Frequently asked questions about easing the management of the affairs of a deceaced relative

Following the death of a relative, the family are often faced by a complex, long and difficult process. As things stand, it is not really possible to manage the affairs of a deceased relative’s estate through digital services provided by public authorities. For example, an estate may have to deliver copies of the estate inventory to multiple different parties. This programme will improve this by making the estate’s information digitally available and by developing digital services.

The current approach is also burdensome and expensive for public authorities and other service providers. Information relating to a death is not transferred seamlessly in a digital and structured format between different organisations. The programme will also make it possible for different organisations to use information on estates when they provide their services.

The programme will develop 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.

After the reform, it will be possible to handle matters relating to information on the parties to an estate, the estate inventory and inheritance tax in the Finnish Tax Administration’s MyTax service. This also means that the parties to an estate will have equal access to the estate's information.

The estate would receive the information on parties to the estate required for the estate inventory directly in the MyTax service based on the register of parties to deceased estates produced by the Digital and Population Data Services Agency. Pre-completed information, for example, on the deceased person’s assets would also be available in the MyTax service. Pre-completed information could be used when drawing up the estate inventory and inheritance tax return in the service.

Parties to the estate will be able to use Suomi.fi e-Authorisations to authorise third-party experts, such as a law firm, to handle the estate’s affairs. The parties would receive instructions and progress notifications as Suomi.fi Messages.

One of the original goals of the programme was to establish a register of wills. An assessment by the programme’s legislative drafting group and a separate external market survey concluded that a best approach would be to facilitate digital wills and implement a structured register of wills.

These would require major legislative amendments, which would not be possible to complete in the remaining programme term. Instead, an assessment memorandum on digital wills and implementing a register of wills will be drawn up and sent out for comments during the programme term. The memorandum and related technical specifications along with an assessment of cost impacts will lay the foundation for introducing digital wills as part of possible future development efforts.

It will remain possible to use paper documents in the future. Information on all deceased estates will be collected in the new register of parties to deceased estates, but it will also be possible to request this information on paper. Inheritance tax will be based on an inheritance tax return that can be draw up either online or using a paper form. It will also remain possible to draw up the estate inventory on paper.

Managing the affairs of a deceased relative’s estate in the difficult time following their death will be made easier. Services will be simpler to use, the number of times people have to contact the authorities will be reduced and the process as a whole will be quicker.

The MyTax service will be available regardless of where people live, the opening hours of public authorities or access to transportation. The parties to the estate will be able to use information already in MyTax to complete the inheritance tax return and estate inventory. This will make it easier to draw up documents and improve the quality of information.

The digitalisation and automation of the necessary documents and the reduced need for customer service and manual work will improve the efficiency of public authorities.

The reform may also speed up the processing of matters by reducing the time that companies in the financial, funeral, legal, forestry and real estate sectors need to spend collecting information on the estate from the surviving relatives or other sources. In future, estates will have a contact person, whose contact information will be available to organisations if they have the right to access the register of parties to the estate.

The Ministry of Finance is responsible for the implementation and funding of the programme and for the overall coordination of the development projects in the programme.

The Digital and Population Data Services Agency is responsible for implementing the register of parties to deceased estates. Suomi.fi e-Authorisations and Suomi.fi Messages produced by the agency will also make using services easier.

The Finnish Tax Administration is responsible for implementing the register’s customer functions, inheritance tax returns and estate inventory in the MyTax service.

The legislative drafting group is working with the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Justice to draft the legislative amendments required to implement the changes and use the necessary information.

The programme’s steering group provides guidance and draws up the necessary policies concerning the implementation of the programme and advancing the projects that are part of the programme.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, the Orthodox Church of Finland and the National Archives of Finland have a key role in implementing the reform. Drawing up an estate inventory often requires population data that is held by the churches and the National Archives of Finland. This is why implementing the register of parties to deceased estates will have an impact on the activities of the churches and the National Archives of Finland.

After the reform, the information for the report on family relationships that currently have to be requested separately will be automatically compiled in the register of parties to deceased estates maintained by the Digital and Population Data Services Agency. The churches and National Archives of Finland will no longer produce separate civil status documents for the purpose of drawing up the estate inventory but will upload the information directly into the register.

The legislative proposals required by the reform have been prepared in the programme's legislative drafting group under the lead of the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Finance. According to the legislative group’s memorandum, two new acts would be drafted that would include the provisions required to implement the service platform for deceased estates and the register of parties to deceased estates. The proposal would also include several amendments to current legislation, including the Act on Inheritance and Gift Tax and the Code of Inheritance.

The memorandum will be circulated for comments on the Lausuntopalvelu.fi website at the turn of 2025–2026. According to the preliminary schedule, the government proposal will be submitted to Parliament in the late spring of 2026. The aim is for the legislation to enter into force at the beginning of 2027.

Existing estates will continue to manage their affairs in the same way as they do now. Comprehensive instructions on managing the affairs of a deceased relative’s estate are provided in the ‘Death of a close family member’ guide available on the Suomi.fi website.

The changes being planned will not affect estates formed before 2027. Online services for estates will be based on information obtained from the register of parties to deceased estates. Information on estates will only begin to be stored in the register on new estates that are formed after the register is established.

You can get up-to-date information on the progress of development projects by signing up for a stakeholder newsletter and participating in information sessions for stakeholders. The newsletter is published by the Digital and Population Data Services Agency and Finnish Tax Administration. 

• Subscribe to the newsletter (in Finnish).

Information on the projects is also available on the websites and other communications channels of the Digital and Population Data Services Agency and Finnish Tax Administration.

• Visit the Digital and Population Data Services Agency’s project page.
• Visit the Finnish Tax Administration's project page.