Who to Contact When a Person Has Died

Health care professionals and residential aged care staff are often required to deal with the affairs of a person who has died without any identified family or close friends.  Enduring Guardianship and Powers of Attorney cease to have legal effect after a person has died.  If a Will can be located, the Executor of the Will can authorise payment of funeral arrangements and deal with the person’s property and effects.

If you cannot locate the person’s Will, the person is considered to have died ‘intestate’. For more information on intestacy, contact NSW Trustee and Guardian.

You could check if the Supreme Court of NSW, NSW Trustee and Guardian, the Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages or independent trustee companies have a record of the Will.  If no Will can be found, you can make an application to the Supreme Court for a grant of Letters of Administration. The deceased person’s property and assets will then be distributed to any eligible relatives as specified by the Succession Act 2006.