Birth of a Child

The application for registration of birth must be submitted within a month of the day the child was born.

The registration of the child’s birth is not bound to the place of residence. The application for registration of birth can be submitted in any local government.

The parents of the child can submit the application for registration of a child’s birth in the e-population register. This applies for parents who are married and parents who are not married, as well as a single parent in case the healthcare service provider (hospital) has forwarded the medical birth certificate information to the population register.

In order to submit an application for registration of a child’s birth at the vital statistics department (Tiigi 12, Tartu) of Tartu City Government, the legal representative (parent or legal guardian) must do this in person. Please take your ID with you.

If only one of the married parents comes to register the child’s birth, a written consent form from the other parent regarding the choice of name and the parents’ marriage document need to be taken with, if this information hasn’t been entered to the population register.

If the parents of the child are not married, both the mother and the father of the child must be present at the vital statistics office for registration of the child’s father’s information. Paternity can be acknowledged only if the filiation of the child has not been established according to law. Paternity can only be acknowledged personally. The consent of the child’s mother is necessary for acknowledgement of paternity.

If the acknowledgement of paternity takes place at the registration of birth, the according part of the application of registration of birth is filled out.

If the acknowledgement of paternity takes place after the registration of birth, the application for acknowledgement of paternity is filled out separately. See more about subsequent acknowledgement of paternity.

The man who is married to the mother of the child is not deemed as the father of the child if he hasn’t conceived the child and the spouses have submitted a joint application regarding this to the vital statistics office, or another man has acknowledged paternity.

Application form for ruling out filiation

In artificial insemination, the child is considered to be descended from a man or the mother's female spouse on the basis of the consent given for artificial insemination, and the child's parents submit an application to the registry office on the spot to register the child's birth.

Correction of the birth record after the registration of the birth is carried out on the basis of an application for acceptance of paternity, establishment of descent from the father, recognition of the father's record as incorrect or an adoption court decision. A new birth certificate will be issued.

When registering a change in birth record data, the official makes a correction to the birth record in the population register. Parents will be issued with a primary birth certificate (free of charge) upon request.

Paternity is established by the court if no man has been established as the child's father, as well as if paternity has been contested and the court has established that the child does not descend from the man whose paternity was disputed.

When establishing the child's descent from the father in court, the court can give the child the father's surname.

When parentage is established, the issue of child custody is not resolved, it must be requested separately in court.

Opening hours
Mon 9–12 and 14–17.30
Tue 12–16
Wed 9–12 and 13–16
Thu Closed
Fri 9–12 and 13–16

A digitally signed birth certificate (encrypted) is forwarded to the parents via email when registering the birth. A birth certificate on paper can be collected within a month from registration of birth at the vital statistics department at Tiigi 12 during their reception hours.

Additional information: Kadri Männik, phone 742 0960, email [email protected]

A given name and surname shall be assigned to the child upon agreement between the parents. If there is no agreement between the parents, a guardianship authority decides which name is assigned. If only one of the married parents comes to register the birth, a simplistic written consent of the other parent is necessary for assigning the child with a given name.

Up to three separately written names or two names connected by a hyphen may be assigned as a given name.

The given name must be compliant with good morals and correspond to the gender of the person. The given name may not contain numbers or non-alphabetical signs nor, together with the given name and surname, form a name of a well-known person. An exception may be made in case the child or the parents of the child have a personal connection with the name through their citizenship, family relations, nationality or other circumstances due to the name tradition of another language and in case the name applied for corresponds with it.

An Estonian given name must be in accordance with the rules of orthography of the Estonian language. The pronunciation and the spelling of the Estonian given name is the same and doesn’t contain foreign letters (e.g. c, č, q, w, x y), foreign word letters (e.g. f, š, z, ž), foreign letter combinations (e.g. th, sh) or begin with letters g, b, d. A foreign language given name must be in accordance with the rules of orthography of the relevant language and must be used as a given name in the foreign country. A proof concerning this may be asked for from the parents.

Checking the suitability of the given name at the e-population register

Both parents’ joint surname or the surname of the only parent may be assigned as a surname. If the parents have different surnames, the surname of one parent is assigned to the child. In case of multiple births, the children are assigned with the same surname. A child may not be assigned a parent’s surname consisting of two surnames. An exception may be made to assigning a child with a parent’s surname consisting of two surnames if the parent has acquired the name by birth, both or the only parent has a surname consisting of two names, or if the child’s sister or brother has a surname consisting of two names which is identical with the parent’s surname consisting of two names.

If the parent is a minor, he/she cannot submit an application to register the child’s birth.

If the child’s mother is a minor and her active legal capacity hasn’t been extended regarding registration of a child’s birth, the legal representative of the registration of birth of the child whose birth is being registered is the local government.

