You can apply for funeral benefits if the Probate Court has distributed all assets to beneficiaries
The purpose of funeral benefits is to help pay funeral costs when a family member passes away.
The amount depends on the deceased person’s age, family circumstances, assets and the assets of any spouse. Assistance with funeral expenses is a one-off payment and is not taxable.
You can apply for funeral benefits if the Probate Court has distributed all assets to beneficiaries and the deceased had the right to Danish health insurance.
You can apply as soon as the death estate of the deceased has been settled.
How much you will get depends on the age, family circumstances, fortune and marital property, if the deceased was married. The benefit is paid out as a lump sum, that you do not have to pay taxes off.
If the deceased was 18 years or older, you can receive a maximum of DKK 12,500 (2024) in funeral benefits.
The benefit depends on the deceased’s fortune:
Examples of assets include:
Any expenses related to the funeral – undertaker fees, gatherings, catering etc. – are not included in the asset statement.
If the deceased was born before 1 April 1957, you can receive at least DKK 1,050 in funeral benefits regardless of his or her assets.
You can receive DKK 10,450 (2024) in funeral benefits if the deceased was under the age of 18.
Usually it is the chosen undertaker who applies for the benefits on your behalf.
But you can also apply for the benefits yourself.
When applying for funeral benefits, you must send documentation of wealth/assets and debt as well as documentation from the probates court’s handling of the death estate.
The documentation you need to send depends on how the death estate has been handled. In the table below, you can see the different ways a death estate can be processed and what documentation you need to send to Udbetaling Danmark when applying.
| The estate of the deceased person was handled as | You must send |
|---|---|
| Estate disbursement |
|
| Undivided possession of an estate or spouse’s advance entitlement |
You must send documentation for both you and your spouse. |
| Estate released for administration out of court, either as 'Forenklet privat skifte' or as 'Almindeligt privat skifte' |
If you already have a finished estate inventory you do not need to send the document 'Åbningsstatus'. |
| Estate administered by an executor |
|
Below you will find the Asset Information, that you will need when documenting wealth. Remember to attach it when applying for funeral benefits:
The funeral benefit will be paid out to your NemKonto account.
NemKonto is a normal bank account, that you assign at your bank. All citizens in Denmark are required to have a NemKonto if they receive payments from public institutions.
If an undertaker applies on your behalf, the payment will often be made directly to the undertaker.
The funeral benefits will be paid out to you, when the death state has been settled and Udbetaling Denmark has received all the necessary information and documentation from you.
As a relative, you may be entitled to funeral assistance if the deceased lived abroad.
If the deceased lived in an EU/EEA country, Switzerland or the United Kingdom, then the rules of EU law apply. This means that you can get funeral assistance if:
You can also contact Udbetaling Danmark if you have further questions about funeral benefits for a deceased person who lived abroad.
The case processing time limit is 4 weeks. The case processing time limit period begins the same day Udbetaling Danmark receives your application.
You can help ensure that your application is processed as soon as possible by:
If you disagree with the decision of funeral benefits you may file a complaint to ‘Styrelsen for Patientklager’. They must receive your complaint no later than 4 weeks after you received the decision.
When you contact Udbetaling Danmark, the administration is obliged as a public authority to register and save your personal data.
This Policy for protection of personal data provides information on how Udbetaling Danmark handles your personal data and your rights in relation to the same.
