Managing Money After Losing a Partner: A Practical Guide for Australians

🕊️ First, a word before we begin🔗

There is nothing in this guide that you need to do today.

Grief is not a problem to be solved, and your finances are not going anywhere. The practical matters covered here will still be here in a week, a month, or whenever you feel ready to look at them. Some things do have loose timeframes, and we'll flag those gently as we go, but nothing on this page requires you to act right now.

🎯 The essential: If someone is pressuring you to make quick financial decisions after your partner's death, that's worth noticing. You're allowed to say "not yet." You're allowed to take your time.

This guide is written for Australians who have recently lost a spouse or de facto partner. Think of it as a conversation with a knowledgeable friend, someone who can explain what's ahead without making it feel overwhelming.

📋 A gentle checklist for when you're ready🔗

None of the steps below are emergencies. Think of this as a map of the territory, something to come back to as you feel able to tackle each piece, rather than a to-do list with deadlines.

Notify the right institutions, in your own time

Once you feel up to it, there are several organisations that will need to know your partner has passed away. You don't have to do all of these at once, and there's no particular order that matters.

Banks and financial institutions.

• Joint bank accounts continue as normal. As the surviving account holder, you keep full access. You can ask the bank to update the account to your name alone when you're ready, but there's no rush.
• Accounts held solely in your partner's name are typically frozen once the bank is notified. The bank will usually still accept incoming payments, but withdrawals stop until the estate is formally administered. Most major banks have a dedicated deceased estate team who handle this sensitively.
• You can notify multiple organisations at once using the government's Australian Death Notification Service, though you'll need a death certificate to use it.

Other institutions to notify, whenever suits you:

• Your partner's superannuation fund (they'll guide you through the claims process)
• Services Australia, especially if either of you was receiving payments
• The Australian Taxation Office, to finalise your partner's tax affairs
• Medicare and any private health insurer
• Utilities, subscriptions and direct debits in your partner's name, these can usually wait a few weeks

📄 Finding the will, and whether probate is needed🔗

The first practical step in settling a deceased estate is finding the will, if there is one.

What is probate? Probate is a court process that formally confirms a will is valid and gives the executor (the person named in the will to manage the estate) the legal authority to act. It sounds more complicated than it usually is.

When is probate typically needed? There's no single national rule, it depends on what assets your partner held and how they were owned. As a general guide:

• Solely owned real estate almost always requires probate before it can be transferred or sold.
• Bank accounts held solely in your partner's name usually need a Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration before the bank will release funds above its own internal threshold. CommBank, for example, currently sets that threshold at $100,000 for solely held accounts. Thresholds like this are institution-specific and can change over time, so it's worth checking directly with the bank in question.
• Jointly held assets (including joint bank accounts and property held as joint tenants) generally pass automatically to you as the surviving owner, no probate needed for those.

What happens to solely held bank accounts in the meantime? Once the bank is notified, those accounts are frozen. The bank can usually still release funds for funeral expenses before probate is granted. Everything else waits. It's not ideal, but it's manageable, and it's part of why having some accessible funds in a joint account or your own account matters.

What if there's no will? If your partner didn't leave a valid will, they're said to have died intestate. Instead of probate, you'd apply for Letters of Administration, a similar court process that appoints an administrator (usually the closest next of kin) to manage the estate. Under Australian intestacy rules, a surviving spouse or de facto partner generally inherits the whole estate if there are no children from a previous relationship. The rules get more complex if there are children from prior relationships, so it's worth getting legal advice if that's your situation.

It's worth speaking to a solicitor who specialises in wills and estates when you're ready. Many state Legal Aid offices offer free or low-cost guidance, and the Law Society in your state can help you find a specialist.

🏦 Superannuation works differently to the will🔗

This is one of the most important things to understand, and one of the most commonly misunderstood.

Instead, the trustee is guided by:

• A binding death benefit nomination. If your partner made one and it's still valid, the trustee must follow it (provided it was properly completed and witnessed). Standard lapsing binding nominations expire after three years unless renewed, so an outdated nomination may no longer be binding. Some funds offer non-lapsing nominations that don't expire.
• A non-binding nomination. The trustee takes this into account but isn't legally required to follow it, they use their discretion.
• No nomination at all. The trustee decides, guided by the fund's rules and super law.

Who can receive super directly? Under super law, the fund can pay the death benefit directly to a dependant, which includes a spouse or de facto partner (including same-sex partners), children of any age, or someone in an interdependency relationship with the deceased. If there's no eligible dependant, the benefit is paid to the estate, and from there it flows through the will (or intestacy rules) like any other asset.

The tax treatment of super death benefits is a topic of its own, it depends on whether the recipient is a "tax dependant" under income tax law, which is a slightly different definition to the super law definition. We cover this in more detail in our article on superannuation death benefit tax, and the mechanics of nominations are explained in our article on binding death benefit nominations, for whenever you feel like reading more.

For now, the key step, whenever you're ready for it, is to contact your partner's super fund directly. They'll send you a claim form and guide you through what they need.

