The Deed must, without exception, be submitted to Tax authorities within three (3) months after the person’s death.
What is the Deed of Estate Inventory (“perukirja)?
A Deed of Estate Inventory (“Deed”) is a summary of all the deceased’s assets and liabilities and list of the heirs. In addition, it acts as a tax notification on the basis of which inheritance tax is imposed on the heirs. The Deed is also a list of shareholders in the deceased estate, as it shows all the heirs and legatees.
Only after the registration of the Deed can the property be divided to the heirs.
Based on the signed and dated Deed, the taxation authorities will determine the inheritance tax of the heirs.
What is the deadline for submitting the Deed of Estate Inventory?
The Deed must be submitted within three (3) months of the death. An extension of this can be applied from the tax administration for a justified reason. Failure to do so may result in personal liability to the shareholder of the estate if the estate is in debt. The obligation to provide or initiate the Deed usually falls on the widow or children.
Who is responsible for organizing the Deed of Estate Inventory drafting in Finland?
The person in the estate who is in charge of the estate (organizes funerals, collects the mail, etc) is typically in charge to organize the Deed drafting. Typically professional lawyer is appointed to draft the Deed of Estate Inventory.
In practice, it is usually up to the person closest to the deceased to take care of the arrangements for drafting and organizing the Deed. Very often the organizer is either a widow or one of the deceased’s children. They will appoint a lawyer to draft the Estate Inventory Deed.
What documents are needed for the Deed? Typically the lawyer will tell you the full list of documents needed.
- Certificates and genealogical certificates (“virkatodistus”) of the deceased and the members of the estate for the purposes of registration. The deceased must obtain an continuing certificates of domiciles and genealogical certificates from each locality in which he or she has been registered since the age of 15.
- Certificates of title from each shareholder of the estate are also required for the shareholders of the estate. Certificates of birth and domicile are obtained either from the Digital and Population Information Office (Digi- ja väestötietovirasto) or from the parish in the case of parish members.
- Information on the assets and liabilities of the deceased from all banks and funds.
- Information on any other assets of the deceased, such as an apartment, car, summer house, etc.
- The fair value of the assets must also be stated in the charter. If necessary, Realtors help to determine the value of real estate and apartments.
- If the deceased’s Spouse is alive, information about his or her assets and liabilities is also required in the charter.
What follows from the omission of the Deed of Estate Inventory?
The tax administration may impose an inheritance tax on the heir based on a mere assessment if the registration is not completed or is delayed. In addition, the Tax Administration may order the heir to pay a tax increase for late registration.
Who can do the Deed drafting?
The Deed is drafted by two trustees value the property, makes list of unpaid bills and record these in the Deed. There are no qualification or accessibility requirements for trustees, but if the charter is drawn up by unskilled persons, this can lead to problems in determining inheritance taxes as well as in the division of inheritance and the sale of property. Therefore we highly recommend to assign a professional lawyer to execute the Deed.
What does the Deed of Estate Inventory (“perunkirjoitus”) cost?
The price varies considerably depending on whether you leave all the work to a law firm or, for example, take care of ordering official and balance certificates yourself.
It takes approximately 5-10 hours for a lawyer to write a Deed. We charge 220€/h. You can book a time for a free initial survey from the link below or make a free of charge phone call. Based on the initial survey, we can give a price estimate for the Deed writing. We will draft the Deed for you in for both languages (eng-fi).
Attorney-at-Law, Tuula Rainto, wrote this article. You can always give her a free phone call: +358 45 1115577 or send e-mail: [email protected]
Lawyer Tuula Rainto, Lakiasiaintoimisto Amos.