What to do when you cannot afford a funeral

Written by Henry Smith · Reviewed by Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver, licensed Financial Advice Provider (FSP712931) · Updated 2026-10-20 · Reviewed quarterly, when the underlying data is restated.

Financial advice is provided by Craig Smith Business Services Limited, trading as Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver, a licensed Financial Advice Provider (FSP712931). QuoteHub is a trading name.

If you cannot afford a funeral in New Zealand, pause before you sign a funeral director's agreement and ask for a written price for the plainest option. Help that may apply: the means-tested Work and Income Funeral Grant of up to $2,697.43, an ACC grant of up to $8,236.40 if the death followed an accident, money released from the person's own bank account, and a direct cremation (no service), which FDANZ prices well below its other two scenarios.

There is no rush to decide today. After a death at home, Health NZ says "there is no rush to do anything immediately", and that calls to a healthcare provider or funeral director can wait until morning if the person died overnight (Health NZ: dying at home, updated 16 February 2026). That leaves time to work out the money. Funeral costs are the reason many families find this hard: FDANZ's 2026 report puts a full funeral with cremation, 50 guests and a celebrant at an average of $11,700, a burial funeral at $14,300 and an unattended cremation at $4,700 (FDANZ). The Funeral Grant does not close that gap on its own, so the practical aim is to shrink the bill and stack up the help that is available. This page is general information as at 20 October 2026, not legal advice.

Do these in order

Hold off signing. Ask the funeral director for a written price for the plainest option, and for what is included. Check whether the agreement is signed by you personally or as executor. If it is unclear, take it to a Community Law centre first.
Check the person's own money. Contact their bank: govt.nz says funds can be released to pay for the funeral, and you do not need to be the executor (govt.nz). Our guide to paying funeral costs from an estate explains which money is reachable and which is not.
Apply for the grants (next section) before you commit to a bill you cannot meet.
Choose the simplest arrangement that fits your family (see "Lowering the cost").
Ask about council help if the person left too little and nobody can pay.
Ask for support from whānau, iwi, church or community. Some of it is listed below.

The Work and Income Funeral Grant

The grant is up to $2,697.43 (as at 1 April 2026), is not taxable, and does not need to be repaid if you meet the criteria (Work and Income, updated 24 June 2026). You can apply if the person was your partner, your parent or guardian, your child under 18, or a single adult over 18 whose funeral you are arranging, and they normally lived in New Zealand.

Income test. It applies only if the person was your partner or child. For a partner aged 18 or over with no children, your annual income before tax must be under $38,522.12; other limits are on Work and Income's page.
Asset test. Work and Income pays the lesser of the maximum or the unmet balance after the deceased's assets are counted. If the person was single with no children, net equity in property they owned counts, so a house can reduce or remove the grant. If they left a partner or children, the family home, car and possessions are not counted.
Other help counts. Work and Income counts a prepaid funeral account as an asset, and says other help, including prepaid funeral cover, can affect eligibility.
What it can pay. Reasonable costs such as the funeral director's fees, casket, hearse, burial or cremation fees, venue, food (including kai for a tangihanga), flowers and a celebrant.
How. You need the application form, confirmation of the death, an itemised account and proof of identity. There is "no time limit", and Work and Income may pay and recover later if it cannot confirm income or assets.

If it is declined, there is a review right: within three months of the notice, or later for a good reason. See grant declined or appealed and the full grant guide.

ACC and Veterans' Affairs

ACC pays a funeral grant of up to $8,236.40 for funeral and memorial costs when the death resulted from a covered injury, paid to the funeral director or reimbursed to you; there is "no time limit" to apply, using form ACC21 (ACC: financial support after death). Work and Income does not pay its grant if an ACC grant is payable, and it cannot top up costs left over. See ACC funeral grant. Veterans' Affairs gives one-off help of $3,297.09 (as at 1 April 2026) for veterans with qualifying service (Veterans' Affairs).

