Laws and regulations

On this page we summarise the important laws and regulations that encompasses a death and a funeral. If you would like laws and regulations described in more detail you can download the folder ”Dödsfall i ett mångkulturellt samhälle” [Death in a multicultural society].

Burial fee

People included in the Swedish population register are paying a compulsory burial fee via their income tax. It covers some of the costs of a death, e.g. a burial plot for 25 years, interment/cremation and some transportation. Other costs are paid by the estate.

Funeral ombudsman

Funeral ombudsmen are appointed by the County Administrative Board in every Swedish county and municipality and represent people who are not members of the Church of Sweden. Their tasks include ensuring that burial plots are available to people who are not members of the Church of Sweden within a reasonable distance from their home parishes.

By Swedish law, the wishes of the deceased concerning funeral arrangements must be followed, as far as possible.

After the death

The County Council/Municipality are responsible for arranging transportation of the deceased person to a mortuary.

If the person died at home, a doctor must always come to the home to register the death.

The transportation from the home to the mortuary is often arranged by the firm of undertakers which have staff on duty around the clock.

Interment or cremation shall take place within a month from the date of death. The authorities shall be notified of the death by a doctor verifying the death and sending a death certificate to the national registration.

The wishes of the deceased always applies in terms of organ donation. If the wishes are not known but it can be supposed that a procedure would be in conflict with the deceased’s position, no procedure may be carried out.

Estate inventory

When a person passes away an estate inventory shall be carried out within three months. Us here at E Nilssons can help you with this as well. Simply put an estate inventory is a list of the estate’s assets, debts and parties to the estate.

The estate inventory is registered with the Swedish Tax Agency and forms the basis of matters including who has the right to inherit the deceased.