Autopsies

In accordance with Establishment of Cause of Death Act, a legal protection agency (the police) may, on the basis of specific indications, refer a deceased individual for forensic medical examination or investigation in order to establish the cause of his or her death.

An autopsy is then performed by the regional forensic department of the Institute in the service area in which the deceased individual died.

After the autopsy a death certificate is issued to the next of kin of the deceased. For further information, please contact the relevant regional forensic medical department.

The holding of deceased individuals referred for forensic medical examination or investigation is free of charge from the date of the ruling issued by the legal protection agency or the date of the production of the delivery note until the deceased’s body is released. Bodies are released from the Institute after autopsies in an appropriate state in a body bag. Bodies are not clothed. Bodies are released to funeral homes based on an authorisation document.

An extract from the forensic autopsy report is issued to the next of kin upon request for information.

Instructions for relatives of a foreign citizen whose cause of death was determined by the Estonian Forensic Science Institute

The Institute shall issue a death certificate in Estonian to the next of kin or authorised representative of the deceased if the foreign citizen has an Estonian personal identification code.

If a foreign citizen does not have an Estonian personal identification code, the Institute shall issue documents in Estonian to the next of kin or authorised representative of the deceased, certifying the fact of death and including information on the cause of death. In this case, the death must be registered with the local government of the county centre of Estonia.

If a death certificate needs to be submitted to an authority of the state of citizenship or residence of the deceased, it is possible to apply for a death certificate from the local government of the county centre of Estonia on a multilingual internationally used form.

If the deceased's relatives wish to transport the body or urn containing the ashes of the deceased to another country, the requirements in force in the country of destination must be complied with. For more detailed information, it is recommended to contact the foreign mission of the country concerned in Estonia or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Information on the organisation of cross-border transport of the body or urn and the estimated costs can be obtained from funeral homes.

For more information, please contact EFSI