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For a person who has lost a loved one

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    When a loved one dies, people are left with much sorrow. In addition, the next of kin must take care of the deceased person’s practical matters after he or she has died. This page is meant for those who have lost a loved one. Here you can find advice and information to help you take care of practical matters.

    The death of a loved one is a big deal. It can cause a crisis and for example affect how you are able to function. You can get help with grief for example from

    Congregations and funeral parlours will help you with matters related to the funeral and burial.

    Saying goodbye

    You have the right to say goodbye to your loved one if you are next of kin. Next of kin are the deceased person’s closest living family members (blood relatives) and spouse. You can say goodbye when your loved one is still alive or after he or she has died.

    We warmly recommend that you say goodbye to your loved one before he or she dies, if it is in any way possible. You can say goodbye at the hospital or in the nursing home. You still have a chance to say goodbye after your loved one has died if you didn’t do it while he or she was still alive.

    You can say goodbye to your loved one as he or she is being moved into a coffin. You can talk to a member of staff at the Social and health centre or at the funeral parlour and agree on how to say goodbye.

    Important words and death-related documents

    There are many official documents related with death. Below we will tell you what the documents mean and what they are used for.

    A doctor will submit the information about the death of a person to the Digital and Population Data Services Agency. The information goes from the Digital and Population Data Services Agency to Kela and other authorities.

    A certificate of death proves that the cause of the death is clear, in other words the cause of death is known. The certificate of death is needed to have permission to bury the dead body. After the doctor has written the certificate of death the doctor will write a certificate of burial.

    The certificate of burial is a document written by a doctor when the cause of death is clear (this means the cause of death is known). The doctor gives a certificate of burial to the funeral parlour when they collect the dead body from the hospital. You will get a copy of the deceased’s certificate of burial. You can use it, for example, when you visit Kela, a bank or the tax office.

    An Official certificate contains personal information of the deceased person. The data is from the Digital and Population Data Services Agency. The Official certificate has information of the deceased person’s

    Storage fee for deceased persons

    The Eastern Uusimaa Wellbeing Services County will charge a fee for the storage of deceased persons as of 1 January 2026. The storage of deceased persons will remain free of charge for the first 21 days. Thereafter, a fee of EUR 10 per day will be charged. The fee will primarily be charged to the estate of the deceased. According to the Burial Act, burial and cremation must be arranged without undue delay.

    From the perspective of the adequacy of facilities for deceased persons, long public holidays and holiday periods are particularly challenging, and storage periods have increased in recent years.

    Instructions

    The Service housing unit will report the death of a patient to his or her doctor. The doctor will arrive and determine the death of the patient. He also makes a report of the death. The doctor also writes a certificate of death and a certificate of burial.

    The Service housing unit also notifies the death of the patient to his or her loved ones. You can agree with the staff at the Service housing unit on how and when you want to say goodbye to your loved one. You can for example say goodbye when he or she is being moved into a coffin. If you want to say goodbye when the deceased is being moved into a coffin you need to agree about this with the funeral parlour.

    When a person dies, the doctor officially declares the death. He writes down the date and time of death, if these are known. The doctor also writes a certificate of death and a certificate of burial if the cause, in other words the reason of death is known.

    An autopsy is performed if the cause of death is not known. In the autopsy a pathologist, in other words a specialist medical doctor, examines the body on the inside and outside to find out why the person died.

    You can have the funeral as soon as the doctor gives the certificate of burial. This means that you can start organising the funeral as soon as your loved one has died. You can arrange the funeral yourself or agree on what to do with a funeral parlour.

    Please try to remember at least these things when organising a funeral:

    • Reserve a place for a funeral service.
    • Agree about the funeral service with the parish, in other words the local church.
    • Reserve a burial place.

    JoIf the deceased had money problems, you can get help with the funeral and burial costs if you apply for supplementary social assistance. You can apply for this kind of monetary help in the Wellbeing services county where the deceased lived.

    You can get monetary help (called supplementary social assistance) for necessary costs of the funeral and burial. Necessary costs are for example:

    • coffin
    • flower arrangement on top of the coffin
    • clothes that the deceased will wear when being buried
    • pallbearers, in other words people who will carry the coffin, if the deceased does not have relatives of his or her own
    • transportation of the coffin within the area
    • burial place, digging and covering the grave.
    •  

    The Wellbeing services county does not give monetary help for example for

    • the gravestone
    • the maintenance of the grave
    • a columbarium, in other words the place where the urn is buried
    • the cost of the memorial service
    • publishing a death notice in a newspaper
    • costs of making the inventory of the estate. This means to make a list of the deceased person’s assets and debts.

    We also do not give monetary help (supplementary social assistance) for paying the deceased’s bills.

    When we make the decision on monetary help (supplementary social assistance) we take into account for example:

    • The deceased’s financial situation and other possessions. We will receive this information from the deceased’s bank statement and tax decision.
    • The deceased’s pensions and tax refunds.
    • The widow’s financial situation, if the deceased was married. We do not consider the income or funds that the deceased’s cohabitant partner has.
    • The financial situation of the deceased’s parents, if the deceased was under 18 years of age.

    The Legal Aid Office can help you in winding up of an estate (this means to complete all legal and financial obligations of a deceased person) and in making an estate inventory (in other words to make a list of the deceased person’s assets and debts).

    Find out in advance how much the funeral or burial will cost. You can only pay bills from the estate’s assets (in other words from the money the deceased had) once we know the exact costs of the burial.

    Notify the following about your loved one’s death:

    • the deceased’s bank
    • the deceased’s insurance company
    • the deceased’s workplace
    • any associations and organizations the deceased belonged to
    • the post office

    Also remember to take care of the following:

    • Collect your loved one’s belongings from the hospital or care unit if they passed away there.
    • Check the deceased’s home. Empty the refrigerator and trash bins.
    • Cancel the deceased’s contracts, such as electricity, water, and rental agreements.
    • Cancel newspaper subscriptions.
    • Take care of the deceased’s pets, if any.
    • Cancel home care and meal services.
    • Close the deceased’s social media accounts.

    Information about your loved one’s death is automatically forwarded to:

    • the Digital and Population Data Services Agency
    • Kela (Social Insurance Institution of Finland)
    • the parish
    • the Tax Administration

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