Almost all of the children in Jyväskylä region are born at Central Finland General Hospital. The maternity unit sends the child’s birth details directly to the officials of the local registry. Based on this information, the child is given a personal identification number and pre-filled form “Notification of a child’s details” (Lapsen tietojen ilmoittaminen).
The pre-filled information on the form is based on the information held in the population register centre at the time of the birth of the child. The child’s parents will be entered automatically to the form if they are married. If the paternity is not established, the information about the father of the child will be entered at the later date when the district court has informed about the confirmation of the paternity.
At the same time with returning the “Notification of a child’s details”-form, the child’s parents must provide a written account of the child’s nationality to the officials of the local registry, if the child does not have Finnish nationality. The procedure is the same when the parents want to enter to the population registry also another nationality for the child who already has a Finnish nationality.
When born, the child will receive Finnish nationality if
The district that the mother has as her place of residence at the time of the child’s birth will also be entered for the child. Only the country and town is entered as a place of birth when the child is born abroad. If the mother does not have a registered place of residence in Finland when the child is born, the words “foreign country” (ulkomaat) will be entered as the child’s place of residence.
The parents must inform the officials of the registry of births at the local
registry, of the child’s first names, surname and mother tongue on the “Notification
of a child’s details”-form within two months after the birth.
The
child is allowed to have a maximum of three first names that the local registry
officials must approve of. A name that is unsuitable or the use of which could
cause obvious harm, will not be accepted as a first name.
The child’s surname will be determined in a following way:
According to the Finnish law, a person reaches his/her adulthood at the age of 18 and also gets the right to get married. Person who has reached the age of adulthood does not require a permission from the parents to get married. Person under the age of 18 can also get married with permission from the Ministry of Justice. Sexual intercourse with a person under the age of 16 is not permitted. Finnish people get married relatively late, women on average at the age of 28 and men at 30. One reason for this is that the young people want to study to get an occupation and to secure a job first before starting a family. Another reason is that may couples live together and even have children without actually getting married.
A marriage between close relatives is not permitted. According to this, marriage
is not permitted between
However, in the last two instances, a marriage is allowed with permission from the Ministry of Justice.
A man and a woman are engaged, when they have agreed
to marry each other.
According to the Marriage Act, the exchange of rings or engagement does not
require an announcement.
Marriage Act (234/1929) can be found on the internet at www.finlex.fi
Before getting married, the couple must ask together for the impediments of marriage to be investigated. By investigating the impediments of marriage, it is made certain that the marriage is legal. The request to investigate the impediments of marriage is made to the local registry office. The investigations on impediments of marriage can also be carried out by the parish of the Lutheran or the Orthodox Church of which either both or one of the couple is a member of. When requesting the investigation on impediments of marriage, the couple planning to get married must sign a declaration that confirms there are no impediments of marriage. The couple must also inform the authorities whether they have previously been married or not.
When the investigations on impediments of marriage have been carried out, the couple planning to get married will receive a certificate of it. The certificate must not be given before the seventh day after requesting to investigate the impediments of marriage. The certificate is valid for four months from the date of issue.
A citizen of foreign country must fill in and sing a “Request to investigate the impediments of marriage”-form (Pyyntö avioliiton esteiden tutkintaa varten). This form is available from the local registry office. In addition to this, a certificate given by the authorities of his/her home country about his/her marital status, which, according to the Finnish law, must state that the person is either single, divorced or widowed, and hand it to the local registry office. The certificate of a person’s marital status must be confirmed by an Apostille –stamp as set in the Hague-agreement signed in 1961. The Apostille –stamp is given either by the notary public or by another authority similar to that depending on the country. When a foreigner comes from a country that is not part of the Apostille-agreement, they must obtain a similar certificate from the notary public or another authority similar to that in their own country. After this, the Foreign Ministry of the country in question must validate the signature of the notary public. Also the Foreign Ministry’s signature must be validated by the Finnish consulate in that country.
If a foreigner is permanently living in Finland and all the necessary information of him needed for investigating the impediments of marriage is available from the Finnish population registry, the certificates given by the authorities in his/her own country are not needed. In this case, investigations for the impediments of marriage would be based on the population registry.
If a foreigner planning to get married is able to show that it is not possible
to get a declaration from his/her country, the investigator could, with permission
from the foreigner, investigate the impediments of marriage from other written
documentation that is considered reliable. If needed, the authority investigating
the impediments of marriage may ask from the Foreign Ministry or from the Foreign
Office for a statement on the factors affecting the reliability and sufficiency
of the declaration. They can also check from that foreign country whether it
is possible to receive any useful information that could be used in the investigations
for impediments of marriage.
Before marriage ceremony, the authority carrying out the ceremony must be notified of the surname that the family will have. The possible choices are the following:
At the same time of investigating the impediments of marriage, the couple will be given a leaflet about choosing the surname for the spouse and the children. It has to be noted that the chosen surname will also be a common surname for the children.
The marriage ceremony can be carried out in the church or in the local registry office after the investigations for the impediments of marriage has been carried out and the certificate of it given to the couple. The church wedding can be carried out in the Evangelical Lutheran Church, the Orthodox Church or other religious community that has received from the Ministry of Education the rights to carry out marriage ceremonies.
