Easing the management of the affairs of a deceased relative

The programme to ease the management of the affairs of a deceased relative is promoting the digitalisation and automation of services related to the death of a relative. The goal is to make it easier for people to use these services in the difficult time following the death of a relative and to make official processes more efficient. The programme period is 5 April 2024–31 December 2027.

The programme is based on the Programme of Prime Minister Petteri Orpo's Government, which states that during the government term, the Government will carry out projects to digitalise public and private services relating to life and business events so that these services operate seamlessly together. One such project is to ensure the ease of managing the affairs of a deceased relative.

At the moment, managing the affairs of a deceased relative is a long and difficult process that involves dealing with different authorities and often still requires paper forms. Current practices are also not cost-efficient for public authorities, as information is not transferred seamlessly between different organisations.

This reform will make it possible to handle matters related to information on the parties to a deceased estate, estate inventory and inheritance tax digitally at any time and any place. To this end, the programme is developing new services, including a digital service platform for deceased estates, a digital estate inventory and inheritance tax return, and a register of parties to deceased estates.

The goal is to have the legislation required to introduce the new services in force in early 2027. The reform will only apply to estates that are formed after the services are introduced. Using paper forms will remain an option in the future. 

The necessary information system changes will be carried out by the Digital and Population Data Services Agency and the Finnish Tax Administration. Development of the register of parties to deceased estates will be carried out in cooperation between Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Finland, the Orthodox Church of Finland and the National Archives of Finland. The Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Justice are responsible for preparing the legislative amendments.

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Topical: legislative proposals on electronic services in the deceased's estate circulated for comments 

The Ministry of Finance sent legislative proposals on the electronic services of the deceased's estate for comments on 5 December. The request for comments is now available at lausuntopalvelu.fi. In addition, the content of the reform and legislative proposals were presented at a webinar on 5 December. The recording of the webinar and the presentation material can be viewed from the following links. The deadline for comments is 6 February 2026.

Contact information:

Nico Käräjäoja, Program Manager, Ministry of Finance, tel. +358 295 530 516, [email protected]

Johannes Mielo, Programme Coordinator, Ministry of Finance, tel. +358 295 530 346, [email protected]