What to Do When Someone Dies in the ACT: A Step-by-Step Checklist

The hours after a death are consumed by decisions no one is prepared to make. Who do you call first? What is legally required of you? What can wait? The ACT has a specific set of agencies, forms, and timelines — and missing any of them can create bottlenecks that slow down both the funeral and the estate administration for weeks.

This checklist walks through the priority order for the first week, with the ACT-specific steps clearly identified.

Immediate steps (within hours of the death)

If the death was expected

An expected death — one where palliative care was in place and the attending doctor was aware — follows a more straightforward path.

1. Call the attending doctor (or the palliative care team). They will come to verify the death and issue the Medical Certificate of Cause of Death. This document is essential for everything that follows. Do not call emergency services (000) for an expected death where there is a doctor involved — doing so can unnecessarily trigger a coronial referral for what is a natural, expected death.

2. Locate the will and identify the Executor. The Executor has the legal authority to direct all funeral arrangements from this point forward. If you are not the Executor, make contact with whoever is named in the will.

3. Contact a funeral director. The funeral director will arrange the transfer of the deceased from the place of death. They do not need to be engaged the same hour, but in practice, most families contact them the same day. The funeral director will then coordinate the transfer, storage, and documentation.

If the death was unexpected or unnatural

1. Call 000. For a sudden, unexpected, or suspicious death at home or elsewhere, call emergency services immediately.

2. Expect the coroner to become involved. Under the Coroners Act 1997 (ACT), deaths that are sudden, unnatural, violent, or of unknown cause are reportable. ACT Policing will coordinate the transfer of the deceased to the Forensic Medicine Centre (FMC) in Mitchell. You cannot arrange a funeral until the coroner formally releases the body.

3. Apply for an interim death certificate from Access Canberra. While the coronial investigation runs, an interim death certificate can be issued and used to begin estate administration — notifying banks, Centrelink, superannuation funds, and the ATO. Don't wait for the coroner's final findings to start this process.

Within the first 24–72 hours

Locate critical documents

Assemble the following as quickly as possible. Many subsequent steps depend on them:

• The original will (or locate the solicitor who holds it)
• Birth certificate of the deceased
• Marriage certificate (if applicable)
• Details of all prior marriages, divorces, or de facto partnerships
• Medicare card, Centrelink or DVA file numbers
• Life insurance policy documents
• Superannuation fund contact details
• Any pre-paid funeral plan documentation

Assess the funeral authority position

• Is there a valid will? Who is named as Executor?
• If no will: who is the senior next of kin? (Spouse/partner first, then adult children, then parents, then siblings)
• Is the Executor willing and able to act? If not, legal advice is needed promptly.
• Are there any family disputes about the funeral arrangements? If yes, address these early — contact the funeral director and, if needed, a solicitor.

Notify immediate institutions

• Centrelink / Services Australia: notify the death to stop payments (if payments continue, recovery action can follow).
• Medicare: notify to cancel the Medicare card.
• Superannuation funds: notify to begin the death benefit process — most funds require the death certificate, so this can be initiated and then completed once the certificate arrives.
• Employer: if the deceased was employed, notify HR for payment of final wages and leave entitlements.

Within the first week

Engage the funeral director and make the key decisions

The Executor needs to make the core disposition decision: burial or cremation?

In the ACT:

• Cremation requires an Application for Cremation and a Certificate of Medical Referee (under the Cemeteries and Crematoria Act 2020). Your funeral director coordinates this but it adds a processing step.
• Burial requires an Application for Burial and the purchase or verification of a Right of Burial at one of the three public cemeteries (Gungahlin, Woden, or Hall) or a private cemetery.
• Natural burial is available at Gungahlin Cemetery only, and requires a biodegradable coffin or shroud.

When meeting with the funeral director, ask for a written, itemised quote. The ACT does not have a funeral pricing transparency law, so this is not automatically provided — you have to request it. The itemised breakdown should show professional service fees, government cemetery or cremation fees as separate line items, and any other third-party charges.

Apply for the death certificate

Once the death has been registered (which the funeral director does after burial or cremation), apply to Access Canberra for official Death Certificates.

• Standard Death Certificate: $52.00 per copy (2025–26 rate)
• Allow approximately 15 business days for processing by standard mail
• Order more copies than you think you'll need — banks, insurers, the Supreme Court, and estate agents all require original certified copies. Four to six copies is a reasonable minimum for most estates; larger or more complex estates may need more.

Assess whether probate is needed

Not every estate in the ACT requires a formal Grant of Probate from the ACT Supreme Court. Key considerations:

• Joint assets: property held jointly with a surviving owner passes automatically by survivorship — probate is not required for these.
• Superannuation: typically passes outside the estate directly to nominated beneficiaries — not a probate asset in most cases.
• Small estates: the ACT Supreme Court waives probate filing fees entirely for estates with gross ACT assets under $50,000.
• Bank release thresholds: most major banks will release funds without a Grant of Probate if the account balance is below their internal threshold (typically $20,000–$50,000), upon presentation of the will and death certificate.

If probate is required, the Executor must publish a Notice of Intention to Apply on the ACT Supreme Court website ($61.00) and wait a minimum of 14 days before filing. Filing within 6 months of the death avoids an Affidavit of Delay requirement.

Key ACT deadlines

Use the Australian Death Notification Service

Once you have the Death Certificate in hand, register on the Australian Death Notification Service (ADNS) — a free Commonwealth Government portal. It allows you to simultaneously notify multiple participating institutions (banks, utilities, telecommunications companies) of the death in one step, rather than sending the death certificate to each organisation individually. This significantly reduces the administrative burden on the Executor.

What a funeral director handles vs. what you handle

The funeral director handles: Transfer of the deceased, Application for Burial or Cremation, coordinating the Medical Referee (for cremations), lodging the Death Registration Statement with Access Canberra after the funeral, the practical logistics of the service and interment.

You handle (as Executor or next of kin): Locating and reviewing the will, applying for Death Certificates from Access Canberra, notifying government agencies (Centrelink, ATO, Medicare), assessing probate requirements, notifying financial institutions, managing beneficiaries' expectations, and filing for probate or letters of administration if required.

Getting the full framework

This checklist covers the priority sequence, but the ACT framework involves multiple intersecting pieces of legislation: the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act 1997, the Cemeteries and Crematoria Act 2020, the Administration and Probate Act 1929, and the consumer protections under the Fair Trading (Australian Consumer Law) Act 1992.

The ACT Funeral Laws & Consumer Rights Guide consolidates all of these into a single sequential reference: from the first phone call through to final estate distribution, with the specific ACT forms, fees, deadlines, and agency contacts you need at each stage.

See more Australian Capital Territory guides →