are usually not urgently required.

If the deceased person had a life insurance policy, contact the insurance company in question and ask how to claim compensation.

Employment pension institutions are automatically notified of the death of a person but you can also notify them yourself. Employment pension institutions will pay the pension until the end of the month in which the death occurred. If the pension had already been paid for a period following the month of death, the employment pension institution will claim the sum back through a bank.

Notify KelaOpens in a new window. of the death if the deceased person had received a pension or other benefits from Kela. Kela is automatically notified of the death of a person but it often receives the information more quickly if it is provided by the family members. This ensures that Kela will not pay any extra pensions or make other unnecessary payments. Kela will pay the pension until the end of the month in which the death occurred. If Kela had already paid the pension for a period after the month in question, it will claim the sums back.

If the deceased person lived in a rental dwelling, the estate will become responsible for paying the rent. The death does not automatically end the lease and the estate must terminate the rental agreement if the dwelling is no longer needed.

The family members of the deceased may terminate the rental agreement of the deceased person even if the agreement had been concluded for a fixed term. The termination requires the signatures of all estate shareholders or a power of attorney if a signature cannot be obtained.

If the close family member was using Suomi.fi Messages, the electronic mailbox will close automatically once the Digital and Population Data Services Agency has been notified of the death.

Suomi.fi Messages after a person’s death

Validity of the Suomi.fi e-Authorizations expires when a person dies. You cannot use Suomi.fi e-Authorizations to act on behalf of the estate of a deceased person. Using Suomi.fi e-Authorizations, you can act on behalf of an estate that has a business ID. 

Read more about acting on behalf of an estate.

If the deceased person was engaged in business activities and the estate has not yet been distributed, the estate shareholders must submit the required change and termination notifications to the Trade Register (in Finnish)Opens in a new window..

Check the invoices sent to the deceased person’s address. Invoices may also be sent to the deceased person’s online bank, by email or through other online services used by the deceased person. Ask the banks about the invoices that were regularly sent to the online banking services used by the deceased person. If you are unable to access invoices in the email or online banking services, you can contact the parties sending the invoices. The parties sending the invoices usually also send a paper invoice if the e-invoice has not been paid.

You can contact the banks for information about any invoices paid directly from the deceased person’s accounts and ask the banks to terminate all such payment arrangements.

The details of the invoices paid directly from the deceased person’s credit card are provided by the banks or stated on the credit card invoice. These may include different types of streaming services.

After the estate inventory, the estate shareholders may jointly use the deceased person’s bank accounts. Shareholders may also authorise one shareholder to use the bank accounts. You can get a template for the power of attorney from the banks.

You can close the unnecessary bank accounts of the deceased person after the estate inventory. The account to which tax refunds are paid should be kept open because the deceased person may receive tax refunds during the year following the year of death. Closing a bank account requires the consent of all estate shareholders.

If you and the deceased person had a joint bank account, the estate becomes the second account holder.

If each party may use the joint account independently (‘or’ account) you will keep your right to use the account. However, both you and the estate have the right to request that the assets in the account should be frozen until the estate inventory.

If only joint use of the joint account is permitted (‘and’ account), neither of the parties may use the account independently.

Social media service providers usually request documents proving that the close family member in question has died and that this person was related to you.

Many of the social media services are based in other countries and thus the documents listed in their instructions may differ from the documents you obtain in Finland.

The documents that you may need in different services include:

• one or more certificates from the Population Information System
• a copy of the death notice or an obituary
• a copy of your personal identity card.

Many official documents contain the personal identity code but the end part of the personal identity code is not required by social media service providers. Facebook, for example, advises you to cover the end part of the personal identity code before photographing or scanning the document.

You can request the Digital and Population Data Services Agency to supply a certificate from the Population Information System by phone, by email or by visiting a customer service point.

When requesting the certificate, explain that you need it to delete a deceased person’s social media accounts and that you need the following information:

• name of the deceased person
• date of birth of the deceased person
• date of death of the deceased person
• name of the person requesting the certificate
• date of birth of the person requesting the certificate
• relationship between the person requesting the certificate and the deceased.

If you are a child, parent or spouse of the deceased person, you can get a death certificate and a certificate of your family relationships on the same certificate. In other cases, more than one certificate may be required.

If necessary, you can request the certificate in English.

In some social media services, you can choose between deleting and memorialising a social media account. You can discuss these options with other family members.

A deleted user account is no longer visible in the social media service in any way. For example, all postings, comments and photos are removed.

A memorialised profile stays in the social media service but with a note stating that it is a memorial page.

