• Service description

    If the deceased person does not have any heirs, and they have not drawn up a will, their estate will be inherited by the government. The State Treasury is in charge of estates inherited by the government.

    If the deceased person has drawn up a will, their estate will be divided in accordance with the will. In this event, the will be must be submitted to the State Treasury for information.

    Approximately 60 per cent of the people who have died without heirs had drawn up a will.

  • The service is intended for

    1. People who have lost a person close to them or a client, with no information who that person’s heirs are, and there is no knowledge of any will having been drawn up. For example:

    • a guardian
    • a social worker
    • the police
    • a neighbour or distant relative of someone who has died.

    2. People close to someone whose estate has been inherited by the government. Examples of such people:

    •  an unmarried partner
    • a companion
    • a distant relative, friend or neighbour, with whom the deceased had a very close relationship, e.g. a care relationship.

    3. Municipalities with residents whose estate has been inherited by the government. Municipalities where the real estate of the person who has died without heirs is located.

  • Instructions

    Notifying the State Treasury of a person who has died without heirs

    If a person close to you or a client of yours has died, and you do not know who that person’s heirs are, and there is no knowledge of any will having been drawn up:

    You must acquire genealogical records for that person. These genealogical records can be obtained by collecting extracts from parish registers or, in the case of people who are not members of the church, extracts from the population register. The compilation of this account may also be allocated to a party providing special services for providing extracts.

    If none of the following heirs are found in the genealogical records, notify the State Treasury of the death.

    • Direct heirs
    • Spouse
    • Parents
    • Siblings and their descendants
    • Grandparents
    • Aunts and uncles
    • Secondary heirs (the father, mother, sister and brother of a previously deceased spouse and the children of the brother or sister)

    You can submit this notification by using a form (on the FORMS, LEGISLATION tab) and sending the form to the registry office of the State Treasury. No appendices are attached to the notification.

    It is important not to send any original documents of the estate to the State Treasury. We digitise all documents sent to us and destroy all paper documents in the process.

    Send the documents to kirjaamo@valtiokonttori.fior
    State Treasury, Inheritance matters, P.O. Box 350, 00054 State Treasury.

    After receiving the notification, the State Treasury authorises an administrator to manage the estate and prepare the inventory of the estate, in which case any estate documents in the possession of the notifier may be passed directly over to the administrator. We request that the administrator contact the person who has submitted the notification to the State Treasury immediately.

     

    Applying for property inherited by the government

    Not all property inherited by the government will remain in the possession of the government. This property may be applied for by:

    1. Someone who was very close with the deceased
    Examples of such people:

    • an unmarried partner
    • a companion
    • a distant relative, friend or neighbour, with whom the deceased had a very close relationship, e.g. a care relationship.

    A person fulfilling these criteria may apply for the property based on their close relationship with the deceased. A conventional relationship between distant relatives or friends is not sufficient grounds for assigning the property. The application is submitted on a form which can be found on the ‘Forms, legislation’ tab. The application or any of its attachments will not be returned.

    Send the documents to kirjaamo@valtiokonttori.fi or
    State Treasury, Matters related to inheritance, P.O. Box 350, 00054 State Treasury.

    The application is submitted on a form that you can download on the FORMS, LEGISLATION > tab

    2. A municipality with a resident whose estate has been inherited by the government and the municipality where the real estate owned by the deceased is located.

    The State Treasury will inform the municipalities of the opportunity to apply for property that has been inherited by the government. The State Treasury will send the notification and application instructions to the registry office of the municipality by e-mail after the estate inventory has been delivered.

  • Management of estates inherited by the government

    The State Treasury has held a bidding contest for the management of the estates inherited by the government. The State Treasury primarily uses select attorneys as administrators.

    State Treasury’s contract estate administrators >

  • Principles governing the division of property

    The State Treasury may issue a decision on the property of an estate no sooner than one year after the person who has died without heirs has died. If the estate consists of property worth more than EUR 750,000, the decision is made by the Government. The property may be divided between several parties.

    Property passed on to the government

    Property is retained by the government if there are sufficient grounds to do so. This applies to property such as real estate that is directly suitable as nature reserves or can be exchanged for reserves. On rare occasions, valuable movable property suitable for public art collections or museums may also be retained by the government. If the estate contains significant amounts of money, the assets may be retained by the government.

    Property passed on to very close friends

    Property may also be passed on to someone very close to the deceased person, such as their unmarried partner or person who has been helping the person for a long time. A conventional relationship between distant relatives or friends is not sufficient grounds for assigning the property.

    If there are special grounds for retaining the property with the government, the property may be passed on to a private applicant only if they are able to prove, in addition to having been close to the deceased, that the passing on is in keeping with the last will of the deceased.

