Funeral grant eligibility checker (WINZ)
The Work and Income Funeral Grant pays towards reasonable funeral costs, up to a maximum of $2,697.43. It depends on who died, whether they normally lived in New Zealand, your income if they were your partner or child, and the assets counted. This checker compares your answers with the published rules and shows whether Work and Income is likely to say yes, likely to say no, or needs to be asked. Work and Income makes the decision.
Your answers
Nothing you enter is stored or sent anywhere. QuoteHub is not part of Work and Income or the Ministry of Social Development, and this page is not a decision or an application. If you are arranging a funeral now, you can skip any box you are unsure about: the result will say what is still open.
Work and Income lists four situations: a partner, a parent or guardian, a child under 18, or someone over 18 who was single.
Work and Income requires this in all cases.
Work and Income says you may not get a grant if the costs are covered by another organisation such as ACC or Veterans' Affairs, or by prepaid funeral cover.
Optional: an indicative amount
The grant is the lesser of the maximum and the reasonable funeral expenses left after the assets counted. Enter the figures you have to see an indicative amount.
From the itemised funeral account.
Work and Income also counts payments it kept going for 28 days after the death as an asset.
Choose who the funeral is for to see how your answers sit against the published rules.
What the Funeral Grant is
The Funeral Grant is a payment from Work and Income towards some of the funeral costs of someone who has died. It can be used only towards reasonable funeral expenses. The most it can pay is $2,697.43. Work and Income does not ask you to pay it back if all the criteria are met. If it cannot confirm your income or assets when you apply, it may still pay and confirm later, and you would have to pay the money back if the income or asset criteria are not met.
The page we checked was updated on 24 June 2026 and fetched by QuoteHub on 20 October 2026. Work and Income can change the maximum and the limits, so check the official page before you rely on a figure. Our funeral grant guide explains the grant in more detail.
The tests Work and Income applies
You may be able to get a grant if the person who died was your partner, your parent or guardian, your child under 18, or someone over 18 and single whose funeral you are arranging. In all cases the person who died must have normally lived in New Zealand. Work and Income also checks that the reasonable funeral expenses cannot be met from the assets of the person who died, and, if they were your partner or child, from your assets.
Income limits if the person who died was your partner
Your annual income before tax must be less than:
| If you are | Limit |
|---|---|
| 16 to 17 years, with no children | $33,518.68 |
| 18 or older, with no children | $38,522.12 |
| A parent with one child | $46,745.92 |
| A parent with two or more children | $49,248.68 |
Income limits if the person who died was your child
| If you are | Limit |
|---|---|
| Single, 16 to 17 years, with no other children | $33,518.68 |
| Single, 18 or older, with no other children | $38,522.12 |
| In a relationship, with or without children | $55,954.08 |
| Single with one other child | $46,745.92 |
| Single with two or more other children | $49,248.68 |
Source: Work and Income, Funeral Grant, page updated 24 June 2026, retrieved 20 October 2026. There is no income test if the person who died was your parent or guardian, or an adult who was single.
How assets are counted
If the person who died was not your partner or child, Work and Income counts the total of their assets and deducts it from the funeral expenses; your assets are not assessed. If they were your partner or child, it counts the total of their assets and some of yours: the first $2,351.46 of your assets is not counted. Either way it deducts the total from the reasonable funeral expenses and pays the lesser of the maximum grant and what is left. Payments that Work and Income kept going for 28 days after the death also count as an asset. What counts as an asset is set out in Work and Income’s Manuals and Procedures, which the official page links to, so this checker does not guess at it.
What the grant can pay for
Work and Income gives these examples of reasonable funeral expenses:
- professional services fees charged by a funeral director
- the cost of a casket
- a death certificate and newspaper notice costs
- hearse fees
- burial costs, including plot and interment, or cremation fees
- venue hire, and food and catering including kai for a tangihanga
- flowers, celebrant, minister or clergy fees, and a slideshow or photo tribute
The maximum is a small part of what many funerals cost. Our funeral costs section sets out what councils and funeral directors publish, and our guide to funeral costs in New Zealand
How to apply
- Complete the Funeral Grant application form, which you can download from the official page.
- Gather confirmation of death (a death certificate, funeral director confirmation or a newspaper death notice), the itemised funeral account, and, if it is already paid, the original receipt and bank account details for the person who paid. Bring proof of who you are, such as a driver licence or passport. You may also need details about assets and income.
- Take the form and documents to a Work and Income service centre, or post them.
The person applying must be able to give estate details or other information about the person who died, including any children they were responsible for. If an application is declined, see our guide on what to do if a funeral grant is declined
Other help, and where funeral insurance fits
If another organisation or prepaid funeral cover pays, you may not get a Funeral Grant. Read about the ACC funeral grant and the Veterans’ Affairs funeral grant
Funeral insurance is a different thing from the grant. Momentum Life’s Funeral Insurance, issued by Momentum Life Limited, accepts New Zealanders aged 40 to 75 and pays a fixed benefit of $3,000 to $30,000 towards costs. In the first 24 months it pays only for accidental death; after that it pays for death from any cause. Total premiums can end up larger than the benefit, and the benefit may not cover the whole funeral. Momentum Life’s A.M. Best rating is B (Fair), and its financial strength page has the detail. Our funeral insurance hub, the funeral insurance and WINZ grant comparison funeral insurance break-even calculator
The buttons below take you to Momentum Life’s online application. They are there if you are planning ahead; they have nothing to do with a grant application.
Sources and limits of this checker
- Work and Income: Funeral Grant, page updated 24 June 2026, retrieved 20 October 2026.
The checker applies only what that page states. The page gives no deadline for applying, so the checker shows timing as a question for Work and Income. It does not decide what counts as income or an asset, and it cannot see your circumstances. A “likely” result is not a decision.
QuoteHub is not affiliated with Work and Income or the Ministry of Social Development. This page is general information, not personalised financial advice. Financial advice is provided by Craig Smith Business Services Limited, trading as Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver, a licensed Financial Advice Provider (FSP712931). Rules checked 20 Oct 2026.
Read the funeral grant guide · free, no obligation.
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