When someone dies in the Netherlands, call a doctor first – the family doctor (huisarts) during the day, or the out-of-hours GP service (huisartsenpost) at night and at weekends. The doctor confirms the death and issues the papers needed before the body can be moved. The death is then registered with the municipality, which must happen before the burial or cremation. By law the burial or cremation takes place no earlier than 36 hours and no later than the sixth working day after death(article 16, Dutch Burial and Cremation Act). Weekends and public holidays do not count as working days – many English-language sources get this wrong and say five or six calendar days.
You are never legally obliged to use a funeral home in the Netherlands, and almost nothing has to be decided on the first night. Your loved one may stay at home until the funeral if you wish, as long as cooling is arranged. Registering the death with the municipality, choosing between burial and cremation, and every question about cost can wait until the next day. To find a funeral director, call +31 6 45 10 06 08. We listen, then we find an independent funeral director near you who usually calls you back within thirty minutes.
Past the first hours already? Then read arranging a funeral in the Netherlands – what it costs, how the six-working-day deadline is counted, what a Dutch funeral insurance covers, and how repatriation abroad is arranged. This page is about the hours right after a death.
A note on language: our wider website is in Dutch, but every page can be translated instantly (right-click → "Translate to English" in Chrome or Edge). Call us in English or Dutch, and we refer you to an independent funeral director who works in English, including for repatriation.
What to do when someone dies in the Netherlands
Whether you call them a funeral director, an undertaker, an uitvaartverzorger or a begrafenisondernemer, the process below is the same.
These are the six steps, in order.
- First call: the family doctor (huisarts), or 112 if the death is unnatural
- Second call:+31 6 45 10 06 08 – we find a funeral director who usually calls you back within thirty minutes
- Legal deadline: burial or cremation between 36 hours and the sixth working day after death (art. 16 Wlb)
- Obligation: none – you are never required to use a funeral home in the Netherlands
- Cost: cremation from circa €7,000–€9,500, burial from circa €9,000–€12,000, a quiet cremation from around €3,000 – see the full cost breakdown
- Repatriation: possible from the Netherlands and often covered by insurance – the documents you need
- Death certificate: €17.80 per copy, the same rate in every Dutch municipality
Call a doctor first
Contact the family doctor (huisarts) or the out-of-hours GP service (huisartsenpost). The doctor confirms the death and issues the certificate of death, plus a sealed envelope stating the cause of death – which you must not open. Without these papers nothing else can proceed. If the death is unnatural, dial 112.
Call us, and cooling starts
After the doctor's visit, cooling must begin. A cooling plate or blanket allows you to keep your loved one at home – fully legal, and for many families a comforting choice. Call +31 6 45 10 06 08 and we find an independent funeral director near you, who usually calls back within thirty minutes and brings the equipment.
Register the death
The death is registered at the municipality where it occurred, and this must happen before the funeral takes place. In practice the funeral director does this for you. You receive the death certificate and the permit for burial, cremation or transport abroad. Extra copies currently cost €17.80 each.
Choose burial, cremation or repatriation
The farewell must take place no earlier than 36 hours and no later than the sixth working day after death (art. 16 Wlb). Weekends and public holidays are not working days. Under art. 17, the mayor may set a different deadline – for religious reasons, or to let family travel from abroad.
Arrange the farewell
Notices, flowers, music, catering and the ceremony are arranged directly with the funeral director we refer you to. Dutch law leaves a great deal of freedom here – including for religious and cultural rituals. The director works to your wishes, not to a fixed package.
Aftercare and paperwork
Notify banks, insurers, pension funds and the tax authorities. A notary issues the verklaring van erfrecht (certificate of inheritance) you need to access accounts. The inheritance tax return is now due within 20 months of the death – see the note below.
Understand the deadlines: the 36-hour rule and the six-working-day count
The 36-hour rule, in practice
The 36-hour minimum exists so that a death is never rushed past a possible medical or legal check. It is counted from the moment of death, not from the doctor's visit. In practice it is rarely the constraint that matters – the six-working-day maximum is.
