"If someone doesn’t know, especially the residents of Riga: if your loved one dies not at home, but, for example, in a medical institution, a nursing home, or some third place, know this — anyone can obtain a death certificate from the family doctor. It can be someone from the street, some institution, or a funeral bureau," shared his experience entrepreneur and actor Ivars Auziņš in the Preses klubs program on TV24, reports nra.lv.
Having a death certificate allows you to receive the last two pensions of the deceased — this is a funeral benefit amounting to two pensions, and sometimes this is quite a significant sum. "Is it worth running around for this? Yes, it is. And people run like crazy. Like in rat races," the actor summarizes.
"God forbid, if your relative dies early in the morning in some institution — they are immediately transported to the next one — to the funeral bureau. They instantly charge for transportation, for logistics — several hundred euros without your consent. That’s one. And then — the death certificate ends up in someone’s hands, and they receive two pensions. A fantastic law!" Auziņš said.
He added that this has been abolished in Liepāja, but it still exists in Riga. "Any homeless person can get it! Can you imagine? That’s our system," the actor wonders.
He himself faced this issue and had to urgently obtain a certificate to get the death certificate based on it. "If I hadn’t done this — the funeral office would have done it, and that’s it. And they would then have two pensions," he explained.
In Auziņš's opinion, this practice has existed for a long time, but some municipalities have already reviewed it. Since the moment of a loved one’s death is a strong emotional blow, many do not notice how this system works, and the costs turn out to be colossal.
"Transporting a person weighing about 100 kg within Riga — that’s already several hundred euros," Auziņš calculated, who himself works in logistics.
The actor and entrepreneur considers such a situation inhumane and emphasizes that it is possible due to weak regulation. He notes that this industry is large and significant, and its potential "clients" in the future will be all of us. Medical institutions, the Riga municipality, which provides benefits, the State Social Insurance Agency, as well as the commercial sector are involved.
Auziņš agrees with the ombudsman, who stated that in such situations people feel very lonely. "They find out the amount of the pension, someone discloses it. EU regulations prohibit sharing data about a living person — but maybe it’s allowed to share data about a deceased person?"
The actor concludes that despite the abundance of regulations from the European Union, numerous "gaps" and opportunities for abuse remain in practice.
He reported that he is communicating with the ombudsman on this issue and is awaiting a response. "In any case, there is something to think about here," Ivars Auziņš believes.
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