The person reporting the estate now plays a more pivotal role

The register of estate shareholders, which will be introduced in 2027, will gather key information concerning the shareholders in one place, making transactions of the estates of deceased persons easier. The register makes up-to-date shareholder information available to the death estate’s shareholders and professionals and reduces the need for separate reports. The person reporting the estate plays a key role as the party who supplements the register information and verifies its correctness.

The change applies to death estates that are formed after the change enters into force. The estates that have been formed before the change becomes effective still need traditional reports on family relationships.

The information in the register of estate shareholders is subject to a fee in the same way as the current reports on family relationships.

Extensive information content of the register of estate shareholders 

The basic information in the register of estate shareholders is imported from the Finnish Population Information System and the registers of churches and the National Archives of Finland.  The register of estate shareholders also contains information imported from the Register of Guardianship Affairs, the Register of Marital Contract Affairs and the register of marriage rights.

For the purpose of the estate inventory deed, the register of estate shareholders contains the following information on the estate, in the form of a list of shareholders: 

• details of the legal heirs
• marriage details
• information on secondary heirs if the deceased or previously deceased spouse had no direct heirs
• information recorded in the Register of Marital Contract Affairs and the register of marriage rights
• details of the trustee and the attorney
• contact details of the above from the population information system.

The register also contains decisions made by authorities that affect the death estate’s situation and transactions. These include information on the appointment of an estate administrator, an attachment of an inheritance share, and the bankruptcy of the death estate.

The person reporting the estate supplements information and verifies that it is correct

The person reporting the estate will play a key role in maintaining the death estate’s shareholder information. They can provide, for example:

• the person reporting the estate and the contact person
• information related to marital rights 
• details of the will
• information on renunciations of inheritance
• information on changes in shareholder status 
• shareholders living abroad
• the secondary beneficiary of the will, that is, the person or other party to whom the property is transferred after the first beneficiary.

The person reporting the estate can add information at their own pace. Once the information is complete and is unlikely to change, they can verify that the shareholder information is correct. The information can be verified as correct before the estate inventory, but no later than in connection with the estate inventory. Responsibility for the information is transferred to the reporting party as soon as the information is verified as correct. Under certain conditions, the information in the register of estate shareholders can achieve public reliability after the estate inventory.

Shareholder register data can be accessed through APIs and as certificates

In the first phase, the information in the register of estate shareholders is available in the electronic estate inventory deed and inheritance tax returns in MyTax.  In the future, you can also build APIs in the register of estate shareholders for different parties to use.  If necessary, you can also order information in the form of paper certificates.

We help shareholders and persons authorised by death estates handle their affairs smoothly through Suomi.fi e-Authorizations. Service providers should note that you need Suomi.fi e-Authorizations to prepare an estate inventory deed in MyTax. 

The register of estate shareholders serves the entire life cycle of an estate

“The register has value for use as long as the estate remains undistributed. It can mean several years or longer. The information stays up to date because it is imported from the Population Information System and the Register of Guardianship Affairs. Of course, the person reporting the estate must also ensure, for their part, that the information is up to date,” says Hannu Mäkelä. 

It will be interesting to see how the information in the register of estate shareholders will be used in the future. This is a good start, and its usage will certainly expand with time.