Exhumation in Slovenia and Reburial in Ukraine: Permit, Documents, Timeline

In 30 seconds.

• Exhumation (prekop) can be requested by relatives or other persons with a legitimate interest. A prior opinion from the grave lessee (najemnik groba) is required.
• The permit is issued by the competent municipal authority (pristojni občinski organ). The procedure and prices are set by the cemetery rules of the specific municipality (pokopališki red).
• Coffin exhumation is carried out only in the presence of an authorized doctor (pooblaščeni zdravnik). No doctor is needed for an urn.
• Taking a coffin out of the country requires a laissez-passer for a corpse (posmrtni potni list) from the Health Inspectorate. It is not required for an urn.
• Our exhumation service starts at €500 plus transport from Slovenia. No upfront payment for transport.

Call +380 77 882 77 77Ask about exhumation

Who Can Request an Exhumation

The Funeral and Cemetery Services Act (ZPPDej), Article 21, states the following: at the request of relatives or other natural or legal persons with a legitimate interest, the deceased may be exhumed and moved to another cemetery. Before this, the opinion of the grave lessee (mnenje najemnika groba) is required.

By law, only one person or one organization can be the grave lessee (Article 30). Usually, this is the person who arranged the funeral, or their heir. If the applicant and the lessee are different people, the lessee provides written consent. For example, the requirements of the Municipality of Pivka state that the consent of the current grave lessee must be attached to the application if the applicant is not the lessee.

If the Family Lives in Ukraine

You do not need to travel to Slovenia. You sign a power of attorney, we pass the documents to our partners in Slovenia, and they submit the application and make arrangements with the cemetery. Documents from Ukraine are translated into Slovenian. Before applying, we check with the municipality on the exact format they require for the power of attorney and consents.

When Exhumation Is Possible in Slovenia

The resting period (mirovalna doba) for a coffin burial cannot be shorter than 10 years (Article 22 ZPPDej). The exact period is set by the cemetery rules, taking soil conditions into account. The law does not set this minimum for urns.

An important detail: Article 22 refers to reusing the same burial space in a grave. The law does not contain a direct ban on moving a coffin before 10 years have passed. However, the municipality and the doctor may set their own conditions. Therefore, for recent burials, we check directly with the local authority.

We found no seasonal restrictions in the law. We also check locally to see if a specific cemetery has its own monthly restrictions.

If the cause of death was an infectious disease, the Rules require special measures: the body is wrapped in a cloth soaked in antiseptic, and such remains are either cremated or buried in a transport coffin. For this reason, we first check the cause of death in the documents.

Documents for Transport to Ukraine

Posmrtni potni list

The laissez-passer for a corpse (posmrtni potni list) is issued by the Health Inspectorate of the Republic of Slovenia (Zdravstveni inšpektorat RS), under Article 6 of the Rules. The document is drawn up in Slovenian and one of the official EU languages. The cause of death is stated in Slovenian along with the WHO International Classification of Diseases code. The inspector verifies that the coffin meets the requirements and contains only the remains of that person.

Coffin requirements (Article 5): an outer wooden coffin with walls at least 20 mm thick and a hermetically sealed inner metal liner, or a single wooden coffin at least 30 mm thick with a metal liner. Absorbent material must be placed inside. For air transport, a pressure-equalizing device is required.

A posmrtni potni list is not required for an urn containing ashes (Article 7).

Embassy of Ukraine

The Consular Section of the Embassy of Ukraine in the Republic of Slovenia (Ljubljana) will advise on which documents are needed to bring the remains into Ukraine. We provide a complete list of documents to each family individually.

Apostille and Translation

Both Slovenia and Ukraine are parties to the Hague Apostille Convention. Apostilles on documents issued by state authorities are placed by district courts (okrožna sodišča), while the Ministry of Justice places them on notarized documents and translations by court interpreters. We arrange the translation.

How Much It Costs

Prices for cemetery work are set by the municipality in its price list (Article 28 ZPPDej and the cemetery rules). There is no single national rate for exhumation. In the Municipality of Pivka, for example, the exhumation consent itself is free, while the exhumation work is paid by the grave lessee according to the concessionaire's price list.

Cemetery work, the doctor, the posmrtni potni list, apostilles, translations, the transport coffin, and the transport itself are paid separately. We request the exact figures from your cemetery for your specific case.

Our price: exhumation from €500 plus the cost of transport (repatriation) from Slovenia. We calculate the exact amount for your situation. There is no upfront payment for transport: payment is made after handover according to the contract.