Funeral Grant NZ: help with funeral costs from Work and Income and ACC

There are two public sources of help with funeral costs in New Zealand. Work and Income's Funeral Grant pays up to $2,697.43 towards reasonable funeral costs, for people who meet its income and asset tests (figure from Work and Income's Funeral Grant page, updated 24 June 2026). If the death was caused by an accident, ACC provides financial support to the family instead, including a funeral grant, and Work and Income will usually not pay as well.

Who can get a Work and Income Funeral Grant?

Work and Income describes the grant as help with some of the funeral costs of someone who has died. It is not a benefit you need to already be on. The person who died must have normally lived in New Zealand, and must have been one of these:

• Your partner
• Your parent or guardian
• Your child under 18
• A single adult over 18 whose funeral you are arranging

Where the person who died was your partner or child, your own income also has to be under a limit. Work and Income publishes those limits as a table that depends on your situation; at the time of writing they ranged from $33,518.68 to $55,954.08 a year before tax. Check the current table on Work and Income's Funeral Grant page, because the figures are adjusted.

How much is the Funeral Grant?

Work and Income states the most it can pay is $2,697.43. That is a contribution, not the cost of a funeral, and the amount paid can be less depending on what the estate and family can cover.

It can only be used towards what Work and Income calls reasonable funeral expenses. Its examples include the funeral director's professional fees, a casket, hearse fees, burial or cremation costs, and food and catering, including kai for a tangihanga.

The asset test: the estate is looked at first

Work and Income checks whether reasonable funeral costs could be met from the assets of the person who died before it pays. If the person who died was your partner or child, your own assets are counted too, though Work and Income says the first $2,351.46 of your assets is not counted.

In practice this means that if the person who died left money in a bank account, KiwiSaver or other assets, that is expected to go towards the funeral first. The grant is for when it does not stretch far enough.

When you cannot get a Funeral Grant

Work and Income says that if there is other help with costs available, you may not be able to get the grant. It names three examples:

• ACC, when the death was caused by an accident
• Veterans' Affairs, for an eligible veteran
• Prepaid funeral cover, including a prepaid funeral plan or funeral insurance

This is worth knowing before anyone takes out a prepaid plan or funeral policy on the assumption that the grant will top it up. If a plan exists, the grant may not be available at all.

How to apply for a Funeral Grant

• Fill in the Funeral Grant application form, which Work and Income publishes as a PDF on its Funeral Grant page.
• Gather your documents. The itemised funeral account from the funeral director is the key one, along with proof of identity. If the funeral has already been paid, you will also need the bank account number of the person who paid it.
• Drop the form and documents at a Work and Income service centre, or post them in.

Work and Income says you do not have to pay the grant back if you meet the criteria, but that if the income or asset criteria turn out not to have been met, the money will have to be repaid.

ACC: when the death was caused by an accident

ACC covers personal injury caused by accident, and that includes deaths. When someone dies as the result of an injury ACC covers, ACC provides financial support to the family, which includes a funeral grant and can include payments to a partner and children. The amount of the funeral grant depends on the date of death, so ACC is the place to confirm it.

Apply through ACC's pages on financial support when someone has died from an injury, or ask the funeral director to help. Because ACC is named by Work and Income as other help, you would usually claim from ACC rather than Work and Income.

Other ways families cover the gap

• A direct cremation, with a memorial held later, is the lowest-cost option most funeral directors offer. Our cost guide sets out what each type of funeral includes.
• Ask the funeral director for an itemised quote and which items are optional: flowers, catering, printed booklets and limousines all add up.
• Whānau and community contributions, including koha at a tangihanga, have long helped cover costs.
• Life insurance, if the person who died held any, usually pays the estate or a named person once the claim is accepted. It can take time, so the funeral director may need to know when to expect payment.

Thinking of borrowing to cover the rest? Read funeral loans in NZ: what to check first, including how a bank can release the person's own money for the funeral account.