RULES

Rules for the Use of Tallinn Cemeteries

APPROVED
by Regulation No 155
of Tallinn City Government

from June 11, 1993
  Rules for the Use of Tallinn Cemeteries

I General part

1. The present rules are obligatory for all the public cemeteries located in the administrative territory of Tallinn and meant for the general use.

2. In establishing, managing and using Tallinn cemeteries, laws of the Republic of Estonia, other legislation and the present rules are proceeded from.

3. The cemetery has to be surrounded by the fence. The cemetery shall be divided into marked sections. The plan of cemetery shall be put to the main entries where there are the office, chapel, sections, historical and cultural graves and other sights marked.

4. On the notice-board by the office there shall be office hours, list of services, name and address of the company managing the cemetery.

II Allotment of burial places

5. The company managing the cemetery shall deal with allotment of burial places, burials, maintenance of cemetery and graves.

6. The list shall be maintained of the funeral, also alphabetical list of the persons buried and mapping of the burial places. The data of the user of burial place, date of allotting the burial place, location of burial place, names of the buried persons and dates of funerals and scheme of graves shall be entered on the map of burial place. Signature by the user of burial place about knowing the rules of the cemetery shall be taken to the map of burial place.

7. The burial place free of charge shall be allotted to the natural person according to the death certificate for 25 years based on the detailed plan without formalising the land allotment. At the end of the term the user of the burial place or his/her beneficiary (authorised person) shall have the right to extend the term of allotment for the next 25 years. The unextended burial places shall be legalised and allotted to a new user.

8. The purpose of the burial place may be either for burying coffins or urns. The burial place shall be allotted according to the wish of the person burying for one or two persons (in case of coffin grave) with the relevant dimensions of 1,5x2,5 or 2,5x2,5 m. In exceptional cases up to four-person burial place may be allotted in coordination with the unit of the City Government organising cemetery management. In general, legalised burial places shall be allotted with their original form and size.

9. In exceptional cases the burial place can also be allotted through the legal person. Exceptions can be made with the permit of unit of City Government organising the cemetery management.

III The use of burial place

10. The user of the burial place is the person to whom the place has been allotted. He/she shall have the right to determine the next user. If the user of the burial place has not been formalised in the cemetery documents in written form, the right of use shall belong to the last person who buried. The user may, based on the certified letter of authority, allow other persons to use the burial place. In other cases the director of the company managing the cemetery shall determine the use of the burial place.

11. Giving up the use of burial place shall take place according to the written application of the user submitted to the director of the company. After receiving the application the burial place shall be legalised and allotted to the new user. In case of graves under protection this shall happen in special coordination with the City Government.

12. The user of the burial place shall organise or compensate the damages caused to the neighbouring burial place during the funeral within three days starting from causing the damage.

13. Points of dispute regarding the use of the burial place shall be solved by the director of the company.

IV Burial

14. The funeral ceremony shall take place by the grave, in chapel, church, home of the deceased or in a place prepared for this.

15. Reburial of the dead persons may be done in exceptional cases with the permit by City Government, in coordination with the Health Protection Service.

16. The funeral shall be formalised after the person burying has submitted the death certificate, shown the place for grave in the burial place and paid for the services ordered. In summer season (from April 16 till November 30) the funeral has to be formalised by 10 a.m. on the date before the funeral at the latest. In winter season (from December 1 till April 15) two days before the funeral.

17. Temporary removal and replacement of gravestones and other grave structures that hinder the funeral shall take place at the expense of the one who buries.

18. Digging the grave shall be performed by arrangements of the cemetery worker. The burial and design of the grave mound shall take place in participation of the cemetery worker.

19. In general, the funerals are not organised on Sundays, Mondays and holidays.

20. The burial shall take place with the coffin. Cremated ashes can be buried (also in coffin grave) with an urn or without it.

21. The depth of the coffin grave must be at least 1,5 m from the ground. After relevant examination the next coffin could be buried in the same grave when 15 years have passed from the last burial.

