Australian Death Notification Service | Hacker News Reader

Australian Death Notification Service

deathnotification.gov.au

A few points.

* It's down right now - connection timeout. Surely an 8 point story on HN couldn't lead to it being hugged to death, but then a voice in the back of my mind whispers "2016 census".

* When I tried to use it when a family member died recently, with a death certificate firmly in hand, it didn't recognise him.

* I ended up being glad it didn't. Turns out when businesses monitor this their usual reaction is to disable all services. When you are trying to chase down all the loose ends of a deceased estate, the bank deleting all credit card statements so you can continue paying insurance, rates, mobile phone bills for 2FA and so on is less than helpful. Yes, CommBank really did that. "We will immediately shut down his credit card so no new charges can appear". Me: yes, good idea, but can I have the statements so I see who to pay so important services continue? Them: "no, me terminating the account a few minutes ago deleted all the statements".

My advice: using this service to tidy up loose ends at the very end is probably a good idea. But until you have everything you know about under control, avoid it.

That sounds like it should be investigated.

From an accounting perspective you can’t just delete transactions or accounts.

Of course they aren't "deleted" in any real sense. The proposition a bank would delete statements with lines only a few days old borders on farcical. Nonetheless, that statement was repeated a number of times by bank representatives, including their specialists in deceased estates.

I presume it really means "when the account is closed, it is removed from the UI and I don't know how else to access it". The statements could be retrieved, but based on past experience that would take forms, money, and some time, and stubborn insistence when dealing with bank staff under normal circumstances. In this case it would also need me submitting certified death certificates, will's, and maybe even probate. Obtaining probate takes months, literally.

It seems like it is an official portal where the government will help to notify businesses, accounts, etc. that a person has died. The title made me think that I could sign up to be notified if someone has died, which it does not appear to be.

Was hoping this was the title of a new Taika Waititi film.

He's a kiwi

Many Australians are . . .

Advice to Australians - use this once you have your joint (bank) accounts sorted out, otherwise your life will get more difficult.

It may apply to some other services as well.

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