Pausing correspondence while you prepare
To officially notify us of a person's death, you need to provide either the death certificate or a grant of probate or letters of administration. You may need to provide other supporting documents, depending on the circumstances.
If you don't have the supporting documents yet, you can phone us to let us know unofficially that the person has died.
We will pause the deceased's tax correspondence until you're ready.
Who can notify us
Check who can notify us of a death and who will manage the estate.
Official notification of death
Usually, the person who officially notifies us of a person's death is a:
- relative
- executor or administrator of the estate
- legal practitioner, BAS agent or tax agent who previously represented the deceased person, or has been appointed by the executor or administrator.
Notification of who will manage the estate
Only the executor or administrator of the estate can nominate as the person who will manage the estate.
Once appointed as either executor or administrator, they can appoint a legal practitioner, tax agent or BAS agent to help them manage the estate.
How to notify us
You use the same form to officially notify us of a person's death and notify us of who will manage the estate.
You can notify us by:
- completing an online form and attending an interview at an Australia Post outlet to present your supporting documents
- you can keep your documents and don't need certified copies
- completing a paper form and mailing it to us, along with certified copies of the supporting documents
- the copies must be certified by a justice of the peace or other approved certifier, and are not returned to you
- a legal practitioner, tax agent or BAS agent appointed by the legal personal representative (LPR) can also use this form to notify us by mail.
It takes up to 28 days to update the deceased person's records after we receive your notification.
Supporting documents
To notify us of a death, you'll need to provide one of the following supporting documents:
Death certificate
You need a death certificate to officially notify us of a person's death if you haven't obtained a grant of probate or letters of administration. If you don't have a death certificate, contact the Births, Deaths and Marriages registry in your state or territory to get one.
Probate or letters of administration
If you have one of the following court-issued documents, bring it with you to the interview or include a certified copy with your mailed notification:
- grant of probate (for an executor)
- letters of administration (for an administrator).
We will record you as the authorised LPR and enter your name in our records as the authorised contact for the deceased estate.
If you intend on applying for a grant of probate or letters of administration, wait until you receive the court grant before submitting the Notification of Deceased person. This will avoid delays in processing your request.
If you submitted an official notification of death before you had the grant of probate or letters of administration, you can submit a new copy of the notification form to provide these documents to us.
If you have a digital grant of probate or letters of administration, you will need to print it and have the printed version certified. If you include a copy of a grant of probate or letters of administration in your notification form, you don't need to include a death certificate.
Will
You only need to include the will if you have decided not to apply for a grant of probate or letters of administration.
We can:
- use the will to verify your role in the estate's tax affairs
- add your name to our records, with a note that you are managing the estate's tax affairs.
However, without a grant of probate or letters of administration, we can't record you as the authorised LPR. This means there are legal restrictions on the information and funds we can release to you.
Example: notifying the ATO and being authorised as the LPR
Maree died on 4 March 2024 in Melbourne. At the time of her death Maree's assets included her main residence, a rental property and shares.
Maree's last will and testament names her son, Zach, as the executor of her estate.
Pausing tax correspondence
A few weeks after Maree's death, a letter from the ATO arrives at her address. Zach phones the ATO and asks to temporarily pause her tax correspondence.
Grant of probate
Zach has Maree's financial records, but the information is incomplete. Also, he knows that Maree's estate will continue to receive income from the shares and rental property.
Zach decides to apply for a grant of probate in the Supreme Court so he can be recorded by the ATO as the authorised LPR. This will give him full authority to deal with Maree's tax affairs, including unrestricted access to the tax information and funds held by the ATO.
Zach applies to the Supreme Court of Victoria for a grant of probate.
- The court issues the grant of probate on 1 June 2024. This validates the will in which Zach is named as executor.
- The grant is stored electronically on the court's system. Zach has access to the electronic version.
Online notification
On 2 June 2024, Zach completes an ATO online notification of Maree's death. Shortly after, he attends an interview at an Australia Post outlet, where he provides a printed and certified copy of the digital grant of probate.
Authorisation as LPR
On 30 June 2024, the ATO:
- advises Zach that he has been recorded as the authorised LPR
- provides Zach with a data package of Maree's tax and super information for the past 3 income years
- resumes sending tax correspondence related to Maree's estate, with Zach as the contact.
Notifying a super fund
Contact the deceased person's super fund (or funds) to let them know the person has died and discuss the release of their super.
Do this if you are:
- a potential beneficiary of a deceased person's super
- the LPR of the estate.
We can provide information about super funds to the authorised LPR or their representative. If there is no authorised LPR, we may inform the super fund (or funds). They will then determine whether to contact the family.