An eligible applicant must make a claim within 6 months from the date of the grant of Probate or Letters of Administration.

Eligible applicants include:

Spouse: person married to the deceased as at the time of death.

Domestic Partner: a registered domestic partner under the Relationships Act 2008; an unregistered domestic partner living with the deceased as a couple on a genuine domestic basis for at least 2 years; or a parent of a minor child of the deceased.

Former spouse: a former spouse who must, as at the date of death, have been able to take proceedings under the Family Law Act but the deceased’s death prevented them from commencing or continuing the proceedings.

Former domestic partner: a former domestic partner who must, as at the date of death, have been able to take proceedings under the Family Law Act at the time of death but the deceased’s death prevented them from commencing or continuing such proceedings.

Child: a child of the deceased including an adopted child.

Stepchild: either a minor or adult stepchild of the deceased as at the date of death. Assumed child: a person who believed they were a child of the deceased and treated by the deceased as a natural child.

Grandchild: a child of the deceased’s own child. A grandchild must have been wholly or partly dependent on the deceased for proper maintenance and support.

Spouse of a domestic partner of a child of the deceased who died within a year of the deceased’s death: a son-in-law or daughter-in-law of the deceased who was wholly or partly dependent on the deceased for proper maintenance and support.

Registered caring partner: a person who at the date of death was in a registered caring relationship with the deceased pursuant to the Relationships Act 2008. A registered caring partner must be wholly or partly dependent on the deceased for proper maintenance and support. “A registered caring relationship” involves two adults who are not a couple or married to each other, and who may or may not otherwise be related by family, where one or both of the parties provide personal or financial commitment and support of a domestic nature for the material benefit of the other, not for fee or reward and irrespective of their genders and whether or not they are living under the same roof.

Member of the household: any person who was a member of the household of which the deceased was a member at the date of death; or a former member of the household who would have been likely to again become a member of the household in the event the deceased had not died. A person claiming under this category must have been wholly or partly dependent on the deceased for proper maintenance and support.