Guides
Dated guides to funerals and estate matters, written with eight decades of experience. Straight answers, no hedging.
Guides · Reviewed 2026-09-12
What to do when someone close to you dies
The first hours and days in time order: what happens where the death occurs, what the doctor and the authorities handle, what the funeral home does, and which decisions and deadlines are left to the family.
Guides · Reviewed 2026-09-12
The funeral timeline: from the death to the grave week by week
A printable timeline: what happens in the first days, the first week, weeks 2 to 4 and after the funeral. Deadlines, parish fees and who handles each stage.
Guides · Reviewed 2026-09-12
Funeral checklist
A printable checklist for arranging a funeral step by step: right after the death, the first week's decisions, before the ceremony, the funeral day and afterwards. Each item says who handles it.
Guides · Reviewed 2026-09-12
Transporting the deceased: who may do it and what it costs
Only a funeral home, a health-care unit or the police may transport the deceased. We walk through the transfers in order, what our 290 euro transport includes and what is quoted separately.
Guides · Reviewed 2026-09-12
When someone close to you dies abroad or in another town
Repatriation from abroad, transport from another town and burial somewhere other than the place of death: documents, coffin, insurance, parish fees and what we handle for you.
Guides · Reviewed 2026-09-12
What a funeral costs in Finland
The price of a funeral itemised: the funeral home's services and packages, the Helsinki parish union's fees, worked examples for a Helsinki resident, the effect of church membership and home municipality, and payment and support.
Guides · Reviewed 2026-09-12
Cremation in Finland: how it proceeds
Cremation step by step: the burial permit and the coffin, the Helsinki crematoria and their fees, a blessing at the coffin or at the urn, direct cremation, timing, release of the urn, the one-year rule and placing the ashes.
Guides · Reviewed 2026-09-12
Urn lowering and placing the ashes in Helsinki
A Helsinki resident's options for placing the ashes, with prices: urn grave, memorial grove, scattering area, columbarium, the urn vault of Kallio church and the family grave. How the urn lowering is booked, what happens at the grave and what the law requires.
Guides · Reviewed 2026-09-12
Choosing a grave in Helsinki
Who is entitled to a grave in Helsinki, which cemeteries there are, what a coffin grave and an urn grave cost, how the lease and the family grave work and what the grave rights holder does.
Guides · Reviewed 2026-09-12
Choosing a coffin: materials, models and prices
A coffin is always needed, also for cremation. This guide covers the material families, what affects the price, our coffin prices from 520 euros, and what is best decided calmly at our office.
Guides · Reviewed 2026-09-12
Choosing an urn
When an urn is needed, which materials suit which placement, what urns cost, and how storage and the one-year deadline work. Our urns from 95 euros.
Guides · Reviewed 2026-09-12
Funerals that spare the environment
Concrete choices that reduce a funeral's environmental impact: an ecological coffin, a biodegradable urn, a memorial grove, seasonal flowers, fewer transports and online notices. No statistics, prices included.
Guides · Reviewed 2026-09-12
Arranging the funeral blessing
Who can be blessed, how the time and place are booked, what the chapel costs, how the service proceeds and what is expected of bearers, flowers and mourners. We handle the bookings for you.
Guides · Reviewed 2026-09-12
Civil funerals and burial for non-members
A non-member's right to a grave, the same grave fees, the chapel fee, who leads the civil ceremony and where, how to build the programme and what a civil funeral costs. We handle the arrangements from start to finish.
Guides · Reviewed 2026-09-12
Arranging the memorial gathering
Where the memorial gathering is held, when and for how long, how guests are invited, what programme works, what goes on the memorial table and what the catering costs. We handle the venue, catering and printed programme.
Guides · Reviewed 2026-09-12
Funeral flowers and decorations
Coffin spray, urn arrangement, funeral sheaf, bouquet and wreath: who brings which, what to write on the ribbon, when the flowers are laid and what they cost. Order 2 to 4 days before the ceremony.
Guides · Reviewed 2026-09-12
The newspaper death notice and the obituary
What a death notice contains, when it is published, how to choose the paper, what the symbols and verses mean, how to write the thank-you notice and how an obituary differs from a notice.
Guides · Reviewed 2026-09-12
Funeral etiquette: dress, flowers, cards and thanks
How to dress for a funeral, when to arrive and where to sit, how flowers are laid and what to say, how condolence cards work, what to do when you cannot attend and how guests are thanked.
Guides · Reviewed 2026-09-12
Arranging a funeral from another town or from abroad
How a funeral is arranged in Helsinki when relatives live elsewhere in Finland or abroad: contact person, shared family space, electronic signatures, power of attorney for the estate inventory, viewing for late arrivals, transport to another town and sharing invoices.
Guides · Reviewed 2026-09-12
Gravestone and memorial
When to get a gravestone, what a memorial can be, materials, engraving and added names, the parish's approval, restoration and the price from 510 euros. What we handle for you from the plan to the installation.
Guides · Reviewed 2026-09-12
Estate inventory: deadlines, parties and costs
The deadlines of the estate inventory, the parties and trustees, what the deed records, the prices and lead times of the genealogical report, extensions and penalties, and our fixed price for funeral clients and as a standalone service.
Guides · Reviewed 2026-09-12
Estate inventory checklist: documents and deadlines
A printable checklist for the estate inventory: the deadlines, the documents about the deceased and the parties, assets and debts on the date of death, the meeting, filing with the Tax Administration, and which items we handle for you.
Guides · Reviewed 2026-09-12
Practical matters of the estate: bank, insurance, post and subscriptions
A printable checklist of the practical matters of an estate: what is handled automatically through the population register and what relatives themselves tell the bank, the insurer, the employer, the housing manager and service providers.
Guides · Reviewed 2026-09-12
Funeral wishes and pre-planning your funeral
What a funeral wishes document means, why the law gives your own wishes weight, what the plan records, how our free visit works and how the family uses the plan when the time comes.
Guides · Reviewed 2026-09-12
Funerals in Espoo: parish union fees and cemeteries
What an Espoo resident's funeral costs in 2026, where the cremation and blessing take place, how a grave is granted at the five cemeteries, and what our office handles for you in Espoo.
Guides · Reviewed 2026-09-12
Funerals in Vantaa: parish fees and cemeteries
What a Vantaa resident's funeral costs under the 2026 price list, where the cremation takes place, which the four cemeteries are, and what our office handles for you in Vantaa, including collection from Peijas.
Guides · Reviewed 2026-09-12
Support in grief: help alongside the practical
Where a grieving person finds someone to talk to and peer support, how children are included in the funeral, whether you get time off work, who decides the arrangements, and what you can leave to our office.