Apply for assistance with funeral costs

• Estate or funeral provision (Bestattungsvorsorge) of the deceased insufficient • Liability for costs of persons obligated to arrange the burial The following are obligated to bear the costs, in this order: • persons contractually obligated (for example, under a funeral provision agreement) • the heir; in the case of a community of heirs, each co-heir • in the case of the death of a child's mother as a result of pregnancy or childbirth, the child's father • persons obligated to pay maintenance • persons obligated to arrange the burial under § 16 of the Bestattungsgesetz (Burial Act). No one has a claim to reimbursement of costs who bears the costs of a burial without a legal obligation to do so. This includes, among others, anyone who arranges the burial out of a sense of moral obligation or at the wish of the deceased person, but without a legal obligation (for example, friends, neighbours, former carers, estate administrators [Nachlasspfleger]). • Need (Hilfebedürftigkeit) of the persons obligated to arrange the burial Persons obligated to arrange the burial are unable to bear the costs of the burial from their own income and assets

• Antrag auf Übernahme von Bestattungskosten (application for assumption of funeral costs) • Unterlagen zum Verstorbenen (documents concerning the deceased) • Leichenschauschein (cause-of-death certificate) or Sterbeurkunde (death certificate) • Proof of how the cost of living was covered • Proof of the estate, insurance benefits and any claims for damages against third parties • Testament (will) or Erbvertrag (contract of inheritance), if applicable • Documents of the Bestattungspflichtiger (person responsible for arranging the burial) • valid personal identification documents, Meldebestätigung (registration confirmation) if applicable • Proof of income and assets • Mietvertrag (rental agreement) • Proof of housing costs • Proof of special financial burdens • Bank statements for all accounts • Erbschein (certificate of inheritance) or Erbausschlagung (renunciation of inheritance), if applicable • The scope of documents required, in particular proof of income and assets, depends on the particulars of the individual case.

• Antrag auf Übernahme von Bestattungskosten (application for assumption of funeral costs) www.berlin.de/formularverzeichnis/?formular=/soziales/soz/so • Anlage 3 über Grundvermögen (Annex 3 on real property) www.berlin.de/formularverzeichnis/?formular=/soziales/soz/so

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• Sozialgesetzbuch Zwölftes Buch (SGB XII) [Social Code Book Twelve] § 74 www.gesetze-im-internet.de/sgb_12/__74.html • Asylbewerberleistungsgesetz (AsylbLG) [Asylum Seekers' Benefits Act] §§ 2, 6 www.gesetze-im-internet.de/asylblg/ • Bestattungsgesetz [Burial Act] gesetze.berlin.de/bsbe/document/jlr-BestattGBEV11IVZ • Rundschreiben Nr. 04-2021 über Bestattungskosten nach § 74 SGB XII [Circular No. 04-2021 on funeral costs under § 74 SGB XII] sozialrecht.berlin.de/kategorie/rundschreiben/rs-soz-04-2021

• Berlin Social Law sozialrecht.berlin.de/

Responsibility generally lies with: • for deceased persons who received Sozialhilfe (social assistance): the Sozialhilfe provider from which the deceased person received social assistance • for deceased persons who did not receive Sozialhilfe: the Sozialhilfe provider of the place of death (with a Berlin registration address: the Amt für Soziales (social welfare office) of the residential district; without a Berlin registration address: the Amt für Soziales of the place of death).