Death notice and practical matters after a death

Which information travels automatically

A doctor confirms the death. Based on the doctor's notification, the death is recorded in the population register, and from there the information passes to Kela, the banks and the pension providers. You do not need to notify them separately. The information does not reach everyone, though. Insurance companies do not receive it automatically, and neither do the employer, the housing company, the landlord, the post or service providers. Relatives notify these themselves. You can print the lists below and tick items off as they are done. Not everything is urgent: funeral arrangements and the bank come first; subscriptions and accounts can wait.

• Population register: from the doctor's notification, automatically
• Kela: informed from the population register
• Banks: informed from the population register
• Pension providers: informed from the population register
• Insurance companies: relatives notify them
• Employer, housing company, landlord, post and subscriptions: relatives notify them

The bank

Once the bank learns of the death, the deceased's online banking codes and cards stop working. Using them after the death is unlawful, even if the codes are in your possession. The accounts are managed in the estate's name. The bank first asks for an extract from the population register (virkatodistus) and later for the estate inventory deed. The bank usually pays the funeral invoice from the deceased's account against the invoice, so Tyyni's invoice can be taken to the bank as it is. Ask at the same time for balance certificates as of the date of death; they are needed for the estate inventory, and the bank issues them once it has been told of the death.

• Tell the bank about the death if the information has not yet arrived
• Stop using the deceased's cards and codes
• Deliver the population register extract to the bank
• Ask for balance certificates as of the date of death
• Take the funeral invoice to the bank to be paid from the deceased's account
• Review the e-invoices and direct payments that continue from the account

Insurance and pensions

Insurance companies are not told of the death automatically. Life insurance, a funeral benefit or another death benefit is paid only after relatives notify the company. Go through the deceased's policy documents and any insurance taken out through the employer or a trade union. Pension providers receive the information from the population register and need no separate notification. Insurance payouts are recorded in the estate inventory, so keep the companies' decisions. If you are unsure whether the deceased had life insurance, ask the companies where the deceased held other policies.

• Life insurance: notify the company and ask for a claim form
• Funeral benefit or death benefit: check the terms
• Home and vehicle insurance: agree with the company on what happens next
• Pension providers: informed automatically
• Keep the insurance decisions for the estate inventory

Post, housing and the employer

The deceased's post can be redirected to the person handling the estate's affairs. It is worth doing soon, so that invoices and letters from authorities do not go unread. Relatives inform the housing company's manager or the landlord. Ending a rental lease and clearing the flat are agreed with the landlord. The employer is told both of the death and of your own absence. The law sets no fixed number of days off for the death of a close relative. Most collective agreements give paid leave for the day of the funeral; any further leave is agreed with your manager.

• Redirect the post to the person handling the estate
• Notify the housing manager or the landlord
• Agree on ending the rental lease
• Notify the deceased's employer
• Your own absence: the funeral day off under the collective agreement

Subscriptions, phone and digital accounts

Newspaper subscriptions, the phone contract, memberships, streaming services and e-invoices continue until they are cancelled. Go through them on the bank statement: recurring charges reveal subscriptions you did not know about. Social media accounts are closed or turned into memorial accounts under each platform's own rules. It is better not to close the phone contract first of all, because calls may come to the deceased's phone that relatives would otherwise never hear about. There is no deadline for these matters; they can be handled after the funeral.

• Newspaper and magazine subscriptions
• Phone and internet contracts
• Memberships and associations
• Streaming and app subscriptions
• E-invoices and direct payments at the bank
• Email and social media accounts under each platform's rules

A death notice in the newspaper

A death notice in the newspaper is optional. It is not included in the direct cremation price, and many families leave it out or tell close friends directly. If you want a notice, the newspaper states the price, the size and the deadline; prices vary by paper and size. The notice is short. It gives the deceased's name, dates of birth and death, the home town, the line of mourners and how the farewell has been arranged. With a direct cremation a common wording is, for example: Farewell taken among the closest family. You can add an invitation to the memorial gathering or note that it will be held later within the family. Instead of flowers you may ask for a donation. A thank-you notice can be published later.

• The deceased's name and dates of birth and death
• Home town
• The line of mourners: spouse, children, other close relatives
• The form of farewell: for example, farewell taken among the closest family
• Memorial gathering: an invitation or a note about a later gathering
• An instead-of-flowers wish, if there is one

Register extracts and receipts

A virkatodistus is an extract from the population register or the church records, and it shows the death and the family relationship. The bank asks for it first; later the bank needs the estate inventory deed. The estate inventory must be held within three months of the death, and it requires an unbroken family history of the deceased from the age of 15. For periods of membership in the Evangelical Lutheran Church the extract is ordered from the regional central register (75 euros), for other periods from the Digital and Population Data Services Agency (40 euros from the electronic register, 80 euros from digitised material; processing takes between 5 and 6 weeks). Keep every receipt and invoice: funeral costs, parish fees, flowers, the memorial gathering and the family history fees are deducted in the estate inventory. Receipts are kept for six years. Only a copy of the deed goes to the Tax Administration; the original stays with the estate and is needed at the bank.

What Tyyni handles and the next step

Tyyni handles everything connected to the cremation: collection, the cremation coffin, dressing, the burial permit and other documents, the crematorium booking and the urn. Direct cremation costs 950 euros, and the invoice arrives after the cremation with 14 days to pay. It can be paid in the family space by online bank or card, or by bank transfer, and the bank usually pays it from the deceased's account. You can leave the estate inventory to us: 590 euros with a funeral, 690 euros on its own; see the guide Estate inventory in brief. The bank, insurance, post and subscriptions remain for relatives to handle, but this list is enough to work through them. Call us or start online; nothing is binding until we confirm the arrangements by phone.

Frequently asked questions