Succession Register
National register
The Succession Register compiles data on succession proceedings, succession certificates, the community of the estate and rights relating to wills. The register helps to ensure that information relating to succession is accessible and reliable for both citizens and public authorities.
What is the Succession Register?
The Succession Register is an electronic register for data on succession proceedings, certificates of succession, the disposal of a share of the community of an estate, wills, succession contracts and estate management measures. Entries in the Succession Register are mainly made by notaries. Entries in the Succession Register are also made by courts regarding estate management measures.
What kinds of data are entered?
Data on succession proceedings, certificates of succession, the disposal of a share of the community of the estate, wills, succession contracts and estate management measures are entered in the Succession Register.
Who enters the data?
Data are entered in the Succession Register mainly by notaries.
In addition to notaries, courts and consular officials also have the right to make entries in the Succession Register.
Data entered into the register by a court concerns:
• the implementation and termination of estate management measures;
• the determination of successors.
A consular officer enters the data of wills in the register.
How can I view the data?
Anyone can access the data in the Succession Register:
- via the self-service portal of the Chamber of Notaries;
- via the state portal;
- at a notary’s office.
How does it work?
The Succession Register is kept only electronically.
The Chamber of Notaries has been keeping the Succession Register since 1 January 2015.
What data can be obtained from the Succession Register?
The following data about the bequeather can be obtained from the Succession Register:
- whether succession proceedings have been initiated;
- whether succession proceedings have been completed and who the successors are;
- whether the successors have renounced shares of the community of the estate;
- whether the bequeather had made a will;
- whether management measures of the estate have been implemented.
How do I request data from the inheritance register?
You can request data from the inheritance register:
- via the self-service portal of the Chamber of Notaries;
- via the state portal.
You must log in to the information portal using your ID card, Mobile-ID or Smart-ID to use the service. Select the user role ‘Citizen’ even if the query is made by an official.
You must know the bequeather’s first name and surname as well as their personal identification code (if the person has been issued with an Estonian personal identification number) to search the register.
What should I do if I cannot find the information in the register?
The search result only displays the data that have been entered at the time the search was made.
If a search is made about a deceased person but no record is found in the register, this means that succession proceedings have not yet been initiated and the successors have not yet been ascertained. Succession proceedings must be conducted to ascertain the successors. A successor, a creditor of the bequeather, a legatee or any other person with rights in respect of the estate has the right to initiate succession proceedings. If the search result indicates that the deceased had made a will, this does not mean that their successor has been ascertained.
You can find more information about succession and bequeathing on our succession web portal.
Issuing of certificates
A notary may issue a certificate from the Succession Register or certify a printout of the registry card. The fee depends on the form:
- fee for a printout on paper: €3.84
- digital printout €5.76 (the amounts include VAT)
Important links
Searching the Succession Register
Notarial acts concerning succession
Find a suitable notary
Using the search function, you can find all the notaries practising in Estonia with their contact details and territorial jurisdictions.