What to do when someone dies
Steps to help you through the death of a loved one.
Let the right people know about the death
The website for End of Life Service lists who to contact after someone dies:
- in a hospital, hospice or rest home
- at home
- unexpectedly
- overseas.
Gather yourself and check who can help
This is a stressful time — check in with yourself.
You’re allowed to feel what you’re feeling.
Help for you and others
Think about who can help you:
- grieve and mourn the loss of your loved one
- work through the legal, administrative and other tasks — it can all feel like a lot if you’re doing it alone.
You might be in a position to help others, too.
Grief-and-loss support
Symptoms and help with grieving
- Grief and loss — Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand
- Grief after a sudden or unexpected loss (bereavement) — Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand
- Grief and loss — Healthify
- Grieving — Funeral Directors Association of NZ
- How can I help my child deal with grief? — Citizens Advice Bureau
- Who can help me deal with the death of a loved one? — Citizens Advice Bureau
Help for specific situations
End of Life Services has help for those who’ve lost:
- a child
- someone to suicide
- someone to murder.
When you need support — Te Hokinga ā Wairua | End of Life Service
Helplines for mental-health support
For help that’s free and available a day, a week, check:
Take time off work
Everyone grieves in different ways. Take time off work if it helps you mourn your loss or sort out the legal and administrative tasks.
Check if you can use special paid leave, called ‘bereavement’ leave, or other types of leave to get the days you need off work.
Help with legal, administrative and other tasks
There’s a lot to organise. Ask each other for help.
There are many legal tasks that can only be done by the executor or administrator. But people often help with:
- the funeral or memorial
- letting family and friends stay with them
- meals and snacks, especially kai and hākari in tangihanga
- being there for each other — talking, listening, being present or other ways that make sense for your family and friends, personally and culturally.
Help for executors and administrators
If you’re the executor or administrator and finding it a bit much, there are options available to you for help.
If it helps you through the steps, print off:
Find out who handles the will and estate
The will names the ‘executor’ — the person who carries out, for the person who died, the:
- legal and administrative tasks for handling their estate
- end-of-life wishes listed in the will.
Estate plan and wills
Assets of the estate
An estate is what someone owns, such as clothing, money and a house — you’ll also find them called ‘assets’ or ‘property’.
What’s included in an estate — Community Law
Liabilities of the estate
What someone owes to others is also part of the estate. These are, for example:
- debts, loans or liabilities
- tax.
They need to be paid before assets can be handled as set out in the will.
Paying debts and tax — Community Law
Estate plan
Wills set out what the person who died wants to happen with their:
- estate
- other end-of-life wishes.
Start dealing with the estate and end-of-life wishes
Once found, the executor can:
- check the person’s wishes for a funeral or tangi, and if they prefer burial or cremation
- apply to prove the will’s legality — called ‘probate’.
Executors: apply to handle the estate — probate
Probate and dealing with the estate each have different timeframes.
Apply to handle the estate: probate or administrator
Wills, probate and estates
Check what happens when:
- the estate is worth less than $15,000
- there’s no will
- the executor refuses or is unable to be the executor.
Organise the funeral or tangi
People usually leave instructions for:
- the funeral or tangi — or a memorial, where the body is not present
- preferring either a burial or cremation.
These instructions are often found in either:
- the will
- a statement of wishes
- word-of-mouth or written notes to loved ones.
Who organises the funeral, tangi or memorial
Usually there are no issues in carrying out the wishes of the person who died. Family often come together to help organise the funeral, tangi or memorial.
Funeral or memorial options
Check this information from the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) or other sources.
Tangi options and information
Check this information from the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) or other sources.
Burial or cremation
On Community Law, check the legal requirements for:
Options for burial or cremation
Check this information from the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) or other sources.
Donating organs
Community Law explains who makes decisions about organ donation.
Decision-making process for disagreements
When there are issues, Community Law explains the decision-making process.
Decisions about the deceased’s body: legal rights and powers — Community Law
Help with costs — funeral or tangi
You might be able to get help with the costs of:
- the funeral, tangi or memorial
- flights to the funeral, tangi or memorial — or refunds if you need to cancel a flight to attend
- losing family income — ongoing income support and some one-off payments.
Check for help with funeral, tangi or memorial costs
- Financial help if someone dies
- Financial support options — Te Hokinga ā Wairua | End of Life Service
- Funeral and tangihanga costs — Community Law
- Ongoing income support and some one-off payments — Community Law
Financial help set up before the funeral, tangi or memorial
The executor can check if the person who died set up a way to pay for the funeral or memorial. This is usually a:
- prepaid funeral trust or insurance plan — contact the company to give them the required information and access the money
- joint account with their partner — they’ll have access to the money in that account, and it might be an option for helping with the costs.
When there are no quick options to pay for the funeral, tangi or memorial
The executor might be able to get money released from the bank account of the person who died.
