Use this guide alongside the official service
Read the steps here first and keep the relevant documents or questions ready. Outside websites open in a new tab, so this guide stays here. To continue, return to the Pension Path tab or close the new tab.
If online steps are difficult, find phone, paper or in-person help.
First steps
- Contact Services Australia to tell them about the death and ask what information they need.
- Ask about any bereavement assistance and what happens to your existing payment.
- Keep letters and record dates. Ask staff to explain the next action in manageable steps.
- Contact the relevant super fund or income-stream provider about its process and requested evidence.
Pension and household assessment can change
Eligible people may receive bereavement assistance, but it is not a universal funeral grant. Centrelink checks the payments and circumstances involved.
After a partner's death, your pension is reassessed under single-person rules. The single maximum rate may be higher than one person's partnered rate, but single income/assets limits are different. Changed ownership or inherited assets can reduce or stop payment.
Tell Centrelink about relevant balances, property, income streams and estate interests. Ask when each item becomes assessable; do not assume everything waits until the estate is finalised.
If you were receiving a carer payment
Carer Payment can continue for a limited bereavement period when conditions are met. Ask about the period and your next payment route before it ends.
Carer Allowance, supplements and other assistance have their own conditions. A death notification does not by itself settle every future entitlement.
Legal and practical help
A will and super nominations cover different things. Contact the fund and an appropriate legal adviser about beneficiary or estate questions rather than assuming a will controls all super.
Use your state page for estate and legal entry points. If a pension decision seems wrong, keep the review deadline in view. Financial counselling can help if essential costs or debt become unmanageable.
Human support
Call the Older Australians line on 132 300 for payment questions and ask for interpreter or staff assistance. A trusted helper can support you; formal nominee authority is needed to act on your behalf.
Your next-step checklist
For your own notes. Ticks do not submit a claim or notify an agency.
Print or write down your steps if you prefer.
Official sources for this page
Guidance reviewed 5 October 2026. Source checks and content reviews are different: a successful download does not confirm that every rule is unchanged.
- Help when an adult dies (opens in a new tab)Services Australia · Content checked 5 October 2026Automated retrieval 5 October 2026. This is not an editorial review.
- Your Age Pension after your partner dies (opens in a new tab)Services Australia · Content checked 5 October 2026Automated retrieval 5 October 2026. This is not an editorial review.
- Choosing between Carer Payment and Age Pension (opens in a new tab)Services Australia · Content checked 5 October 2026Automated retrieval 5 October 2026. This is not an editorial review.
- Wills and powers of attorney (opens in a new tab)ASIC Moneysmart · Content checked 5 October 2026Automated retrieval 5 October 2026. This is not an editorial review.
- How to claim Age Pension (opens in a new tab)Services Australia · Content checked 5 October 2026Automated retrieval 5 October 2026. This is not an editorial review.
- Free financial counselling (opens in a new tab)National Debt Helpline · Content checked 5 October 2026Automated retrieval 5 October 2026. This is not an editorial review.
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