Where the 36 hours does matter is for an Islamic or Jewish farewell, where tradition asks for burial as soon as possible. A burial or cremation within 36 hours is allowed only with the mayor's permission and in agreement with the public prosecutor(art. 17 Wlb) – a higher bar than a simple postponement. This is arranged by the funeral director; call us and we find an independent one near you.
Counting the six working days – a worked example
Someone dies on a Friday evening. Saturday and Sunday do not count. The count starts on Monday, so working days one to five run Monday to Friday, and the sixth working day is the following Monday. That is ten calendar days – considerably more room than the "five days" or "six days" many English-language guides state. If a public holiday falls in that window, you gain another day. Need it the other way, sooner rather than later? See arranging a funeral over a weekend or public holiday(Dutch, translatable).
Where did the death happen?
The steps above are the same everywhere, but the first hour looks different depending on where your loved one died.
Open your situation below.
Find your situation – at home, in hospital, in care, or a sudden death
At home
You call the huisarts or huisartsenpost yourself. Nothing is urgent in the first hour – take your time. Your loved one may stay at home until the funeral, with cooling.
In hospital, hospice or a care home
The institution's doctor confirms the death. Cooling and preparation for transport are usually at the institution's cost; laying out and viewing are not.
Sudden or unnatural death
Dial 112. A municipal coroner and often the public prosecutor are involved, and the body is released only afterwards. This can extend the timeline.
Died abroad, but lived here?
If your loved one died outside the Netherlands and you want to bring them here, the process runs in reverse: the local authorities issue the death certificate and the laissez-passer, and a Dutch permit for burial or cremation is still required. The consulate of the country where the death occurred can guide you on local exit formalities. Read more (Dutch, translatable) or call us on +31 6 45 10 06 08.
The first 24 hours – what must happen, and what can wait
Almost nothing about a Dutch funeral has to be decided today – two things do, and everything else can wait until you have slept.
The hours right after a death feel like an emergency, and families abroad often start making decisions in the middle of the night that they were never required to make. Here is the honest split.
Today, before anything else
- A doctor must confirm the death. The family doctor (huisarts) during office hours, the out-of-hours GP service (huisartsenpost) at night and at weekends. If the death is sudden or unnatural, dial 112. Until the doctor has been, nothing else can proceed.
- Cooling has to begin. Once the doctor has been, your loved one needs to be cooled. A cooling plate or blanket makes it possible to keep them at home, which is entirely legal in the Netherlands.
That really is the whole list. One call to a doctor, and one call to arrange cooling.
This can wait until tomorrow, or longer
- The coffin, the flowers, the music and the shape of the ceremony
- The notices, and deciding who to tell and when
- Registering the death with the municipality – the funeral director does this, and it only has to be done before the burial or cremation
- Banks, insurers, pension funds and the tax authorities
- The notary and the verklaring van erfrecht (certificate of inheritance)
- The inheritance tax return, which is due within 20 months of the death
None of this becomes harder for waiting a night.
Why the rush you feel is not in the law
Dutch law sets a minimum of 36 hours between the death and the burial or cremation, counted from the moment of death – and a maximum of the sixth working day(article 16, Dutch Burial and Cremation Act). Weekends and public holidays are not working days. A death on a Friday evening therefore often leaves ten calendar days, not five. The pressure is real, but it is not coming from the deadline.
If you need it the other way – sooner than 36 hours, as an Islamic or Jewish farewell may ask – the mayor can grant an exemption under article 17, in agreement with the public prosecutor. The funeral director arranges this.
One call, and an English-speaking director calls you back
We are not a funeral home and we do not carry out funerals ourselves: we listen to your situation and put you in touch with an independent funeral director near you.
We are not a funeral home and we do not sell packages. We are an independent referral point: you call, we listen, and we find a self-employed funeral director in your area who works in English. They usually call you back within thirty minutes and then arrange the funeral with you directly.
No financial steer
We are tied to no funeral home and no chain. Our referral fee is the same with every director we work with, so we have no reason to send you to one rather than another.
Fast
One call to 06-45100608 and a funeral director near you usually calls back within thirty minutes, day or night, weekend or holiday.
In English
We speak English on the phone, and we refer you to directors who do too – including at the municipality counter.
