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Every corpse must be buried. Regardless of whether it is buried in the ground, in a cremation, at sea or in a forest.

In Germany, funerals are generally carried out by funeral directors, commonly known as morticians. You can choose between different types of funeral. Depending on the region, you can choose between

• Burial in the ground
• Cremation (forest burial, burial at sea, urn burial)
• Anonymous burial

A burial is possible at the earliest 48 hours after the death. Exceptions can be made by the responsible health authority for good cause.

If there are no persons responsible for burial (relatives)

• do not exist,
• cannot be identified,
• cannot be found.

or

• they do not fulfill their obligation or do not fulfill it in time

and

• no one else arranges the burial,

the local regulatory authority responsible for the place of death or discovery must arrange the burial.

Every corpse must be buried. Any person who discovers a corpse or in whose presence a person dies must immediately arrange for a post-mortem examination or inform the police. Any doctor in private practice who can be contacted is obliged to carry out the post-mortem examination without delay and to issue and hand over the death certificate. The same applies to doctors in hospitals and similar institutions for the deceased there.

The adult relatives must arrange the funeral in the following order:

1. Spouse,
2. civil partner within the meaning of the Civil Partnership Act,
3. children,
4. parents,
5. siblings,
6. grandparents,
7. grandchildren,
8. other partners in a long-term non-marital partnership.

For the funeral

• Death certificate or notification of death

In the case of an urn burial, a certificate of the second official post-mortem examination prior to cremation.

There are fees for

• the issue of the death certificate,
• the issuing of the burial permit,
• other necessary official acts,
• issuing a corpse passport

If the next of kin do not arrange for the burial of a deceased person, the burial will be arranged by the responsible local regulatory authority and the persons responsible for the burial will be jointly and severally liable for the costs incurred.

If the relatives are not in a position to bear the funeral costs and the estate of the deceased is also insufficient, they can apply to the relevant social welfare office to have the costs covered.

• Bodies and ashes of deceased persons must be buried.
• The post-mortem examination must be arranged by persons from the household of the deceased person, the person in whose household or institution or on whose property the death occurred and any person who finds a body or in whose presence a person dies, or the police must be informed.
• Registered doctors and doctors working in emergency and rescue services must carry out the post-mortem examination and issue the death certificate. This also applies to doctors in hospitals and similar facilities for the deceased. Official physicians of the competent lower health authority are to be consulted secondarily.

Please contact

• a doctor to carry out the post-mortem examination and issue a death certificate,
• to the relevant registry office for the issue of the death certificate,
• for the burial, the cemetery administration of the place of burial,
• for the transfer from the place of death/cremation to the cemetery/crematorium to a funeral home.