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 a lot of documentation on paper form. 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 in one place. To this end, the programme is developing new services, including a digital service platform for deceased estates in MyTax, 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 the beginning of February 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 the Digital and Population Data Services Agency, 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 the electronic services of the deceased's estate have been submitted to Parliament as a government proposal. 

On 4 June 2026 the Government submitted to Parliament a proposal for legislation on the electronic services of deceased estates. The consideration of the government proposal can be followed on Parliament's website and in the Gateway to Information on Government Projects.

Contact information:

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

Kaj Välimäki, Senior Adviser, Ministry of Finance, tel. +358 295 530 090, [email protected]