Burial place and tombstone

Grave- family or a new grave

If there is a family grave then the choice can be easy. To be buried in a family grave you need to know who is the current registered owner of the grave and then fill in a form called a ”Försäkran om gravöppning” which you can get from the funeral director’s or download from Kyrkogårdsförvaltningen.

To arrange a new grave you contact the cemetery administration in the parish where you would like the burial to be. You are entitled to a burial place in the district in which you live. If the wish is that the ashes are to be spread you can choose the memorial site or cemetery that you feel is the best for the deceased or for yourself.

• Casket grave – where the casket or urn may be buried.
• Urn grave – where only an urn may be buried.
• Community burial ground for ashes can be seen as something between a memorial garden and an urn burial ground, the ashes are lowered into the ground in a velvet pouch and the family may be present during the burial, and a small stone slab is laid over the grave inscribed with the deceased’s name. You may not decorate this grave with lanterns or flowers, this is allowed at another designated area of the burial ground. There are presently only two such burial grounds in Stockholm, Galärvarvet and Skogskyrkogården, but more are under development.
• Memorial grounds in some memorial grounds you can choose between burial or spreading of the ashes, but the family is not allowed to be present when this happens, instead you receive a letter when this has been done.
• Columbarium the urn is placed in a niche and covered with a stone slab which is inscribed with the name. In this case an imperishable urn is required
• Spreading of ashes over water, for this you need permission from Länstyrelsen where you need to state as exactly as possible where and when this will take place.