If the child’s father is an adult and is married to the child’s mother, then the father is the child’s legal representative and may submit the application for the registration of the child’s birth. If the child’s father is an adult but isn’t married to the child’s mother, he becomes the child’s legal representative after acknowledgement of paternity.

All declarations of will and consents by a minor (e.g. assigning of name, consent for acknowledgement of paternity, etc) regarding registration of birth must be given agreement to by their legal representative (in general their parents).

When registering birth, the information about parental custody is entered to the population register.

Parents married to each other share joint custody over their child.

Parents share joint custody in case the parents are not married at the moment of the child’s birth and didn’t, when submitting the declaration of will for acknowledgement of paternity, request a wish to assign custody to only one of the parents.

Custody is the parent’s right and obligation to care for their minor child and involves taking care of the person and their assets. A custodial parent is the child’s legal representative. Caring for the person means having the right and obligation to raise the child, watch over them, determine their place of stay and care for their general well-being. Caring for their assets means having the right and obligation to rule over the child’s assets.

For changing custody (for complete or partial transfer or regaining custody) you must initiate a legal proceeding.

If a child’s birth is registered in a foreign country, it doesn’t need to be registered again in Estonia, but the birth document from the foreign country must be submitted for entry to the population register.

Requirements for a document from a foreign country

Registration of birth on the website of the Ministry of the Interior
Birth registration and name choice in the online state portal eesti.ee
Having a baby
Parental responsibility in the European Union

Family Law Act
Vital Statistics Registration Act
Population Register Act
Names Act
Private International Law Act

In addition to the state childbirth allowance, the city of Tartu pays an additional child allowance in three parts. The allowance can be applied for by a person who is a citizen of Estonia or has a valid residence permit and whose place of residence, according to the population register, is in Tartu city. The place of residence must be registered in Tartu city at least six months prior to the according dates (child’s birth, child turning one year of age, child turning two years of age). In order to receive all three parts of the allowance, the place of residence according to the register must also be in Tartu city.

The applicant can submit the required application at the reception of their current residence’s regional center’s child protection specialist, through an electronic environment or by sending a digitally signed application to the department’s email address [email protected].

• The decision for or against paying the allowance is made by the social and healthcare department of the city government based on the submitted documents. The parent is contacted in case of shortcomings in the application so that the information can be specified. The allowance is transferred to the applicant’s bank account within two weeks of submitting the application.
• The subsequent parts of the allowance are transferred to the applicant’s bank account within two weeks after the child has turned one and two years of age. In case the application was submitted at the child’s birth, the subsequent parts of the allowance will, after checking the information, be paid automatically after the child has turned one and two years of age.
• The applicant must notify the social and healthcare department about any changes in personal information and/or changes in bank account in written form. Information forwarded via email must be digitally signed.
• If the right to receive the allowance becomes evident with the second or third payment and previous allowance hasn’t been applied for, the application with the aforementioned documents must be submitted.

In order to receive the first, second and third part of the allowance, the application can be submitted within six months after the according date.

Application for additional child allowance in the electronic environment
Application for additional child allowance

Additional child allowance is paid from the budget of Tartu city in three parts:

1^st part of the allowance (paid after the child’s birth):

• 64 euros for the first and second born child;
• 112 euros for the third and following born child.

2^nd part of the allowance (paid when the child turns one year of age):

• 128 euros for the first and second born child;
• 176 euros for the third and following born child.

3^rd part of the allowance (paid when the child turns two years of age):

• 320 euros for the first and second born child;
• 352 euros for the third and following born child.

Additional information

Angela Sööt
child protection service specialist
email  [email protected]
phone 5305 0295

• The order of child allowance payment Regulation number 89 by the Tartu City Council on 5 December 2024.

Applying for and appointing state family benefits on the website of the Social Insurance Board

Starting from 2005, Tartu City Government gives each small citizen of Tartu a silver spoon decorated with the coat of arms of Tartu. The spoon is given at a special reception in the Town hall auditorium.

The receptions are held once a month in the Town hall auditorium and children between 7–8 months old are invited. As a rule, the silver spoon is presented by the mayor of Tartu.

Families who are not able to attend the reception can receive their silver spoon from the Town hall information center (phone 736 1343) within a year from the date of the reception.

A silver spoon is given to a child whose place of residence is marked as Tartu city six months after the child’s birth in the Estonian population register. (According to the Population Register Act § 42 p 1, together with the information on the medical birth certificate or birth entry, the place of residence of the newborn is entered to the population register according to the place of residence of the mother that is entered to the population register).

The next event takes place on 2 June. Little ones born in October of 2024 are invited. The event takes place in the auditorium of Department of Population Facts