Requesting refunds and raising debts for deceased customer 107-04010110

Only disclose information to:

• the executor named in the will
• the Public Trustee
• a court, or
• administrator of the estate

Nominee arrangements and Powers of Attorney will cease at the time of the customer's death. Do not give a former nominee or Power of Attorney details about the deceased person.

The will of the deceased person will normally identify executors. If a person dies without a will, applications to the Probate Office of the Supreme Court for letters of administration can be made by the customer’s:

• spouse
• partner, or
• next of kin

Do not contact the executor by telephone or in writing until 4 weeks have passed since the date of the customer's death. Try to include all debt related notifications in one single notice to the executor.

A payment may have been made:

• by direct credit to a customer's preferred financial institution
• by cheque, or
• to a group organisation

Determine the most appropriate action for payments made to the customer after their death. See the Process page.

Note: if a number of payments are recalled on the same day, the system will issue a consolidated request to the financial institution. The Request for Refund (RFR) letter can hold up to 29 recall activities. Where there are more than 29 recall activities, additional letters will automatically be generated.

The legislation states the financial institution must comply with a request for refund even when the account is in more than one name. Deductions may occur before the financial institution can process the refund. This may impact on the refund amount.

Deductions may include:

• payments to a third-party organisation (TPO) via Centrepay
• group payments to organisations
• urgent payment deductions
• advance repayments
• debt repayments (including withholdings from other Centrelink payments)
• child support payments
• tax deductions
• participation failure deductions

If Services Australia does not receive the full amount back from the financial institution, raise the remaining outstanding amount as a debt against the estate.

To cancel cheques, see the Cash Management and Reporting Services homepage.

Do not contact the executor within 4 weeks of the customer's date of death.

If the customer has other outstanding debts and a payment paid after death, send a Q080 (Advice of Account) to the executor including all outstanding debt details.

Include any interest in the total amount. The system will exclude interest from the date of death, once the death action is complete.

An executor or third party may contact to:

• advise of a customer's death, or
• request details relating to the deceased customer

Do not provide a third party with information, including whether the deceased person was a customer, unless:

• the death and executor details have been confirmed, and
• they have provided sufficient evidence of their authority

See Centrelink - Notification, confirming and recording a death and Requests for information after someone has died.

Staff must exercise sensitivity when discussing a deceased customer's debt with an executor or third party.

If the:

• deceased customer identified as Indigenous, see Cultural considerations when someone dies and Indigenous naming conventions
• executor or third party is in emotional distress and needs support, consider a referral to a Social Worker

When funds are paid to a customer after their death and are withdrawn from the account before the payment/s can be recalled, raise all debts against the estate.

The Administrator/Executor of the estate is responsible for pursuing a case against:

• unauthorised withdrawals from the bank account
• joint account holder or executor withdrawals
• any person convicted, or facing conviction, under criminal law

Ownership of a joint account reverts to the surviving account holder when the customer becomes deceased. Where funds are paid into a joint account and cannot be recalled after the death of a customer, the debt should be raised and recovered from the surviving account holder(s) and not from the estate of the deceased customer.

Any payments made to the deceased customer during the bereavement period can form part of the Lump Sum Bereavement Payment (LBP) to a surviving partner. See Calculation of a Lump Sum Bereavement Payment (LBP).

If a surviving partner qualifies for LBP, they are entitled to keep any instalments paid in the name of the deceased customer during the bereavement period.

If a payment has been returned from a financial institution, and is recorded on the deceased person's record, the payment can be reissued. See Replacing payment made to a deceased customer where payment was returned from financial institution.

If the deceased customer had payments into an enhanced Income Management account, see Ending enhanced Income Management Participation.

Nominee arrangements cease on the date of death of the customer. Payments made to former payment nominees after a customer’s date of death should be actioned as an incorrect payment to a third party.

For incorrect payments made to a third party, see Actioning third party debts.