Assessable estate of the deceased person

Assessable Estate means the estate of a deceased person. An estate is not limited to cash assets, it includes all of the assets and property owned solely by the deceased including land, cash assets, vehicles and household items.

For Funeral Grant, the assessable estate does not include:

• any asset that MSD considers to be impracticable to realise and
• any administration expenses (the actual costs incurred in the administration of the deceased's estate)

Note there are specific assets that must be excluded if the deceased person has a surviving partner or surviving children, or if the deceased was a child. These are called non-assessable assets.

For more information see:

• Non-assessable assets

Joint tenancy is the joint ownership of a property where all owners have an equal share.

If one owner dies, their share passes to the surviving owner(s). Joint tenancy does not become part of the deceased's estate and is not included in the assessable estate.

Tenancy in common is where each owner has a defined share in the property. If one owner dies, their share becomes part of their estate, and is included in the assessable estate.