What to do when a client passes away

When an account owner or trustee passes away, dealing with finances and estates can be daunting for the family and associates. To notify us of a client passing away, ask the executor/next of kin to email the below details to clientservicesupport@macquarie.com and we’ll be in touch with the next steps:

• full name of the deceased
• date of birth of the deceased
• any known account number/s
• date of death
• most recent address
• name, contact details and relationship to the deceased
• certified copy of death certificate (if you don't have this yet, please still notify us, and submit this when you can).

Alternatively, if we receive this information from you as their registered adviser, we’ll update the account accordingly and get in touch to confirm any additional steps based on the account type. You can do this via email or you can create an Update a Deceased Estates request in Request Centre. Find out more about Adviser Request Centre.

If you or the representative of the estate have all the above documents, please see below additional documentary requirements we may need to finalise the account.

Information can be shared with you (the adviser), executors, administrators, the solicitor or other representative acting on behalf of the estate. 

For third parties (such as executors and administrators) to access account specific information, please provide the following:

• a certified copy of client's death certificate
• a certified copy of Will, Letters of Administration or Probate
• a certified copy of the executor/s or administrator/s ID 
• a completed individual identification form
• a FSC individual form.

To close an account, we'll need:

• a certified copy of the client’s death certificate
• a certified copy of Will, Letters of Administration or Probate
• a certified copy of the executor/s or administrator/s ID
• a completed individual identity verification form for all executor/s or administrator/s
• a FSC individual form
• a completed withdrawal form/letter signed by all the executor/s.

Please note a request to waive probate is assessed on an individual basis, giving due attention to the particular circumstances and trust requirements. This doesn’t guarantee approval will be granted.

If your client held a super or pension account, the requirements to close an account will depend on the death benefit nomination held on the account. For more information, please refer to the super and pension section below.

If your client shares an account with another account holder who has passed away, we can change the account name. In some cases, your client may need to open a new account. For example, with Wrap investment accounts, we may be required to open a new account for tax reporting purposes.

For a name change on the account, please send a certified copy of the other account holder’s death certificate. There are times where we may require further documentation, especially if a new account is required. If this is the case, we’ll contact you.

In the case of the death of a trustee, or director of a corporate trustee, to update the trust account or directors, we require the following documents:

• a certified copy of the client’s death certificate
• a certified copy of ID for all newly appointed 
• a completed individual identity verification form for all newly appointed 
• a completed Third Party Authority form signed by all newly appointed.

For changes to Trustees, we’ll also need: 

• certified copy of deed of variations showing newly appointed trustee/s
• completed Beneficial Owner’s form

If the new trustee is a company we will also require:

• a completed Macquarie Australian Companies Identification form
• a copy of the ASIC Company Extract of bearers showing the appointed directors.

For new directors, we’ll also need:

• a copy of the ASIC certificate of bearers showing the appointed directors.

Reversionary pension nomination (pension only)

The person nominated as a reversionary beneficiary will receive the death benefit as a pension though can elect to receive the benefit as a lump sum after the pension has reverted to them.
 

Non-lapsing death benefit nomination held on the account

The person(s) nominated as beneficiary can elect to receive the benefit as a lump sum payment, by commencing a death benefit pension or a combination of both. We can only pay the death benefit as a pension if, at the time of death, the recipient is either:

• a dependant of the deceased (for example, their spouse, a financial dependant, or a person with whom they have an interdependency relationship) who is not a child, or
• a child of the deceased who is:
  • less than age 18, or
  • aged 18 to 24 inclusive and was financially dependent on the deceased, or
  • aged 18 or more and has a qualifying disability (broadly, this is a disability that is permanent or likely to be permanent and results in the need for ongoing support and a substantially reduced capacity for communication, learning or mobility).

A nominated child over the age of 18, that isn't financially dependent or has a qualifying disability, can only take their benefit as a lump sum.

For beneficiaries that were in an interdependency relationship with the deceased or financially dependent on the deceased, please complete the Information Request for Interdependency Relationships form and provide the additional supporting documentation to be reviewed by Trustee before the benefit payment can assessed. Please contact us if you were in an interdependency relationship or financially dependent on the deceased.

To action the options for these accounts, we require the following documentation:
 

Benefits to be taken as death benefit income stream

• a certified copy of the client’s death certificate
• a certified copy of the beneficiary’s ID (if not provided as part of the application form)
• an original Tax File Number Declaration is required if the beneficiary is under the age of 60.

We’ll also need: 

• For a non-lapsing nomination: a new Pension application form completed in full by the beneficiary - To be submitted online by the adviser
• For a reversionary beneficiary: a completed Macquarie Wrap Reversionary pension application form.
   

Benefits to be taken as a lump sum

• a certified copy of the client’s death certificate
• a certified copy of the beneficiary’s ID
• a completed withdrawal form/letter signed by the beneficiary
• the beneficiary’s Tax File Number (if payment is being made to an adult child of the deceased).
   

No Nomination or Nomination to the estate

• a certified copy of the client’s death certificate
• a certified copy of grant of probate/letters of administration
• a certified copy of the executor/s or administrator/s ID
• an individual identity verification form for all executor/s or administrator/s
• a completed withdrawal form/letter signed by all the executor/s.

The quickest way for you to provide these documents to us is to upload them in Request Centre. Alternatively if the executor or the administrator is sending this to us, the quickest way for them to provide the requested certified documents is to email clientservicesupport@macquarie.com.

Alternatively they can send them via post:

Deceased Estates 
GPO Box 2520 
Sydney, NSW, 2001 

Please review our guidelines on certification requirements.