Registration of a forced burial

An official burial is only carried out if there are no relatives of the deceased person or if they cannot be found in a timely manner or if no one else is responsible for the burial.

If a relative or a person liable for burial can be identified, the authorities will issue a notice of burial to this person. If the person does not comply with this request, the authority will arrange the burial by way of substitute performance.

The costs incurred by the authority for the burial must be reimbursed by the person liable for burial. Section 9 of the Burial Act (BestG) specifies who is liable for burial.

The burial must always be carried out in accordance with the wishes of the deceased person; if these wishes are not known, a burial should be carried out in accordance with local custom.

According to the provisions of the Police and Regulatory Authorities Act (POG), the general regulatory authority in whose district the interests to be protected are endangered or violated is responsible. If a burial is to be ordered by the public order authorities, this is the case where the corpse requiring burial is located at the time when the public order measure becomes necessary. As a rule, this is the place of death.

Anyone who finds a deceased person must immediately inform the next of kin (= person with a duty of burial) or the police.

If there is no person responsible for burial or if such a person cannot be identified in time to fulfill the burial obligation or cannot be called upon for other reasons, the regulatory authority must arrange the burial by regulatory means as part of the prevention of danger.

The most important documents are

• the death certificate
• the death certificate.

The death certificate is issued by a doctor. If the death occurs at home, it is therefore particularly important to inform a doctor first, in addition to a funeral home. If the death occurred in a hospital or hospice, the relatives do not have to worry about issuing a death certificate, this is done by the respective facility. The death certificate is required in order to apply for a death certificate at the relevant registry office.

The costs required for a burial by the competent regulatory authority in order to remove the unlawful condition are to be interpreted more narrowly than the costs of a proper burial. In principle, an appropriate burial must be provided in a simple but dignified and customary form. If the person responsible for the funeral cannot reasonably be expected to bear the funeral costs, they may be entitled to have the necessary costs covered by the social welfare provider at the place of burial.

The funeral must generally take place within ten days of the death.

The burial period begins on the day of the event and specifies the time in which the burial must take place.

• § Section 9 Burial Act (BestG)
• § Section 10 Burial Act (BestG)
• § Section 74 of the Twelfth Social Code (SGB XII)
• Police and Regulatory Authorities Act (POG)

Information on the assumption of costs in accordance with the twelfth German Social Security Code can be obtained from the locally responsible social welfare provider within the framework of assistance for other life situations.

01.10.2021

The service description serves as an initial overview of the legal situation in Rhineland-Palatinate and cannot replace any legal advice that may be required in individual cases. According to the law on extrajudicial legal services, legal advice or legal information is reserved for members of the legal advisory professions, among others.