💬 Centrelink and financial support🔗

If you or your partner were receiving a Centrelink payment when your partner died, there may be financial support available to help you through the transition.

The Centrelink bereavement payment. If you were both receiving an eligible income support payment, such as the Age Pension, Disability Support Pension, Carer Payment, JobSeeker, or Youth Allowance, you may be entitled to a bereavement payment. It's generally a lump sum equal to the difference between the couple rate and the new single rate, calculated over a 14-week bereavement period.

As an example, using Age Pension rates current from 20 March 2026: the couple rate is $905.20 per person per fortnight ($1,810.40 combined), and the single rate is $1,200.90 per fortnight. The difference works out to $609.50 per fortnight, and over 14 weeks (7 fortnights) that's approximately $4,267. These rates are reviewed and indexed every March and September, so the exact figures will differ slightly depending on when you're reading this, but the calculation method stays the same.

Worth knowing: the old standalone "Bereavement Allowance" payment was abolished in March 2020. Support for a surviving partner now flows through whichever payment type you or your partner were already receiving, rather than through a separate scheme.

What about your ongoing payments? Once the bereavement period ends, your payment will be reassessed at the single rate. This can mean a change in how much you receive, sometimes more, sometimes less, depending on your circumstances. It's worth calling Services Australia when you're ready, to understand what your new rate will be.

How to claim. Notify Services Australia when you're able to. For most bereavement payments, claims should generally be lodged within 14 weeks of the date of death. The Pension Bonus Bereavement Payment, a smaller, separate scheme for people who had deferred claiming their Age Pension, has a longer 26-week window instead.

Which phone line to call depends on the payment involved. For Age Pension related enquiries and bereavement, the Older Australians line is 13 23 00. If your partner was receiving a different payment, JobSeeker, Disability Support Pension or Carer Payment among them, Services Australia's own phone directory will point you to the right line. Eligibility rules vary by payment type and can be genuinely complex, so speaking to them directly is the most reliable way to understand what you're entitled to.

🏠 Joint debts and the mortgage🔗

This section covers some harder facts, but they're important ones. We'll keep it plain.

Joint mortgage after death. If you and your partner had a joint mortgage, you are generally still responsible for the full loan, not just half of it. Under the legal principle of joint and several liability, the lender can look to the surviving borrower for the entire outstanding balance.

The gentler news: if you held the property as joint tenants (which is how most couples hold their home), your partner's share of the property passes automatically to you by right of survivorship. You don't need probate for this. The property becomes yours, and so does the mortgage.

Contact your lender whenever you feel ready. Most banks have specialist teams for exactly this situation. They can explain your options, which may include refinancing the loan into your name alone, restructuring repayments, or, if you can't manage the repayments, discussing the sale of the property. There's no need to rush this conversation, but it is worth having eventually rather than avoiding it indefinitely.

What about debts in your partner's name alone? Debts that were solely in your partner's name, a credit card, a personal loan, a car loan, are generally paid from the estate. You are not personally liable for them unless you were a co-borrower or guarantor. Being an authorised user on a credit card, for example, does not make you liable for the debt.

The mechanics of joint debt come up in a different context too, when a couple separates rather than when a partner passes away. Our article on joint mortgage separation was written for that very different, and very much lighter, situation, but the underlying mechanics of joint and several liability it explains are the same ones that apply here.

⏳ Don't make big financial decisions too quickly🔗

This is perhaps the most important thing in this entire guide, and it's not really about money at all.

Grief changes the way we think. It affects concentration, memory and judgement in ways that are genuinely hard to notice from the inside. A decision that feels clear and logical in the weeks after a loss can look very different six months later.

The general guidance from financial counsellors and grief specialists is to avoid major, irreversible financial decisions for at least 6 to 12 months, if at all possible. This includes:

• Selling the family home
• Making large investments or withdrawals
• Significantly restructuring your finances
• Giving large sums of money to family members

This isn't about avoiding reality. It's about giving yourself the time and space to make decisions from a steadier place. You're not obligated to act quickly on anything that isn't genuinely urgent, and very little here is.

🎯 The essential: If someone, even someone you trust, is pushing you to make a big financial move quickly after your loss, it's okay to say "I'm not ready to decide that yet."

🤝 Where to get help🔗

There are two kinds of help worth knowing about here: financial and emotional. Both matter, and neither is a sign that you're not coping.

Financial help

Financial counsellors are trained professionals who can help you understand your situation, deal with creditors, and work through your options, at no cost to you.

For longer-term planning, understanding how to invest an inheritance, restructure your income, or plan for retirement as a single person, a licensed financial adviser can be genuinely valuable. This is a paid service, and fees vary. Make sure any adviser you work with holds an Australian Financial Services Licence and is listed on the ASIC financial adviser register. There's no rush to see one immediately, many people find it more useful to wait until the initial fog of grief has lifted a little.

Emotional support

Grief support is not a sign of weakness. It's a practical resource, just like seeing a doctor.

Your GP is also a good starting point, they can connect you with local counselling services, and grief counselling may be available through a Mental Health Treatment Plan at a reduced cost.

❓ Frequently asked questions🔗