22. The burial place shall be organised after the funeral by the user of the burial place if not otherwise specified in the internal procedure rules of the particular cemetery.

V Maintenance of the burial place

23. When maintaining the burial place the design principle of the cemetery and design requirements set in detailed plan shall be followed.

24. The user of the burial place shall be responsible for the maintenance of the burial place. The user of the burial place shall be obliged to mark the burial place. The graves under protection shall have the special marking. Unorganised burial place shall be marked with the warning label. If the burial place is not organised within 1 year, the burial place shall be legalised and the current right of use shall be terminated.

25. The company managing the cemetery can also maintain the burial place according to the agreement between the user and the company.

VI Grave structures

26. Grave marks and structures (incl. the plants) that have been put up in the burial place are the part of cemetery's design and their placement, moving and removing shall be performed according to design requirements of the cemetery. The grave structures built by the individual and legal persons are their possessions. If design requirements of the cemetery are not followed, the user of the burial place shall be warned. If one year has passed from warning, the grave marks and structures that do not meet the requirements shall be removed at the expense of the user of burial place

27. Grave marks, structures and green area must stay within the boundaries of the burial place.

28. Grave structures (gravestones, concrete and stone edges and other) must be built by the user of the burial place so that there would be no risk of falling down of structures when digging a new neighbouring grave.

29. The company managing the cemetery shall have the right to remove or determine the removal of fences, trees and bushes that spoil the impression of the cemetery. Previously, the relevant proposal shall be made to the user of the burial place.

VII Burial places protected as the historical and art memorials

30. For the historical and art memorials located at the cemetery the managing company shall establish the protection obligation between the user of the burial place and the possessor of the memorials, by which it requires them to keep an eye on the condition of burial places and maintain as prescribed.

31. All the changes in the protected burial places must be coordinated according to the current procedure.

32. If the user of the protected burial place gives up further maintenance of the place, the right of possession of the protected burial place shall go to the company managing the cemetery.

VIII Liability

33. The person violating the current rules shall be liable as provided by the law

The Procedure for Building Grave Structures at Tallinn Cemeteries

APPROVED
by the order No 16
of the director of Tallinna Kalmistud
from April 9, 2002

Based on the rules for the use of Tallinn cemeteries that have been approved by Regulation No 155 of Tallinn City Government from June 11,1993, the following procedures has been established at Tallinn cemeteries:

1. The possessor of the burial place who has been registered in the cemetery register shall have the right to build grave structures in the burial place.

2. The grave structures are edges of the burial place, grave monuments, higher green area.

3. The possessors of the burial places who wish to build grave structures (edges, grave marks, hedges, trees) themselves must turn to the management of the cemetery and submit the description or the drawing of the structure to be built for coordination and obtain the relevant permit.

4. Constructional works, earthwork and other works can be performed at Tallinn cemeteries as the service works only by registered legal persons and the self-employed persons. The permit for working at the cemetery shall be issued by the person responsible in the establishment Tallinna Kalmistud, which manages the cemetery.

5. For the consent the following has to be submitted:
5.1. valid copy of B-card of the commercial register or registration certificate of the Tax Board.
5.2. description of the service provided, drawings of structures and price calculations.
5.3. copies of procurement contracts of construction materials.

6. Grave structures which are built without authorisation and do no meet the requirements established at the cemetery, shall be removed within 1 month starting from warning the possessor.

7. If the rules for the use of cemeteries are ignored, it shall bring along administrative responsibility.

Tallinna Kalmistud

34 Kalmistu Road, Tallinn

Phone: 672 2350

The Rules for the Use of Tallinn Metsakalmistu Cemetery

1. General part

1.1 By the present rules the procedure for the allotment (burial), use and maintenance of the burial places at the Tallinn Metsakalmistu Cemetery has been established. In applying the rules "The Rules for the Use of Tallinn Cemeteries" shall be proceeded from.

