Helsinki starts charging a storage fee for the deceased

In Finland On average, the time interval for burial is extended.

Relatives may ask for a funeral date as far as 6-8 weeks after the death of the deceased, says the funeral manager of the Vantaa parishes Minna Aho For STT.

An extended waiting time can cause congestion to store the deceased.

The Church Board has made a recommendation that the time from death to burial or cremation should be 2-3 weeks.

Worship life Terhi Paananen The church government supplements that relatives do not want to put pressure on them in a difficult situation, but in Finland there are payments for preserving the deceased.

For example, the City of Helsinki, for example, will move to a practice where the deceased’s storage is free for three weeks of obtaining a funeral permit, but after that, a fee of ten euros per day will be charged.

“It is possible to create a little pressure with fees and encourage a little faster burial,” Paananen says.

In the capital In the future, the situation will be facilitated by the fact that the new tower for the preservation of the deceased is under construction near the Malmi Cemetery.

To the very unfortunate, the congestion of the storage of the deceased reached early last year in Tampere: the Central Hospital’s deceased tower was crowded.

At least some of the churches have been charged for the deceased’s storage fee for some time. Vantaa charges 11 euros a day after the free three -week retention period has passed.

Practices vary from place to place. Head of Real Estate and Funeral of the Pello Parish in Lapland Sirpa Kemi He says that they will charge more than five euros a day from the beginning of the deceased.

Unlike in Finland, in other Nordic countries, the law determines how long it takes to go to burial.

“The time limit varies from ten days to 20 days,” says Terhi Paananen.

In Finland, the law only guides that burial should be done without undue delay.

Paananen There may be good reasons for postponing the funeral. For example, many Finns currently do telework abroad.

Similarly, tourism abroad has increased. If the trip has already been paid, the travel insurance will not cover the transfer or cancellation of the holiday for funerals.

« In addition, many would like to organize a funeral for their relatives over the weekend. For example, there are no funerals in Helsinki on Sundays, so weekend funeral times are often reserved for the future. »

In the rural parishes, Sunday also has a common use on the funeral day.

Today, most of the dead are ashes, or burning, especially in cities. More and more deceased ends up in the crematorias.

In the next few years, the age structure will contribute to burial: more and more Finns in the post -war generation will die.

In addition to the churches, the deceased are maintained at least by cities, well -being and the state.