Church wedding
The marriage ceremony can be carried out at the church, at home or other place as agreed by the wedding couple and the church. If the wedding is to take place at the church, it is advisable to book it well in advance as the most popular churches are booked up even one year ahead. The place for the wedding ceremony and other things that are part of the actual ceremony are free for members of church. Additional decorations such as flower arrangements must be organised and paid for by the couple instead.
The marriage ceremony must have two witnesses whose names will be added in marriage announcement. The ceremony can be carried out in the church premises and the witnesses supplied by the church, if the wedding couple so wishes.
Civil marriage
The authorities carrying out civil marriages are Law Councillors, District Court Judges and District Registrars. The District Registrar carries out civil marriages at Jyväskylä registry office at Väinönkatu10, tel. 014 – 313 6511.
A relationship can be registered by an authority that has the right to carry out civil marriages. These are District Registrars as well as the District Court Law Councillors and Judges. Before registering the relationship it must always be investigated that there are no legal impediments for registration. Two people of the same sex can enter into the registered relationship if both of them are 18-years-old or over and neither is married or in another registered relationship. The relationship can be registered in Finland only if at least one of the couple has a Finnish nationality and has a place of residence in Finland or both of the couple has had a place of residence in Finland for a minimum of two years immediately prior to registering the relationship. Other nationalities could be considered equal to Finnish nationality if the country’s legislation about registered relationships is principally the same as in Finland.
Before getting their relationship registered, the couple must request together from the local registry office to investigate the impediments for registration of their relationship. They must also sign a declaration that there are no impediments for registering their relationship. When the investigations are carried out and there are no shown impediments, the couple will receive a certificate of it which is usually given seven days after the request. The certificate is valid for four months.
The relationship can be registered with both of the couple present at the same time. The couple will sign a document about registering the relationship in the absence of the authority carrying out the registering who will also confirm it with his/her signature. The registering of the relationship does not change the surname for either of the couple. Both parties will keep the surname they had before registering their relationship. A registered relationship has the same legal effect as a marriage does. A registered relationship can be annulled by a decision from the court in which case the divorce laws are applies.
A marriage can be annulled by a decision from the court. The couple can divorce
after a six month reconsideration period or after two years of being separated.
Divorce must be applied for with a written application that can be done either
together by both of the couple or one of them separately. The application must
be handed in to the office of the local District Court either in person or
by a representative, or it can be posted, faxed or sent by an e-mail. Investigations
are not carried out for why the couple wants to divorce or about their personal
relationships when looking into the divorce case. If only one of the couple
is seeking a divorce, it does not make any difference whether the other is
opposing or agreeing to it.
Jyväskylä District Court is placed at Vapaudenkatu 54, tel. 014 – 313
6211.
The sharing out of the possessions, maintenance, custody and visitation rights of the children will also be decided on at the same time with the decision of the divorce. The parents can also make an agreement on maintenance, custody and the visitation rights of the children with out the court. A written agreement must be drawn out and the social services must confirm it. The confirmed agreement is equal to that made by the court.
After the divorce is annulled, the possessions are shared out equally. The possessions can be shared out either by
When sorting out the couples’ relation to the possessions, it is always a good idea to get in touch with a solicitor, legal advice bureau or other professional legal adviser. Those on low income are able to get free legal aid funded by the state.
If the couple has made a prenuptial agreement either before or during their marriage, the possessions are not shared out equally. According to the prenuptial agreement, both of the couple will keep the possessions they had before the marriage. A loan taken alone by one of the couple will not be shared at the time of divorce even if there is no prenuptial agreement.
Additional information on all of the subjects mentioned earlier can be found
at www.suomi.fi in “asuminen
ja perhe/parisuhteet” (living and
family/relationships).
A death of a close relative causes sadness and confusion. However, many things need to be taken care of at the same time, like funeral arrangements. At times, it might seem like one does not have enough strength for all of this, but in a way, a funeral can help to get over this difficult period.
Most of the Finnish people are Christians and most belong to the Evangelical Lutheran Church. The Lutheran traditions often influence the funeral too. Permission for burial is needed from the doctor to be able to bury the deceased in Finland. A doctor will send the permission for burial to the person handling the funeral arrangements. This permission must then be taken to the parish funeral office after which the funeral can take place.
In addition to the funeral office of the city parish, the relatives must get in touch with a funeral parlour for, for example, the coffin or the urn, if needed. These private funeral parlours will offer help in almost everything when sorting out the funeral arrangements.
Burial place and funeral customs
The deceased is buried in Finland either in a coffin or in an urn. The city parish in Jyväskylä has two cemeteries: Seppälä Cemetery (Seppälän hautausmaa) on Laukaantie and the Old Cemetery on Puistokatu (Vanha hautausmaa). The crematorium in Jyväskylä is located at Seppälä Cemetery. In an urn burial the deceased can be buried either in coffin grave, columbarium, memorial grove or in a scatter area. In the memorial grove the ashes can be buried anonymously. If the family does not already have a burial place at Jyväskylä Cemetery, the place must be bought. Information on prises for burial places can be obtained from the city parish finance office.