1.2 Metsakalmistu Cemetery has been divided:

1.2.1 grave sections (A) where allotment of the burial places, burial and maintenance of the burial places shall take place according to the general procedure (part of the Uus-Kloostrimetsa Cemetery);
1.2.2 grave sections (B), which is meant to be the resting place of the remarkable persons of Estonian public life, and the allotment of the burial places shall take place through legal persons (associations of the institutions or citizens representing the relevant field).

2. The user of the burial places

2.1 The user of the burial place of Metsakalmistu Cemetery shall be the natural person to whom the burial place has been allotted at the cemetery (A section), or the legal person to whom the grave section(s) has(have) been allotted at the cemetery or delimited part of the grave section (B sections).

3. Allotment of burial places and grave locations

3.1 Upon allotment of the burial place and the grave section the user of the burial place shall enter into a written agreement with the company managing the cemetery, which conforms to the form established by the Municipal Engineering Services Department. In the contract the terms of the use of the burial place or the section and design requirements shall be specified, also liabilities of the user of burial place and the company maintaining the cemetery shall be defined for the maintenance of the burial place.

3.2 The agreement shall be entered into with the duration until the end of allotment term of the burial place, whereby the terms may be reviewed once a year if requested by the parties, depending on the change in the prices and cost-of-living index.

3.3 Allotment of burial places in A grave sections for the coffin funerals shall take place for the purpose of connecting the burial places of families that have been buried at the Metsakalmistu Cemetery. The burial place shall be allotted to the natural person by the company managing the cemetery according to the death certificate and written application by the person burying where there are data of family members that have been buried at the Metsakalmistu Cemetery. Allotment of the burial place requires concluding the contract for use.

3.4 In A grave sections the burial place shall be allotted in case of the coffin grave for one or two person place according to the wish of the person who buries. The burial place for up to four persons shall be allotted in exceptional cases in coordination with the Municipal Engineering Services Department. Allotment of the family burial place or the grave place in A grave sections is possible for reburial from Metsakalmistu B grave sections.

3.5 In A grave sections allotment of burial places or grave places for burying ash urns shall take place according to the general procedure. The burial place of the grave place shall be allotted to the natural person by the company managing the cemetery according to the death certificate and written application by the person burying, whereby connecting the families that have been buried at the Metsakalmistu Cemetery is not required. It is only required to conclude the contract for use. The use of urn place or grave place at the Metsakalmistu Cemetery shall not be the basis for applying for allotment of the burial place.

3.6 In B grave sections allotment of the burial places to the legal persons shall take place according to the permit by the Municipal Engineering Services Department.

3.7 Burying in B grave section requires an application by the person burying and an application by the legal person using the burial place.

3.8 Connecting the families in B grave sections is allowed as the urn funeral when design and protection requirement are followed and upon consent of the legal person using the burial place.

3.9 Allotment of the legal share from B section or the part of it to another legal person shall take place by the company managing the cemetery according to the application by the user of the burial place in coordination with the Municipal Engineering Services Department, whereby the precontract between the legal persons is required for determining the main user.

4. Keeping order and maintenance of the burial places

4.1 The user of the burial place shall guarantee the order in the burial place and follow the design requirement, also the order and maintenance of the bypaths between the burial places (bypaths in B sections) with paying the relevant costs if not otherwise specified in the contract.

4.2 The company managing the cemetery shall guarantee the general maintenance of the cemetery, forest maintenance and publicly available cemetery structures, fences, general roads besides contractual obligations.

4.3 In addition to the cemetery services provided by the contract, the user of the burial place can order additional services for the design and maintenance of the burial place while following the terms of contract. Additional services can be ordered to the single grave place of B section coordinated by the user of the burial place and on his/her responsibility.

4.4 After funeral the burial place shall be maintained by its user who shall also eliminate the damages caused to the neighbouring burial place during the funeral within three days starting from causing them. If this obligation is not performed within a week after a warning label has been left on the grave, the company managing the cemetery shall eliminate the caused damages and organise the grave(s) at the expense of the user of the burial place.