Contact after the death of a partner 099-01010040

When a person contacts to advise the death of their partner, staff must follow process in Centrelink - Notification, confirming and recording a death

Once death has been actioned, go to Step 2

If the surviving partner:

• is currently in receipt of Parenting Payment partnered (PPP)
• See Death of a partner of a Parenting Payment Partnered (PPP) customer
• Procedure ends here
• is currently in receipt of another income support payment
• Go to Step 3
• and their deceased partner were not receiving Centrelink payments at the time of the death
• Go to Table 2
• is currently in receipt of Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) payment
• Go to Table 3

Tell the surviving partner what assistance Services Australia may be able to provide. This includes:

• Parenting Payment (PP) for single customers who have a qualifying dependent child/ren and who do not have the support of a partner. See Claiming Parenting Payment (PP)
• If they are in receipt of JobSeeker Payment (JSP), Youth Allowance or Special Benefit paid under JSP conditions:
• they can be exempt from mutual obligation requirements or activity test requirements for the 14 week bereavement period
• if pregnant when their partner died, and the expected date of confinement is more than 14 weeks in the future, the participation exemption is extended for the duration of the pregnancy
• Their current income support payment is reassessed to the single rate
• Carers whose care receiver partner has died may be entitled to bereavement assistance, depending on what payments the carer receives. If the carer is in receipt of:
• Carer Allowance (CA) only, the carer is not entitled to a bereavement payment
• Carer Payment (CP) only, the carer is entitled to a continuation of CP for the duration of the bereavement period. The carer is not entitled to a Lump Sum Bereavement Payment
• both CP and CA, the carer is entitled to continuation of CP for the duration of the bereavement period. The carer is not entitled to a Lump Sum Bereavement Payment
• CA and an income support payment that is not CP, the carer is entitled to a CA bereavement payment

If the surviving partner is in receipt of an income support payment and was a joint owner of the couple's assets, full ownership automatically transfers to the surviving partner.

However, the system will still only assess that the surviving partner owns 50% of the property. These assets are not updated until the surviving partner advises of the transfer of assets. This may occur when a bereavement review is conducted 16 weeks after the death.

If the partner

• wishes to apply for another payment go to Table 4
• want to know about other assistance available, go to Table 4 > Step 6

Procedure ends here.

When a person contacts to advise the death of another person, staff must follow process in Centrelink - Notification, confirming and recording a death. Even if the person is not in receipt of payments at the time of death.

After the death has been confirmed, go to Step 2.

Staff must consider whether the pre-claim circumstance screen should be coded. For more information see, Intent to claim and vulnerable customers.

Customers may be eligible for a Centrelink payment, such as JobSeeker Payment (JSP) or Youth Allowance (YA). These payments have bereavement provisions, which include Partner Bereavement Payment and exemptions from waiting periods and participation requirements.

Go to Table 4

When a DVA customer contacts to advise the death of their partner, staff must follow process in Centrelink - Notification, confirming and recording a death. This is required even if the deceased partner did not receive any Centrelink payments.

Once death has been actioned, go to Step 2

In some cases, DVA may be responsible for paying the lump sum bereavement payment to the surviving partner, if eligible.

If the deceased was an adult care receiver for a Carer Allowance customer, complete this procedure and then follow the procedure outlined in Death of an adult care receiver and the effect on Carer Allowance (CA).

Was the deceased person a DVA recipient at the time of death?

• Yes, go to Step 3
• No, go to Step 4

Advise the surviving partner to phone DVA general enquiries to follow up on bereavement assistance from DVA.

Procedure ends here.

Was the deceased person a Centrelink recipient or did they have a Centrelink record at the time of death?

• Yes, go to Step 5
• No, go to Step 6

See the appropriate procedure:

• Death of a carer
• Death of a care receiver
• Death of an income support customer or their partner
• Carer Payment (CP) or Carer Allowance (CA) customers and bereavement
• Parenting Payment (PP) and bereavement
• Family assistance payments, Paid Parental Leave scheme and bereavement

Procedure ends here.

If the surviving partner is going to lose entitlement to their DVA payment advise of payment options from Services Australia, go to Table 4.

Advise the surviving partner, if they have questions about their DVA payment to phone DVA general enquiries.

Staff must consider whether the pre-claim circumstance screen should be coded. For more information see, Intent to claim and vulnerable customers.

Discuss payment options which the customer may be eligible for:

• JobSeeker Payment (JSP), go to Step 2
• Youth Allowance (YA), go to Step 3
• Parenting Payment (PP), go to Step 4
• other payments, go to Step 5

Customers who are aged between 22 and Age Pension age can claim JSP with bereavement provisions:

• Partner Bereavement Payment (PBV) - a lump sum payment to assist with expenses associated with the death of their partner. There is an additional pregnancy component for pregnant person
• Exemptions from some waiting periods
• Exemption from mutual obligation requirements for the duration of the bereavement period. For pregnant person, the bereavement exemption can be extended for the duration of the pregnancy, if greater than 14 weeks

Customers who are aged between 16 and 22 can claim YA (job seeker, student or apprentice) with bereavement provisions:

• Partner Bereavement Payment (PBV) - a lump sum payment to assist with expenses associated with the death of their partner. There is an additional pregnancy component for pregnant person
• Exemptions from some waiting periods
• Exemption from mutual obligation requirements or activity test requirements for the duration of the bereavement period. For a pregnant person, the bereavement exemption can be extended for the duration of the pregnancy, if greater than 14 weeks

For more information, go to Claiming Youth Allowance (YA) jobseeker and Initial contact with students or Australian Apprentices claiming Youth Allowance (YA).

Customers who are the principal carer of a dependent child under 14 can claim Parenting Payment Single with bereavement provisions:

• Exemption from participation requirements for the duration of the bereavement period. For pregnant person, the bereavement exemption can be extended for the duration of the pregnancy, if greater than 14 weeks
• Exemptions from some waiting periods such as
• Income Maintenance Period (IMP)
• Liquid Assets Waiting Period (LAWP)
• Ordinary Waiting Period (OWP)
• Seasonal Work Preclusion Period (SWPP)

For more information, go to Claiming Parenting Payment (PP).

Depending on the customer’s particular circumstances, other payments may be more suitable.

Discuss possible payments and advise the customer to use Payment Finder to assist with identifying an appropriate payment.

Staff can refer the notifier and relatives of the deceased to:

• a social worker, where appropriate
• Financial Information Service (FIS)
• Multilingual Phone Service (MPS)
• Indigenous Service Officers (ISO)
• information available on the Services Australia website including:
• Payment and Service finder
• What to do when a loved one dies page
• the contact details for state funeral assistance that may be available