Pay with money from the bank account of the person who died
If the estate is:
- less than $15,000, this can be quickly done
- more than $15,000, the bank might be able to release some money to help with the costs — give them the required information, and it might be a case of being paid back at a later date if someone can cover the costs in the meantime.
Can I pay for a funeral from the deceased person’s bank account — Citizens Advice Bureau
Check more affordable options for a funeral, tangi or memorial
The executor, family and friends can either:
- cover any costs that remain
- check more affordable options for a funeral, tangi or memorial
- or some combination of both.
Citizens Advice Bureau has information about:
- more affordable options for a funeral
- what happens if someone dies leaving no next of kin (a close family member).
If there are disagreements, Community Law explains the decision-making process.
Decisions about the deceased’s body: legal rights and powers — Community Law
Within 3 days of the burial or cremation — register the death
If you’re using a funeral director, they’ll:
- register the death for you
- organise the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death.
Confirming and registering the death — Community Law
If you need to register the death
If you’re not using a funeral director, the person who applies is either the:
- executor
- administrator — or closest relative of the person who died.
Registering the death and getting a death certificate — Community Law
The death needs to be registered within of the burial or cremation.
Get a death certificate
Once registered, apply to get a death certificate.
You’ll need the death certificate to work through many of the administrative and estate tasks.
More information about registration and certificates
Check End of Life Service for how to get a:
- death registered
- death certificate
- Medical Certificate of Cause of Death.
Register the death and get certificates — Te Hokinga ā Wairua | End of Life Service.
When you can challenge a will
The will is not valid
You can challenge a will if it’s not legally valid — for example, it was not witnessed properly.
If you think the will is not legally valid — Community Law
Other legal requirements were not followed
Even when the will is valid, there are legal requirements for inheritance.
You can challenge the will if you:
- are a family member and have not been adequately provided for
- were promised to be included in the will for work or services you provided and the promise has been broken
- are the spouse or partner and want to get half of the relationship property instead of what you were left.
Let organisations know about the death
The executor or administrator handles the accounts and assets that are part of the estate. Family and friends can help out with other accounts, but the executor or administrator should be involved and know what’s going on.
Let multiple organisations know at the same time
Use myTrove to quickly let organisations know about someone’s death.
In 1 application, notify certain:
- government organisations
- banks
- insurance companies
- utilities providers.
Government organisations — how to contact
Tax — Inland Revenue
Contact Inland Revenue (IR) if the deceased person, for example:
- had a student loan
- paid or received child support
- had a KiwiSaver account
- ran a business.
Ways to contact IR
Benefits and pensions — Work and Income
Contact Work and Income if the person who died was being paid a benefit, NZ Super or a Veteran’s Pension.
You can find out more about updating benefit payments and bank account details on the Work and Income website.
Cancel a passport and driver licence
Passport — how to cancel
To cancel the deceased’s passport, you can use myTrove or contact the Department of Internal Affairs’ passports service.
Driver licence — how to cancel
Contact the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) to cancel the deceased’s driver licence.
Other organisations — how to contact
Insurance and money
The executor or administrator may have already started some of these when organising the funeral, tangi or memorial. As part of dealing with the estate, they need to:
- arrange for any life or funeral insurance to be paid out
- check whether the deceased is owed any pay or superannuation from their workplace
- talk to the deceased’s bank to freeze their accounts until the will is executed, or transfer any joint accounts to the surviving account holder
- cancel any bills or accounts under the deceased’s name.
Property
Community Law explains what happens if the property was owned jointly with the person who died.
Dealing with the deceased’s property — Community Law
If the property is part of the estate, the executor or administrator starts the process of dealing with it.
Digital accounts and assets
Sometimes people leave a list of accounts and assets they have online.
If not, that’s okay. Brainstorm with family and friends to make a list of which platforms to contact to close accounts.
Bank accounts, though often accessed online, are always part of the estate.
If the digital accounts or assets are valuable, they might be part of the estate — for example, they might be part of a business.
Death of a firearms licence holder
If the person who died had a firearms licence, there’s a specific process to follow. This makes sure you safely and legally dispose of any:
- firearms
- other arms items
- ammunition.
Follow the process from Te Tari Pūreke | Firearms Safety Authority.
Do not, for example, go to a police station with a firearm unannounced.
Process for surrendering or transferring firearms, other arms items and ammunition
The Te Tari Pūreke | Firearms Safety Authority lists their process for:
- when a firearms licence holder diesFirearms Safety Authority
- how to surrender or transfer arms items belonging to a deceased holder of a firearms licenceFirearms Safety Authority
- disposal of firearms, arms items and ammunitionFirearms Safety Authority.
More information — firearms surrender or transfer
Who to contact for more help
If you need more help or have questions about the information or services on this page, contact one of the following agencies.
-
Births, Deaths and Marriages
Contact and agency details -
Inland Revenue
Contact and agency details -
Work and Income
Contact and agency details -
Passports office
Contact and agency details -
New Zealand Transport Agency
Contact and agency details -
Employment New Zealand
Contact and agency details