Family and children / Chapter 25
Scope: money. This section only covers how to get the procedures done and how to collect the money. That includes what to do first right after the person dies, and which fees have a list you can check. It also covers which money sitting in which accounts can be taken back, and which matters close relatives have the right to handle in person. The first 5 items follow the order in which things happen: the scene, the death certificate, the body and cremation, what to do if you disagree with the cause of death, and canceling the hukou (户口 — household registration). Arrangements an older person should make while still alive, such as intended guardianship (意定监护 — a guardian named by agreement in advance), a will, and accounts, are in Section 17. The 3 benefits for a work-related death are in Section 19.
The funeral part follows the new Funeral Management Regulations, in force from March (3) 30, 2026. How the funeral allowance and the survivor allowance under the pension are calculated is in item 9 (housing provident fund balance and social insurance benefits).
For a death by accident, a death nobody can explain, or a death found only after a long time living alone, if there was no treatment at a hospital, the police issue the death certificate. …
If the person died in a hospital, get the death certificate from the place that handled the treatment. For a natural death at home, get it from the community health service for that area, or from the township health center. …
Transport, storage, embalming, cosmetic preparation, and cremation can only be done by a funeral home. A hospital morgue does not handle the funeral. At most, it lets the body stay there for a short while. …
If you doubt the cause of death, the autopsy has to be done within 48 hours after the person dies. If the hospital can freeze the body, that can be extended to 7 days. The autopsy needs a close relative's signed consent. …
In cities, you must cancel hukou registration before burial; in rural areas, you must do it within one month. Bring the death certificate and household register to the police station to complete the process. …
Transporting the body, storing it, the farewell, cremation, storing the ashes, and ecological burial are all on the national list of basic items. Burial in an ash niche provided by a public institution is on that list too. …
The price violations the regulations name are: not posting a price list, adding money on top of the marked price, bundling funeral goods and forcing you to buy them, and forcing you to accept another provider's paid service. …
Funeral agents, buyers of funeral goods, planners and hosts, and information consultants have to register with the county-level civil affairs bureau. …
Heirs can withdraw the housing provident fund (公积金 — mandatory housing savings) balance. It is not in a bank account, so it is easy to miss. Money left in the individual account of the basic pension can also be inherited. …
After the person has died, close relatives, for their own lawful and proper interests, can ask the platform to access, copy, correct, or delete the deceased's personal information. …
When a person dies, the debts they owed do not disappear with them. But heirs such as the children and the spouse repay only with the share of the estate they inherited. They do not pay the shortfall out of their own pocket. …
If the deceased's deposits at 1 bank add up to no more than 50000 yuan, the spouse, the children, and the parents can withdraw them with the documents, and they do not need a notary. …
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