Centrelink after a death

Updated 20 August 2026 · 5 minute read

If the person received any Centrelink payment — age pension, JobSeeker, DSP, carer payment — Services Australia needs to know within 14 days. It's one of the only hard statutory deadlines in the whole after-death checklist, and handled early it also unlocks support for a surviving partner.

The essentials

Notify within 14 days — phone 132 300 (the bereavement line), at a service centre, or via the linked myGov account
Payments stop at death; amounts paid after the date of death must be repaid — don't spend the last deposit
The funeral director's registration with BDM does NOT replace notifying Centrelink
A surviving partner who also receives payments must report the change in circumstances — rates change from single/couple status

Bereavement support for partners

Where both members of a couple received income support, the survivor generally has a 14-week bereavement period: payments are adjusted rather than cut off abruptly, and part of the support can arrive as a lump sum. Precise entitlements depend on the payments involved — ask the bereavement line to run the calculation rather than relying on any published figure.

Veterans differ

DVA runs its own bereavement system (1800 555 254) with its own payments — including, under MRCA, substantial lump sums to wholly dependent partners. If the deceased had any service history, ring DVA as well as Centrelink; the schemes stack differently.

The clawback, handled calmly

Expect a letter
Services Australia reconciles automatically and writes about any post-death overpayment — usually the final fortnight's deposit.
Repay from the estate
It's an estate debt, paid in the ordinary course — not the family's personal debt, and not an accusation.
Keep the executor informed
The debt joins the list the executor settles before distribution — the sequence here.

Sorting the wider estate too?

The Centrelink call is one line of the checklist. Fixed-fee firms run the whole administration if you'd rather hand it over.

Get fixed-fee probate quotes

What if we notify late?

Notify anyway — the overpayment just grows until you do. Genuine grief-delayed notification isn't treated punitively; it's the repayment that matters.

Does the estate get a funeral benefit from Centrelink?

Not generally — bereavement support flows to surviving partners and carers, not estates. State destitute-funeral schemes fill the no-money gap — see funeral costs.

The deceased was mid-claim when they died — abandoned?

Not necessarily; some claims can be finalised to the date of death with back pay owed to the estate. Ask the bereavement line specifically.

Sources

Services Australia — bereavement line 132 300 (notification and bereavement payment rules)
DVA — bereavement payments (dva.gov.au)