Social media services usually request more documents for deleting a user account than for memorialising it. Usually only a close family member can request the deletion of a social media account but in some services, a friend can also request that the page should be memorialised.

A deceased person’s Facebook account can be deleted or memorialised.

Managing a deceased person’s Facebook account is easy if the deceased person had designated somebody as a legacy contactOpens in a new window.. The legacy contact is able to manage a memorialised Facebook account. The legacy contact may also ask Facebook to permanently delete the user account.

In addition to the legacy contact, deletion of the user account can also be requested by

• a close family member or
• the estate administrator.

Facebook requires a document proving that you are a close family member or the estate administrator. You also need a certificate of the death of the account holder.

Do as follows when you want to delete the Facebook account of a close family member:

1. Request the Digital and Population Data Services Agency to supply an certificate from the Population Information System. Read more about the required documents in the Facebook Help Centre.Opens in a new window.
2. After you have received the required documents, use a Facebook form to request the deletion of the user accountOpens in a new window..

If the deceased person had used their Facebook IDs for other services, access to them may be lost once the Facebook account has been deleted. These services include Instagram, Spotify, and Tinder.

Do as follows when you want to convert an account into a memorial page:

1. Get a photo of the death notice, death certificate, obituary or other document confirming the death of the deceased person. A certificate from the Population Information System can also be used.
2. After you have received the required documents, use a Facebook form to request that the account should be converted into a memorial pageOpens in a new window..

Read more about converting an account into a memorial page in the Facebook Help Centre.Opens in a new window.

If the Facebook settings specified by the user contain a wish that their account should be deleted after death, the account cannot be converted into a memorial page.

A deceased person’s Instagram account can be deleted or memorialised. Deleting the Instagram account can only be requested by close family members but a request for converting the account into a memorial page can also be made by other persons close to the deceased person.

Do as follows when you want to delete the Instagram account of a close family member:

1. Request the Digital and Population Data Services Agency to supply a certificate from the Population Information System.
2. Once you have obtained the required documents use an Instagram form to request the deletion of the close family member’s Instagram accountOpens in a new window..

Do as follows when you want to convert an account into a memorial page:

1. Get a proof of the deceased person’s death (picture of the death notice, death certificate, obituary or other document confirming the death of the deceased person).
2. Once you have obtained the required documents use an Instagram form to request that the account should be converted into a memorial pageOpens in a new window..

Visit the Instagram help centre to read more about deleting a deceased person’s account and converting the account into a memorial page (the information is in Finnish).Opens in a new window.

Close family members of the account holder can request the deletion of a X account.

Do as follows when you want to delete the X account of a close family member:

1. Request the deletion of the account on a X form.Opens in a new window. Once you have sent the form, X will contact you by email for further information.
2. Send the copies of the requested documents. These include your personal identity card and a certificate stating that the account holder has died (a certificate from the Population Information System).

On LinkedIn, a close family member can request that a deceased person’s account should be deleted or converted into a memorial page. The account can also be hidden and the hiding of the account can also be requested by persons other than close family members.

Do as follows when you want to delete a LinkedIn account of a close family member or convert it into a memorial page:

1. Request a document proving that you have the right to act on the close family member’s behalf (for example, a certificate from the Population Information System).
2. Complete the form to which you attach the above documentOpens in a new window..

Do as follows when you request the hiding of an account:

1. Use a LinkedIn form to request the hiding of the account.Opens in a new window.

Visit the LinkedIn help centre to read more about deleting the deceased person’s account.Opens in a new window.

Not all social media services have translated their instructions into Finnish or published instructions for deleting a deceased person’s user account. Snapchat and TikTok, which are particularly popular among young people, have not yet published any instructions for such situations. In practice, you need the username and password to delete user accounts in these services.

People do not usually disclose their passwords because they are only intended for personal use. However, if you know the deceased person’s username and password, you can use them to delete the account. In that case, follow the instructions for users of the service:

• Instructions for deleting a Facebook account – Facebook.comOpens in a new window.
• Instructions for deleting an X account – X.comOpens in a new window.
• Instructions for deleting an Instagram account – Facebook.comOpens in a new window.
• Instructions for deleting a Snapchat account – Snapchat.comOpens in a new window.
• Instructions for deleting a TikTok account – TikTok.comOpens in a new window.
• You can delete a LinkedIn account on its own page, which you can only access when you are logged in – LinkedIn.com.Opens in a new window.

Deleting the account on your mobile device is not possible in all services and in such cases, you must use a computer. Logging in with the ID of another person is usually against the terms and conditions of the services, and for this reason, the services do not even disclose the passwords to the close family members of the deceased person.