What to Do When Someone Dies in Victoria: The First 90 Days

The funeral director handles the immediate paperwork — registering the death with BDM Victoria, arranging the death certificate, and managing the body. Your job starts the moment after, when you're left with a stack of accounts to close, agencies to notify, and deadlines that no one explains clearly.

Here's the chronological sequence that matters most, broken into the windows where specific actions must happen.

Week 1: Secure the Essentials

Order the right death certificate. Tell the funeral director you need the "cause of death" version ($57.50 from BDM Victoria). The standard certificate — which omits cause of death — works for banks and the Supreme Court, but life insurance companies, WorkSafe, and the TAC will reject it. Ordering the wrong version adds weeks of delay and an additional BDM fee. Order at least five certified copies — you'll need them simultaneously for different institutions.

Notify Services Australia (Centrelink). Call 132 300 and report the death. If your partner was receiving an income support payment (Age Pension, JobSeeker, Disability Support Pension), this triggers the 14-week bereavement payment calculation. The payment bridges the gap between the couple rate and the single rate. If you weren't receiving payments yourself, you may be eligible to claim JobSeeker immediately — which then triggers a separate lump sum bereavement payment.

Locate the original will. Check the deceased's home, their solicitor, or State Trustees Victoria. The Supreme Court requires the physical original — not a photocopy, not a scan. When you find it, don't remove any staples or paperclips. The court inspects for staple holes and marks that might indicate missing pages or detached codicils.

If finances are desperate, contact Bereavement Assistance Limited. This registered Victorian not-for-profit provides at-cost or destitute funerals, with private cremations from $990. You'll need to show proof of hardship (typically bank statements and a statutory declaration).

Weeks 2-4: Financial Triage

Contact each bank's deceased estates team. Don't walk into a branch — call the dedicated deceased estates line. Each institution has its own threshold for releasing funds without probate. These vary wildly: credit unions may release up to $20,000, while Commonwealth Bank's threshold sits at $152,899. Ask for their specific "informal release threshold" and what documents they need (usually a death certificate, the will, and an indemnity form).

Check every asset's ownership structure. This determines whether you need probate at all:

• Joint tenants (most married couples' homes): The property passes automatically to the surviving owner via the doctrine of survivorship. You file a survivorship application with Land Use Victoria for roughly $108-$132 in fees. No court involvement required.
• Tenants in common: The deceased's share forms part of their estate and requires probate or letters of administration to transfer.
• Sole name: Requires probate if the asset exceeds the institution's informal release threshold.

Notify the SRO about land tax. If the deceased owned property, you need to lodge form LTX-Trust-18 with the State Revenue Office within one month of receiving the grant of probate. Miss this and the estate gets hit with trust surcharge rates instead of the concessionary general rate.

Months 1-3: Claims, Probate, and Transfer

Centrelink Pension Bonus Bereavement Payment. If the deceased was registered in the Pension Bonus Scheme but died before claiming the Age Pension, you have exactly 26 weeks to claim the Pension Bonus Bereavement Payment — a tax-free lump sum that can reach $55,411. Miss this deadline and the entitlement is permanently forfeited.

Lodge for probate if needed. For simple estates under $133,090, use the Supreme Court's Small Estates Optional Service ($314.40 total). For larger estates, you'll navigate the RedCrest-Probate electronic filing system. The timeline: publish a mandatory notice via POAS ($37), wait 14 days, then file your application. Standard processing takes 4-12 weeks unless the Registrar issues a requisition.

Superannuation death benefits. Contact every super fund the deceased held. Check whether they had a Binding Death Benefit Nomination. If the benefit goes to an adult child rather than a spouse, the taxable component gets hit with 17-32% tax — a trap that catches thousands of families each year.

TAC or WorkSafe claims. If the death resulted from a motor vehicle accident or workplace incident, lodge immediately. TAC dependency lump sums reach $229,980. WorkSafe dependency benefits can exceed $759,510 for wholly dependent partners. Both also cover funeral expenses and ongoing weekly payments.

What Surviving Spouses and Partners Are Entitled To

Victoria provides robust protections for surviving partners. Beyond the federal Centrelink payments, a surviving spouse in Victoria has the right to:

• The entire estate if there are no children, or if all children are also children of the surviving spouse (under intestacy rules)
• A statutory legacy of $573,640 plus 50% of the remaining estate if the deceased had children from another relationship
• Automatic transfer of jointly held property without probate
• A family provision claim under Part IV of the Administration and Probate Act 1958 if the will doesn't adequately provide for them

Common Mistakes in the First 90 Days

Not ordering enough death certificates. You need the physical certificate for each institution simultaneously — banks won't accept photocopies, and waiting for one certificate to be returned before sending it to the next agency adds weeks. Order five copies minimum.

Assuming you need a lawyer immediately. For simple estates — joint property, bank balances under the informal release thresholds, no disputes — the surviving spouse can handle most administration without professional help. The Supreme Court's Small Estates Optional Service exists specifically for this purpose.

Paying estate debts from personal funds. If the estate turns out to be insolvent, personal funds used to pay estate debts may not be recoverable. Pay from the estate's own accounts, not your personal savings.

Missing the land tax notification. The one-month window to lodge form LTX-Trust-18 with the SRO starts from the date of the grant of probate. Miss it and the estate gets taxed at surcharge rates, which can add thousands in unnecessary liability.

The Victoria Survivor Benefits Navigator maps every entitlement, deadline, and form into a chronological system — so you handle each step in the right order without missing a payment window.

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