    Property passed on to municipalities

    Any property that does not need to be retained by the government, and cannot be passed on to a close friend, will be passed on to the home municipality of the deceased person. Any real estate included in the estate will be passed on to the municipality where the real estate is located. Passing the property on to the municipality is not based on means-testing, and the applications of a municipality and a private person will never compete with each other.

  • Older statistics

  • Notifying the State Treasury of a person who has died without heirs

    If a person close to you or a client of yours has died, and you do not know who that person’s heirs are, and there is no knowledge of any will having been drawn up:

    You must acquire genealogical records for that person. These genealogical records can be obtained by collecting extracts from parish registers or, in the case of people who are not members of the church, extracts from the population register. The compilation of this account may also be allocated to a party providing special services for providing extracts.

    If none of the following heirs are found in the genealogical records, notify the State Treasury of the death.

    • Direct heirs
    • Spouse
    • Parents
    • Siblings and their descendants
    • Grandparents
    • Aunts and uncles
    • Secondary heirs (the father, mother, sister and brother of a previously deceased spouse and the children of the brother or sister)

    You can submit this notification by using a form (on the FORMS, LEGISLATION tab) and sending the form to the registry office of the State Treasury. No appendices are attached to the notification.

    It is important not to send any original documents of the estate to the State Treasury. We digitise all documents sent to us and destroy all paper documents in the process.

    Send the documents to kirjaamo@valtiokonttori.fior
    State Treasury, Inheritance matters, P.O. Box 350, 00054 State Treasury.

    After receiving the notification, the State Treasury authorises an administrator to manage the estate and prepare the inventory of the estate, in which case any estate documents in the possession of the notifier may be passed directly over to the administrator. We request that the administrator contact the person who has submitted the notification to the State Treasury immediately.

    Management of estates inherited by the government

    The State Treasury has held a bidding contest for the management of the estates inherited by the government. In the areas subject to this bidding contest, the State Treasury primarily uses select attorneys at law and legal aid offices as administrators. In other areas, the State Treasury grants the estate administration proxy to a person it considers suitable, to an attorney at law in the first instance.

    State Treasury’s contract estate administrators >

  • Applying for property inherited by the government

    Not all property inherited by the government will remain in the possession of the government. This property may be applied for by:

    1. Someone who was very close with the deceased
    Examples of such people:

    • an unmarried partner
    • a companion
    • a distant relative, friend or neighbour, with whom the deceased had a very close relationship, e.g. a care relationship.

    A person fulfilling these criteria may apply for the property based on their close relationship with the deceased. A conventional relationship between distant relatives or friends is not sufficient grounds for assigning the property. The application is submitted on a form which can be found on the ‘Forms, legislation’ tab. The application or any of its attachments will not be returned.

    Send the documents to kirjaamo@valtiokonttori.fi or
    State Treasury, Matters related to inheritance, P.O. Box 350, 00054 State Treasury.

    The application is submitted on a form that you can download on the FORMS, LEGISLATION > tab

    2. A municipality with a resident whose estate has been inherited by the government and the municipality where the real estate owned by the deceased is located.

    The State Treasury will inform the municipalities of the opportunity to apply for property that has been inherited by the government. The State Treasury will send the notification and application instructions to the registry office of the municipality by e-mail after the estate inventory has been delivered.

  • Principles governing the division of property

    The State Treasury may issue a decision on the property of an estate no sooner than one year after the person who has died without heirs has died. If the estate consists of property worth more than EUR 750,000, the decision is made by the Government. The property may be divided between several parties.

    Property passed on to the government

    Property is retained by the government if there are sufficient grounds to do so. This applies to property such as real estate that is directly suitable as nature reserves or can be exchanged for reserves. On rare occasions, valuable movable property suitable for public art collections or museums may also be retained by the government. If the estate contains significant amounts of money, the assets may be retained by the government.

    Property passed on to very close friends

    Property may also be passed on to someone very close to the deceased person, such as their unmarried partner or person who has been helping the person for a long time. A conventional relationship between distant relatives or friends is not sufficient grounds for assigning the property.

    If there are special grounds for retaining the property with the government, the property may be passed on to a private applicant only if they are able to prove, in addition to having been close to the deceased, that the passing on is in keeping with the last will of the deceased.

    Property passed on to municipalities

    Any property that does not need to be retained by the government, and cannot be passed on to a close friend, will be passed on to the home municipality of the deceased person. Any real estate included in the estate will be passed on to the municipality where the real estate is located. Passing the property on to the municipality is not based on means-testing, and the applications of a municipality and a private person will never compete with each other.