Funeral service
Normally the funeral service is carried out at the chapel. The most common day for carrying out funerals is a Saturday, but other week-days are also possible. The funerals are not carried out on Sundays in Finland. The time for funeral will be agreed on at the funeral office and the arrangements of it at the church registry office. The services of the priest and the cantor are free of charge at one’s own parish.
In Finland, usually six of the relatives, colleges, neighbours or friends will be asked to be a pallbearer. A funeral parlour will arrange the pallbearers on request. According to the custom, the pallbearers who were the closest to the deceased will stand at a head end of the coffin. There are no pallbearers at the burial of an urn.
In Finland, people dress up in dark clothing for the funeral. Reading of the
Bible, priest’s speech, blessing and prayer play all a central role in
the ceremony. If the deceased is to be buried in a coffin, it will be carried
out of the chapel during the postlude. The pallbearers will wear their outer
clothing with their gloves and hat on. The mourners will see the deceased into
the grave close relatives joining in immediately behind the coffin and the
rest of the mourners will follow after. At the urn burial the urn will stay
at the chapel after the funeral service. About a week after the funeral service
the relatives will receive the urn that will be buried in the presence of one
of the close relatives. One of the cemetery keepers will be present during
this ceremony. Praying may take place during this ceremony too.
Flower arrangements and greetings
Flowers are laid on the coffin or the grave in Finland. Laying the flowers can take place either in the chapel or at the grave. If the laying of the flowers takes place at the chapel, they are usually laid after the ceremony. The way how this is done will be agreed on with the priest.
The close relatives will lay their flowers and greetings first. It is customary that while laying the flowers down, the names of the people or communities as well as the possible verse of remembrance is read out. After the flowers have been laid, a moment of silence is held at the coffin. After this, it is customary to bow as an offer of one’s condolences towards the close relatives of the deceased and withdraw from the coffin.
When the flowers are laid already in the chapel, they will be arranged on top of the covering of the grave without delay. The verses of remembrance will not then be read. After all the flowers have been laid, the mourners usually sing a hymn after which one of the relatives makes an invitation to the memorial service. The commemorative speeches and the reading of the cards of condolences will take place at the memorial service. The flowers at the urn burial will always be laid at the chapel.
Memorial service
Quite often people get together at the memorial service after the funeral. The place to hold the memorial service is chosen by the relatives of the deceased. This could be held, for example, at someone’s home. City parish often has also premises where memorial service could be held. A member of a city parish may use the premises free of charge. Additional information on these types of premises is available from the church registry office.
A picture of the deceased as well as flowers and a candle close to it is usually displayed at the memorial service. The relatives of the deceased can discuss the programme with the priest. The wish for the priest to be present at the memorial service should be presented to him ahead of time.
The reading of the cards of condolences, speeches, singing (usually hymns) and eating will take place at the memorial service. If the cantor is not present, it is a good idea to make sure one of the other people is able to start of the singing. At the end of the memorial service, one of the relatives of the deceased often thanks everyone for being there.
A burial place will be given for a fee from the cemetery to a person that does not belong to a church. The relatives must get in touch with the church registry office, if the use of the chapel is wished. They will provide some guidelines and the time for which the chapel will be booked.
If the relatives would like a priest to carry out the funeral service, they must ask the priest personally for this. The priest has the right to agree or to refuse after considering the case.
It is customary in Finland that a notice of death as well as the thanks for those being present is published in one of the daily newspapers. A daily newspaper for Jyväskylä area is called Keskisuomalainen. The notice can be written at the office of the newspaper where they also hold some examples of these notices.
A notice of the deceased is usually announced at the church service the following Sunday after the funeral. The relatives of the deceased often take part in this service too. It is customary that all of the deceased of the past year are remembered on All Saints’ Day.
In addition, a death can also be marked by flying a flag. On the day of the person’s death, the flag is held at half-mast until the evening. On the day of the funeral, the flag is at half-mast from the morning, but is raised at full-mast after the funeral ceremony.
It is customary in Finland that a permanent memorial stone is placed at the grave. However, there is not need to hurry with it. The caring of the burial place is the responsibility of the relatives. They can leave it to the cemetery caretakers of the city parish to be looked after for a fee. The agreement about looking after the burial place must be drawn at the office of the cemetery chargé d`affaires.
Cemetery chargé d`affaires
Laukaantie 5
Tel. 014 – 636 623 and 014 – 636 643
On-call priest
Puistokatu 20
Tel. 014 – 636 406
Jyväskylä Crematorium
Kuormaajantie 10
Tel. 014 – 636 401
Seppälä Cemetery Office
opening times: Mon-Fri 8.00am – 3.30pm
Tel. 014 – 636 405
Old Cemetery Office
opening times: Mon-Fri 8.00am – 3.30pm
Tel. 014 – 636 601
Cemetery and park office
opening times: Mon-Fri 8.00am – 3.00pm
Tel. 014 – 636 401
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