It's been nearly two years since my dad passed away ? I did all the plans for the funeral contacted all the relevant people to inform of his death, closed his bank accounts etc just to cover the cost of his funeral. I'm his sole dependant so it was all on me. The only thing is I've never come across a will... So his super etc is still sitting there, I don't even know who it was through or anything. I've been told it'll cost me a good $600 to apply for the right stuff just to be able to chase this information down... Which is a lot of money in my situation... Especially if there ends up being nothing there...
Surely there's another way to do this? Does anyone know of any free legal advice or who I can talk to that will tell me what my next step is?
I'm in Qld if that makes a difference.
2 Replies
The Public Trustee in Qld used to deal with all the intestate deaths (without a will). I saw in Choice Magazine yesterday that 50% of Australians die without a will, so it's common... Also your funeral director may be able to point you in the right direction... Good luck and kind thoughts to you during this difficult time :(
If you still have his tax file number you can do a lost super search through the ATO website to try to establish if there is anything worth pursuing. Once you've done that, you'll be able to find out where the super is held (if any) and contact the funds directly to find out what you need to do to have any benefits paid out. You may be able to do all of it if probate has been granted, you will have the necessary authority as the Executor of the Estate to do the search via the ATO. Hope this helps :)