Request payment of funeral expenses
Description
The burial of a deceased person is obligatory in Lower Saxony.
The burial of the deceased person must be arranged in the following order of priority:
- the spouse or the registered partner,
- the children
- the grandchildren,
- the parents
- grandparents
- and the brothers and sisters
If during the lifetime of the deceased it was stipulated by contract who is to take care of the funeral, this person shall take care of the funeral independently of the obligation under public law to pay for the funeral.
If the persons obliged to bear the funeral costs cannot be expected to bear the necessary costs, they may apply for the funeral costs to be paid.
- The person making the request is obliged to bear the funeral costs.
- The person obliged to bear the funeral costs cannot be expected to bear the costs from his or her own funds.
- Only the costs of the funeral that are necessary in the individual case will be borne.
No deadlines need to be observed. However, it is advisable to clarify the question of the assumption of costs with the responsible office in good time. The later an application is made after the obligation to bear costs has arisen, the more likely it is that there will be doubts as to whether the costs can reasonably be borne.
A decision on the application will be made without delay. The processing time depends, among other things, on the completeness of the information and the submission of the evidence required for processing the application.
An appeal may be lodged against the decisions of the competent body within one month of notification.
Once the appeal procedure has been concluded with an appeal decision, an action may be brought before the social court within one month of notification.
Municipality or independent city
An application must be submitted in order for the funeral costs to be covered.
As soon as the application and the necessary evidence are available, processing can take place.
After the complete application has been reviewed, the applicant will receive a legally binding decision from the responsible office.
The funeral cost assistance guarantees an appropriate and dignified burial of the deceased. The "necessary costs" are covered. The yardstick for this is what is customary in the locality for funeral costs in the sense mentioned above, oriented to the earners of lower or middle incomes.
19.07.2022
The text was automatically translated based on the German content.
