Register burial
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.
Full text
In Germany, funerals are generally organised by funeral directors, 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. The responsible health authority may authorise exceptions for good cause.
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.
Every corpse must be buried. Any person who discovers a corpse or in whose presence a person dies must immediately arrange for a post-mortem examination or inform the police. Any doctor in private practice who can be contacted is obliged to carry out the post-mortem examination without delay and to issue and hand over the death certificate. The same applies to doctors in hospitals and similar institutions for those who die there.
The adult relatives are responsible for the funeral in the following order:
- Spouse,
- Life partners within the meaning of the Life Partnerships Act,
- Children,
- Parents,
- Siblings,
- Grandparents,
- Grandchildren,
- other partner in a long-term non-marital partnership.
Basis for action(s)
Required documents
For the funeral
- Death certificate or death notification
In the case of an urn burial, a certificate of the second official post-mortem examination prior to cremation.
Costs (fees, expenses, etc.)
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.
Typing
4bResponsible office
Please contact
- for carrying out the post-mortem examination and issuing a death certificate to a doctor,
- 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.