Lowering the cost

FDANZ's July 2025 ranges show where the money goes: a professional services fee of $3,000 to $6,500 (possibly lower for a no-service cremation), a cremation fee of $600 to $1,100, council burial costs of $1,000 to $8,000, a casket of $1,200 to $5,000 and a celebrant of $300 to $900, with ranges varying by funeral director (FDANZ: financial matters). The lines you can control:

Unattended or direct cremation. There is no service or viewing, so no chapel hire or catering is needed. FDANZ's average is $4,700. Prices are not like for like: one Auckland director's direct-cremation professional fee is $3,030 but leaves out the crematorium fee, casket and documentation, while a Christchurch provider's "from" price of $4,215 includes them (price lists dated May 2026 and 2026). Ask what the figure includes. See direct cremation and cremation costs.
A private goodbye later. A memorial can follow a simple cremation, at a time and place and on a budget you choose.
Skip extras. Newspaper notices, flowers, live-streaming, catering and service sheets each add to the bill.
Weekday, not weekend. Several councils list higher charges for Saturday, Sunday and public-holiday burials; Christchurch City Council's 2026/27 schedule shows $846 for a Saturday or public-holiday burial.

Council help for people with no means

Searches for a "pauper's funeral" lead here, but the Burial and Cremation Act 1964 uses the phrase "poor person" (section 49, quoted in full in our guide to council and public funerals). In short, a council that runs a cemetery or crematorium may let the body of a poor person be buried or cremated free of charge, and must do so on a Justice's order, after the Justice is satisfied that the person left too little and relatives and friends cannot pay (Burial and Cremation Act 1964, s 49). It is a narrow local arrangement, not a service you can request in the way you apply for a grant, and FDANZ says some councils still insist funeral homes apply to Work and Income first.

Other places to ask

Iwi, Māori land trusts and marae may help with tangihanga costs; so may Te Puni Kōkiri and Māori churches (Community Law).
Salvation Army and GiveALittle are named by FDANZ as options (FDANZ: financial matters).
Travel to a funeral or tangihanga. Work and Income says it can help if you cannot afford the travel: an Advance Payment of Benefit if you are on a benefit, or a Recoverable Assistance Payment if not, and it may need to be repaid (Work and Income: bereavement).
Payment plans and loans exist, but they add interest or fees; read our payment plans guide before using one.

How big the gap can be

The grant is a contribution. By our arithmetic, $2,697.43 is about 23% of $11,700 and 57% of $4,700, and ACC's $8,236.40 is about 70% and 175% of the same figures. One Whakatāne director told FDANZ that most of its funerals are for low-income Māori families needing simple care and transfer to the marae, averaging about $5,000, and that a full grant still left "several thousand dollars of debt". That is one director's account, not a national figure.

If someone else's debt worries you

We found no source that makes a relative who signed nothing personally liable for a funeral account. Our guide to debts after death and the estate guide linked above cover what is paid from the estate. If you have signed an agreement, take it to a Community Law centre.

If you are thinking about your own future

None of this helps with a funeral you are arranging now. For planning ahead, the funeral insurance hub compares options. Momentum Life's Funeral Insurance, for example, pays only on accidental death in its first 24 months and refunds premiums for any other death in that window, and total premiums can end up larger than the benefit. Saving is another route. For who normally pays, see who pays for a funeral.

If you are planning ahead for your own funeral costs

Get a quote and apply online today

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Life cover See your price Ages 18–65 · $50k–$300k Funeral cover See your price Ages 40–75 · $3k–$30k

Want more than $300k or have questions? Talk to an adviser

Life cover: Conditions you already have aren't covered for the first 2 years (premiums refunded instead). Suicide isn't covered for the first 2 years, and a few conditions can be excluded permanently.

Funeral cover: Only accidental death is covered for the first 2 years. Total premiums can add up to more than the cover, and it may not meet the whole cost of a funeral.

Insurer: Momentum Life Limited. Financial strength rating B (Fair) from AM Best, affirmed 11 February 2026; B ratings sit in AM Best's 'vulnerable' range. The rating scale is available for inspection at every Momentum Life office in New Zealand. What this means

Already have cover? Keep it. New cover won't pay for a condition you already have in its first 2 years.

Opens Momentum Life's online application; its guidance only covers eligibility. QuoteHub is a Momentum Life partner. Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver may receive a commission if you buy. General information, not advice.

Adviser's view

You do not have to decide everything at once, and you do not have to sign a funeral director's agreement until you have seen a written price. Work through the person's own money, then the grants, then the simplest arrangement. Help exists, but the grants are capped and no single source is certain to cover the whole bill, so keep asking until you know the number.

Henry Smith, Financial Adviser (FSP1010699). General information, not personalised financial advice.

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Cite this page QuoteHub NZ (2026). Can't Afford a Funeral NZ? Practical Next Steps. www.quotehub.co.nz/guides/when-someone-dies/cant-afford-a-funeral-nz. Updated 2026-10-20.