Probate, estates and life insurance

When someone dies, the assets they owned personally form their estate. Before anyone can lawfully deal with those assets — sell the house, close the accounts, receive an insurance payout on the estate’s behalf — somebody has to be formally authorised to act. That authorisation is a grant of probate where there is a will, or letters of administration where there is not.

The application is made to the High Court, usually prepared by a solicitor, and it takes as long as it takes. It is not something an insurer controls, and it is not something a family can hurry by being persistent. It is simply a step that has to happen before an executor can be paid estate money.

This is why beneficiary nominations matter so much. A payout directed to a nominated person is not estate money, so the insurer does not need to see a grant before paying. The same claim, on the same policy, can settle in a few weeks with a nomination and take several months without one.

Running the two processes in parallel

1. 1Notify the insurer immediately, regardless of the estate position. That opens the claim file and gets the pack sent.
2. 2Instruct a solicitor on the estate at the same time, not after the insurance question is resolved.
3. 3Ask the insurer whether a nomination exists. If it does, probate is off the critical path for that policy.
4. 4Order several certified copies of the death certificate — the estate and the insurer both need them.
5. 5Ask the insurer whether it will accept anything on an interim basis while probate is pending, such as a funeral advance.
6. 6Keep the executor and the insurer talking to each other rather than through the family.

These are the details that decide whether the cover does what you expected. Read them before you compare on price.

• Whether each policy has a nomination — this is the single fastest thing to find out.
• Whether the estate has other assets requiring probate anyway, in which case the timing may not be avoidable.
• Whether the current small-estate threshold applies to the amounts involved.
• Whether the executor named in the will is willing and able to act.
• Whether the estate has enough liquidity to meet debts and funeral costs while probate is pending.
• Whether an overseas asset or an overseas executor complicates the application.

Every New Zealand insurer writes life cover to its own wording, and the words are where the money is. Two policies that look identical on price can pay very differently when it matters. Closing that gap is the entire job of an adviser.

• An adviser will tell you in the first week whether a nomination exists, which decides whether probate is on your critical path.
• They can lodge the insurance claim while the solicitor deals with the estate, so the two run in parallel.
• They know which insurers offer funeral advances or interim payments while probate is pending.
• At the planning stage, they structure cover so families are not waiting on a court process for money they need now.

There are three ways to buy life cover in New Zealand, and they are not equivalent. You can buy direct from one insurer, which means you see one product range and one underwriting appetite. You can buy through your bank, which usually means a single insurer’s product sold under the bank’s brand, often with narrower definitions. Or you can go through an adviser, who quotes several insurers at once and is required to put your interests first.

The premium you pay is the same either way. Insurers build adviser commission into their pricing whether or not an adviser is involved, so going direct does not get you a discount — it just removes the person whose job is to argue your corner at application and at claim time.

• An adviser can see which insurer is currently taking your health history on standard terms, and which one will load or exclude it.
• An adviser can structure cover across two insurers if that produces a better outcome than putting everything with one.
• An adviser handles the underwriting back-and-forth, and is the person who chases the claim when a family is least able to.
• An adviser has to document why the recommendation suits you, which is a written record you can hold them to.

We are a referral service, not an insurer. We do not quote premiums and we do not sell policies. What we do is put you in front of one licensed New Zealand adviser who can compare the market properly.

1. 1

   You tell us what you are looking at

   The form takes about a minute. Nobody asks for your medical history on a web form — that conversation happens with the adviser, properly, and only once you have decided to proceed.

2. 2

   An adviser calls you

   A licensed New Zealand adviser talks through your situation: who depends on you, what you owe, what you already have in place, and what you are actually worried about.

3. 3

   They compare the market

   The adviser quotes across the major insurers, checks which of them will take your health history on the best terms, and puts the options side by side in writing.

4. 4

   You decide, in your own time

   There is no obligation and no cost to you. If the answer is that you already have enough cover, a good adviser will tell you that.