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The type and amount of payments you get when someone dies depends on all of the following:
- your individual circumstances
- your relationship to the person who died
- when you tell us about the person’s death.
When you tell us about their death, we’ll work out if you’re eligible for a payment and if so, how much you can get.
There are also support services available to help you.
If the person who died was your partner
If your partner died, you may get a lump sum bereavement payment from us to help you transition to a single income. To be eligible, you both needed to be getting an income support payment for at least the previous 12 months, or a pension.
The amount paid is usually equal to the total you and your partner would’ve got as a couple, minus your new single rate. It’s calculated over a 14 week period, which starts on the day your partner died.
If you aren’t getting a Centrelink payment and your partner has died, you may be eligible for an income support payment such as JobSeeker Payment or Youth Allowance. You can claim these payments online or by calling us.
If your partner was registered for the Pension Bonus Scheme you may be eligible for a Pension Bonus Bereavement Payment. In this case, you don’t need to be getting an income support payment.
ABSTUDY Living Allowance
If you’ve been getting ABSTUDY Living Allowance for 12 months or more, you may get an lump sum bereavement payment if your partner dies.
Farm Household Allowance
If you’ve been getting Farm Household Allowance for 12 months or more, you may get a lump sum bereavement payment if your partner dies.
JobSeeker Payment or Youth Allowance
You may get a lump sum bereavement payment when your partner dies if all of these apply:
- you’re getting or claiming JobSeeker Payment or Youth Allowance when your partner dies
- you and your partner were both Australian residents at the time of your partner’s death.
If you’re pregnant when your partner dies, we’ll pay you another extra amount. If you haven’t already told us you’re pregnant, you need to call us on your payment line to let us know. To get this payment you’ll need to give medical evidence, including the expected date of your baby’s birth.
Pension Bonus Bereavement Payment
You may be eligible for Pension Bonus Bereavement Payment, if your partner both:
- registered for the Pension Bonus Scheme with us, or the Department of Veterans’ Affairs
- died before making a successful claim for Age Pension and Pension Bonus.
We base the payment on the amount of Pension Bonus your partner would have got. You can submit a claim up to 26 weeks after your partner’s death.
If you cared for the person who died
If the person you care for dies, you may get extra payment assistance after they die.
Carer Allowance
You may get a lump sum payment of up to 14 weeks of Carer Allowance when someone you care for dies.
To be eligible, all of the following apply:
- you get Carer Allowance for the adult who died
- you get an income support payment that doesn’t include an extra payment when someone dies
- you don’t get Carer Payment.
Carer Payment
If you get Carer Payment for a person who dies, you may keep getting it for up to 14 weeks after they die. You may also get a lump sum bereavement payment, depending on your circumstances. This will give you time to apply for another income support payment if you need to.
You can use the Payment Finder to find out what payment you may be able to get.
If the person who died was single
There are no extra lump sum payments when a single person dies.
Single and getting an allowance
When a single person who gets an allowance, such as JobSeeker Payment, dies, their payment stops that day.
We’ll pay their final payment up to the day before their death. The executor of the estate can then access it from their bank account. There’s no extra lump sum payment.
Single pensioner
When a single pensioner dies, we pay their regular payment covering the fortnight in which they died. The executor of the estate can access it from their bank account. Their payment stops after this payment.
Money owed to customers after they have died
If you think we owe money to someone who died, you can ask us to check.
To do this you must:
- download, complete and submit the Executor/Administrator Request for information form
- give us proof that you are an Executor or Administrator.
Medicare and concession cards
We won’t automatically issue you a new Medicare card, concession card or Health Care Card if your partner dies and they’re listed on your card.
If you’d like a new Medicare card, you can call the Medicare general enquiries line and ask for one.
If you’d like a new concession card or Health Care Card, you can go to your Centrelink online account and ask for a replacement card.
If you don’t ask for a new card, the details will stay the same on your card until your current card expires.
Exemptions from mutual obligations
If someone close to you dies, you may get exemptions from mutual obligations or activity test requirements, if you get one of these payments:
This exemption period is different depending on the situation. It may last:
- up to 8 weeks from the date of death of an immediate family member
- up to 14 weeks from the date of death of your partner
- for the length of the pregnancy if you were pregnant at the time of your partner’s death.
Contact numbers available on this page.
Medicare program
Use this line if you need help with a claim, enrolments, ordering a new card or have a Medicare general enquiry. Let us know if you need an interpreter and we’ll arrange one for free.
There are other ways you may want to contact us.