Save this article for later<\/p>\n
Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime.<\/p>\n
Got it<\/p>\n
AAA<\/p>\n
There is something missing from the widely recognised stages of grief. Developed by Elisabeth K\u00fcbler-Ross in the late 60s, the five-stage model that includes denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance, sadly omits guidance for bureaucratic torture.<\/p>\n
This additional stage of grief I shall call \u201cone flew over the executor\u2019s nest\u201d, is an administrative hamster wheel from hell that befalls loved ones who must finalise the deceased\u2019s estate. This stage has no order, rather it\u2019s a marathon that runs concurrently and beyond all the other stages, and tests the emotional fortitude of someone who, although stricken with grief, must prioritise developing a relationship with a justice of the peace.<\/p>\n
![\"Both](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/cb80455a741ea5519c714256232b5fb8cceb00e7.jpeg\")
Both the superannuation provider and the ATO knew Dad was dead, yet the money ended up in an account that was for a living, working, taxpayer.Shutterstock <\/p>\n
My dad has been gone three years, and it is only now I feel I can write this article without crawling into a corner and lying in a foetal position. That, and a recent Herald article<\/a> about another victim of the insane bureaucracy and cost that dying incurs, has compelled me to ask why the simplest of estates are so difficult to finalise.<\/p>\n My father died at 84, a single man with no assets except some superannuation and the contents of his bank account, the total of which sat under the NSW requirement for probate. I thought this was great and that commonsense had prevailed when it comes to smaller, uncomplicated wills. With no probate, I was able to create a bank account and a tax file number in the estate name and consolidate all the funds. I paid the tax due from the estate, then distributed the remainder to the beneficiaries.<\/p>\n There was no house, no investments, no Cayman Island accounts, or contestants. I administered this on my own and saved the modest estate any legal costs, ensuring the only beneficiaries were the ones written in the will. The hardest part up to this point was being confronted everyday by the constant reminder that my dad had died. Having to repeat his date of birth, date of death, and get yet another certified copy of his death certificate was like a Chinese-burn of grief being inflicted over and over.<\/p>\n If only it had ended there. A year after dad died, six months after I had finalised his estate, a class-action against his superannuation provider relating to commissions succeeded, and they owed dad $1400. The money was sent to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) under his name.<\/p>\n This slow-motion mugging went on for nine months and saw me spend hours retelling my dilemma to ATO call centre staff.<\/p>\n I contacted the ATO assuming it had been placed into Dad\u2019s estate tax account, the one I opened without probate nearly a year earlier. I kept calling until I got someone who didn\u2019t ask me to put Dad on the phone, and it was discovered that this posthumous money had been placed into Dad\u2019s personal tax account.<\/p>\n Both the superannuation provider and the ATO knew Dad was dead, yet the money ended up in an account that was for a living, working, taxpayer. In my dad\u2019s case, an account that had been inactive for over a decade.<\/p>\n Now I was caught in the hamster-wheel of hell. The same ATO that was happy to recognise my authority enough to pay the deceased estate\u2019s tax obligations, was now refusing to refund the $1400 they owed the estate.<\/p>\n This slow-motion mugging went on for nine months and saw me spend hours upon hours retelling my dilemma to ATO call centre staff who were happy to listen to my sorry tale and offer no solution. My apologies to other callers who were waiting in queue.<\/p>\n
![\"Lawyers](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/616da076cd878aab0ae0de68b1cfb21d7c34f665dcf5a101e5f5b33d4e63b9e1.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n