What happens after you’ve notified us
Once you’ve notified us of a customer passing, we’ll provide you with a reference number that you can use if you need to contact us again or provide additional information or documents.
Please note: We’ll only email you a reference number if you’ve provided us with a valid email address.
We’ll then identify accounts, preserve the accounts and identify legal personal representatives.
We’ll identify your loved one’s accounts
We’ll check all accounts, services, signatory arrangements and guarantor arrangements across the following NAB Group businesses only .
- NAB
- ubank
- Advantedge
- nabtrade
- JBWere
- NAB Insurance
If you’re aware the deceased had a relationship with any of the following brands, please let us know and we will pass on that detail:
- HICAPS
- Medfin
We’ll preserve or stop the accounts
We’ll preserve accounts by putting a stop on them. To stop any unauthorised actions on an account owned solely by the deceased we’ll:
- identify accounts held in the deceased name
- stop the accounts to debits
- cancel any direct debits, periodical payments, or other regular payments
- cancel all credit and debit cards (including any cards held by secondary cardholders)
- switch off any internet banking arrangements
- identify any fees that shouldn’t be charged, refund them and stop charging those fees.
For any joint account in credit, the surviving account holder(s) will continue to have access to the account.
We’ll identify the Legal Personal Representative
We’ll need to identify the person or people who have legal authority to administer the estate of the deceased. These are known as the Legal Personal Representatives.
The Legal Personal Representatives are the only people we’ll be able to share detailed account information with and take any instructions from regarding the finalisation of deceased customer’s accounts.
This may be an Executor, an Administrator, a prospective Administrator, or the Next of Kin.
Key documents
Depending on the complexity of the estate and your relationship with the deceased, the Legal Personal Representatives may need to provide additional documents to validate authority to access the estate information or provide instructions.
For all estates, we’ll need the original documents or certified copies of the following:
- Proof of death if notification wasn’t via the Australian Death Notification Service, opens in new window (ADNS). Acceptable evidence includes death certificate, funeral invoice, Grant of Representation or Government Agency Correspondence.
- Either a Will (if applicable) or if there’s no Will, Next of Kin proof of relationship.
- Proof of identity for all Legal Personal Representatives: Government-issued photo ID such as a Driver Licence or passport or your NAB account details if you’re an existing NAB customer.
- Completed and signed Closing NAB accounts and releasing funds for a Deceased Estate form (PDF, 560KB).
We also need a Grant of Representation in any of these circumstances :
- the total value of accounts in credit held with us is $100,000 or more
- there’s a pending application for a Grant of Representation or an existing Grant in place
- we have received other claims to the estate, or there’s an indication of a dispute in respect of the estate
- we suspect fraud or financial abuse.
We’ll provide detail of all accounts held by the deceased
If we’re able to confirm you have the authority, for example you’re the Legal Personal Representative, we’ll write to you with a formal Statement of Position, including:
- details of all accounts held with us
- the balance at the date of death
- information about the accounts including ongoing fees, direct debits and recurring payments
- other helpful information.
Where there are loan accounts or other debit balances, we’ll confirm this, along with detail of anyone else who may have shared liability for the debts.
On request we can also provide details of relevant interest accrued, received, or paid – if required for a Grant of Representation application or for tax return purposes
If we’re unable to confirm your authority to receive such information, we’ll write to you detailing what else is required and provide an indication of the type of accounts held by the deceased.
We'll finalise accounts held
We’ll finalise accounts based on instructions from the Legal Personal Representative. If there are funds held in the deceased’s accounts, there are four things we’ll need (if we don’t have them already) before releasing funds:
- Confirmation of your authority to act on behalf of the estate.
- Verified identities of all parties acting on behalf of the estate. This can change though the course of managing the estate, depending on who is named in a Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration.
- An understanding of your plans in respect of any loan facilities, debit balance accounts or other liabilities of the estate.
- A signed Closing NAB accounts and releasing funds for a Finalising a Deceased Estate (PDF, 560KB), opens in new window. The form confirms acknowledgement of the terms under which we will release the deceased’s funds at the direction of the Legal Personal Representative. It will need to be completed in full and signed by all Legal Personal Representatives of the estate.
How long does the process take?
We’ll do the following within 14 days once we’ve been notified of the death and received all required documents:
- Verify the death
- Identify the Legal Personal Representative(s)
- Send letters confirming details of the accounts held by the deceased.
Once we have instructions and acceptable ID documents from all confirmed Legal Personal Representative(s), we’ll act on those instructions to finalise accounts within 14 days.
If we’re missing required information or documents and you’ve provided your phone number, we’ll try to contact you by phone to discuss. We’ll then follow up in writing detailing what we need.
Need help making repayments?
If you’re having difficulty making repayments on behalf of the estate or are concerned about your ability to do so on an ongoing basis, please contact the Customer Care team on 1800 701 599 Monday to Friday, 8:00am to 8:00pm (AEST/ADST), Saturday 9:00am to 1:00pm (AEST/ADST).
Glossary
Learn more about Legal Personal Representatives and other key terms.
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An Executor is a person chosen by the deceased in their Will to manage their affairs. They are responsible for the administration of the estate and distribution of any assets to the beneficiaries of the estate, as defined in the Will.
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An Administrator is a person confirmed by the Supreme Court (via Letters of Administration) when the deceased did not leave a Will, or where the Executor(s) named in a Will are unable or unwilling to carry out the role. They are responsible for the administration of the estate and distribution of any assets according to the Will (if one exists) or otherwise the rules of intestacy – which vary from state to state.
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The closest living relative(s) of the deceased, and the person/people entitled to apply for Letters of Administration. In some cases where there are neither Executors or Administrators appointed, and where the value of accounts held is low, we may be able to take instructions from the Next of Kin. We will need to understand the nature of your relationship to the deceased – usually via the Death Certificate. For more complex arrangements not supported by the Death Certificate, we may ask for other evidence such as marriage or birth certificate or proof of a de-facto relationship.
Other steps
Get in touch
NAB Bereavement Services
Visit a NAB branch
Visit your nearest NAB branch to speak to us in person.
Terms and Conditions
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