Important Notice:
Burial is generally possible 48 hours after death at the earliest. Bodies should have been buried or cremated within 8 days of death. They can be buried in the ground or cremated. Urns must be buried within one month of cremation. With the exception of burial at sea, all burials in Lower Saxony are subject to statutory cemetery requirements.
According to Section 8 (3) of the Lower Saxony Burial Act (Nds. Bestattungsgesetz - Nds. BestattG), the following are obliged to attend the funeral
- the spouse or registered civil partner,
- the children,
- the grandchildren,
- the parents,
- grandparents and
- the siblings.
If none of these persons arrange the burial, the competent authority at the place of death and discovery must arrange the burial; in this case, it determines the type and place of burial.
Irrespective of the waiver of the inheritance, the burial obligation remains in force!
The inheritance must be disclaimed in writing within 6 weeks of becoming known to the probate court or a notary, after which it is deemed to have been accepted.
If you are obliged to pay for a funeral and are unable to pay for the funeral from your own funds, you have the option of contacting your local authority's social services department and submitting an application for "assumption of funeral costs".
In the city of Wolfsburg, you can contact the social services department on the authority number 115 or by calling 05361 28-1234.
Anyone can make provisions for their funeral!
You can conclude a provision contract with a funeral director of your choice and deposit money in a trust account. Up to a certain amount, this money may not be used for any other purpose. Please ask the mortician about the value limit.
You should leave a copy of the contract in several places in your apartment/house so that it can be found.
You can find a funeral director near you on the website www.bestatter.de.