- An independent funeral director near you, who usually calls back within thirty minutes
- A director who works in English, across all 12 provinces and Belgian Limburg
- Home viewing and cooling arranged
- Registration with the municipality handled for you
- Burial, cremation, natural burial or repatriation
- Religious and cultural farewells
- A written quote before anything begins
Common scenarios for international families
Every loss is unique, but these are situations we regularly help with.
If any feel familiar, you're in the right place.
See the situations we help with – and religious & cultural farewells
Your partner died and family is far away
You face the Dutch system alone. One call, and a funeral director near you takes on the arrangements – in English.
You want a ceremony that honours your culture
Dutch rules are flexible and leave room for ritual washing, an open or closed coffin, and a farewell shaped around your tradition. Call us and we find an independent funeral director near you, and you discuss the form of the farewell with them directly.
Language is a barrier at official appointments
Municipality and hospital conversations can be overwhelming. The funeral director we refer you to handles the registration for you.
Religious and cultural farewells in the Netherlands
Dutch law leaves room for ritual washing, an open or closed coffin, and a burial or cremation shaped entirely around your tradition. Where speed is required – as in an Islamic or Jewish farewell – the mayor can grant an exemption from the 36-hour minimum under article 17, in agreement with the public prosecutor.
Islamic
· Jewish
· Hindu
· Buddhist
· Christian
· Humanist
(Dutch pages – right-click to translate. Or call and we explain in English.)
The questions families ask in the first hours
First, stay with your loved one, then call the family doctor (huisarts) or, at night and weekends, the out-of-hours GP service (huisartsenpost). The doctor confirms the death and issues the papers needed before the body can be moved. For an unnatural death, call 112. Then call us and we find an independent funeral director near you.
You are never legally obliged to use a funeral company in the Netherlands. You may organise the funeral yourself, or engage an independent funeral director only for specific tasks such as transport or paperwork. This is often less expensive than a full-service package. Call us and we find an independent director who works this way.
Only with permission, and the bar is higher than for a postponement. Under article 17 the mayor may set a different deadline, but a burial or cremation within 36 hours needs the public prosecutor's agreement. This route is used for Islamic and Jewish farewells. Call us and we find an independent funeral director near you, who applies for it.
Call the out-of-hours GP service (huisartsenpost), which is available day and night. A death at night or the weekend does not need to be handled instantly, and nothing is lost by taking an hour to gather yourself. Weekend days and public holidays do not count towards the six-working-day deadline, so you have more calendar time than you might expect.
No. We speak English on the phone, and we refer you to an independent funeral director who works in English, including for the conversation with the municipality. Our wider website is in Dutch because most of our visitors live in the Netherlands, but any page can be translated instantly with a right-click in Chrome or Edge, or through Google Translate.
The death is still registered with the municipality where it occurred, whether or not the person was in the Dutch population register. Dutch law does not restrict burial or cremation to residents, so a farewell here is possible either way. Bring the passport and, if available, the residence permit. Call us and we find an independent funeral director near you.
Yes. Keeping the deceased at home is legal in the Netherlands and is a common choice. Cooling must start after the doctor has confirmed the death, using a cooling plate or blanket the funeral director brings. If home is not practical, a funeral centre or mortuary is the alternative. Call us and we find a director who arranges it.
In practice, comfortably through the legal window. A cooling plate under the body, or a blanket over it, slows the natural process enough to bridge the days until the burial or cremation. The funeral director delivers, installs and collects the equipment. Warm weather and the room affect what is realistic, so ask the director to assess it on the spot.
Where to read on
These pages are in Dutch – right-click and translate, or call us and we explain in English.
Browse related topics – costs, home viewing, weekends and aftercare
Call now, or call in an hour – we are here either way
There is no rush to decide everything at once. Call us and we find an independent funeral director near you, who usually calls you back within thirty minutes and then arranges the funeral with you directly. The call to us is free and commits you to nothing.
- No pressure, no commitment
- An independent director near you, in English
- Usually a call back within thirty minutes, day or night
- All 12 provinces and Belgian Limburg
Reach us directly
Call at any hour, or write first – just mention you'd like to proceed in English.
Call: +31 6 45 10 06 08 Contact form (Dutch, translatable)
