Carry out a funeral
Service description
In Germany, funerals are generally carried out by funeral parlours, commonly known as undertakers. You can choose between different types of funeral. Depending on the region, you can choose between
- Burial in the ground
- Cremation (forest burial, burial at sea, urn burial)
- Anonymous burial
A burial is possible at the earliest 48 hours after the death. Exceptions may be authorised by the responsible health authority for good cause. Bodies should be buried or cremated within 8 days of death. Urns should be buried within one month of cremation. With the exception of burial at sea, all burials are subject to statutory cemetery requirements.
The following are obliged to attend the funeral in this order
- Spouse or registered partner,
- Descendants (children, grandchildren),
- Ancestors (parents, grandparents),
- Siblings.
Are persons liable for burial (relatives)
- not available,
- cannot be determined,
- cannot be found.
or
- they do not fulfil their duty or do not fulfil it in time
and
- no one else arranges the funeral,
the local regulatory authority responsible for the place of death or discovery must organise the burial.
Who should I contact?
Please contact
- for carrying out the post-mortem examination and issuing a death certificate to a doctor,
- for the performance of a second post-mortem examination for cremation to the competent lower health authority (public health officer),
- for issuing the death certificate to the competent registry office,
- for the burial to the cemetery administration of the place where the burial is to take place,
- for the transfer to a funeral parlour from the place of death/cremation to the cemetery/crematorium.
Which documents are required?
For the funeral
- Death certificate or death notification
In the case of an urn burial
- Certificate of the second official post-mortem examination prior to cremation
What fees are incurred?
There are fees for
- the issue of the death certificate,
- the granting of a burial licence,
- other necessary official acts,
- Issue of a corpse passport
If the relatives do not arrange for the burial of a deceased person, the burial is organised by the responsible local regulatory authority and the persons responsible for the burial are jointly and severally liable for the costs incurred.
If the relatives are not in a position to bear the funeral costs and the estate of the deceased is also insufficient, they can apply to the relevant social welfare office to have the costs covered.
Short text
- Bodies and ashes of deceased persons must be buried.
- The post-mortem examination must be arranged by persons from the household of the deceased person, the person in whose household or institution or on whose property the death occurred and any person who finds a corpse or in whose presence a person dies, or the police must be informed.
- Doctors in private practice and doctors working in emergency and rescue services must carry out the post-mortem examination and issue the death certificate. This also applies to doctors in hospitals and similar institutions for the deceased. Official physicians of the competent lower health authority are to be consulted secondarily.
- Burial/cremation should take place within 8 days.
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