Registering a funeral

The responsibility lies with the municipality, the joint municipality and the city.

The responsibility lies with the municipality, the Samtgemeinde and the city.

Please contact:

• for carrying out the post-mortem examination and issuing a death certificate to a doctor,
• for the issuance of the death certificate to the competent registry office,
• for burial, to the cemetery administration of the place where the burial is to take place,
• for the transfer from the place of death/discovery to the cemetery/crematorium to a funeral home.

• for the performance of a second post-mortem examination for cremation to the competent lower health authority (public health officer)

• for the performance of a second post-mortem examination for cremation to the responsible lower health authority (medical officer)

You want to have a deceased person buried.

For the funeral

• Death certificate or death notice
• If applicable, certificate of release from the public prosecutor's office in the event of non-natural cause of death

In the case of an urn burial:

• Certificate of the second post-mortem examination before cremation

In the case of transport to or from abroad:

• The transport of a corpse from abroad to Lower Saxony may only take place upon presentation of a corpse passport or an equivalent document.
• For the transport of a corpse from Lower Saxony to a place outside Lower Saxony, the lower health authority issues a corpse passport upon request.

In the case of an urn burial

• Certificate of the second official post-mortem examination before cremation

Registration is free of charge. Fees apply for:

• the issuance of the death certificate,
• the issuance of the funeral permit,
• other necessary official acts,
• Issuance of a mortuary passport

If the relatives do not arrange for the burial of a deceased, the funeral will be arranged by the competent local regulatory authority and the persons obliged to be buried will be jointly and severally liable for the costs incurred.

If the relatives are not able to bear the funeral costs and the estate of the deceased is also not sufficient, they can apply to the responsible social welfare office for the costs to be covered.

The funeral can take place no earlier than 48 hours after the occurrence of death. Bodies are said to have been buried or cremated within eight days of death. Urns are to be buried within a month of cremation.

Burial can take place no earlier than 48 hours after the onset of death. Bodies should have been buried or cremated no later than 8 days after the onset of death.

Processing time may vary.

There is no legal remedy.

In Lower Saxony, cemetery owners can only be:

• Parishes
• Churches, parishes
• other religious and philosophical communities, if they are corporations, institutions or foundations under public law

Some municipalities or companies commissioned by them offer the possibility of an urn burial in a forest cemetery.
Crematoria (cremation facilities) in Lower Saxony can also be operated by private sponsors.

In Lower Saxony, only the state or church municipality, joint municipality and city can be cemetery operators. Some places offer the possibility of an urn burial in a forest cemetery.
Crematoria (cremation facilities) in Lower Saxony can also be operated by private sponsors.

In Lower Saxony, cemetery owners can only be the state or church community, joint municipality and city. Individual places offer the possibility of an urn burial in a forest cemetery.
Crematoria (cremation facilities) can also be operated by private sponsors in Lower Saxony.

Lower Saxony Ministry of Social Affairs, Health and Equality (Department 405 - Legal Affairs in Health Care)

14.07.2020

The text was automatically translated based on the German content.