Resources for Grief Care & Support

Although very important, the funeral is only the first step we take in 'saying goodbye'. As you begin to work through your grief, the road ahead may seem long and lonely.

Relatives and friends will be especially helpful at the time of death and at the funeral. However, as the weeks and months pass after the death, they may not always be available to comfort you and to allow you to talk about the person you love and miss so much.

After the funeral, therefore, at no cost to our clients, Hope and Sons provides a Bereavement Support Service to extend the care we give to families we serve. This will involve a phone call, a letter and/or a visit from our coordinator who will follow up as required. We also host a monthly Cuppa and Chat - enquire for more details.

In addition, we are available to speak to community groups on the topics of death and how to cope with grief. Clients are also free to use our extensive library of informative literature on these topics.

P. 03 455 8659

E. office@bereavement.co.nz

A. 523 Andersons Bay Road, Dunedin

Hope & Sons provide access to MyTrove, a secure online free service that helps notify multiple organisations of a death in one step.

MyTrove will reduce the administrative burden by grieving families, or lawyers by reducing paperwork, removing the need to visit multiple organisations that require essentially the same information, and allowing personal and official death data to work together. The service is free for those notifying of a death.

Visit MyTrove

After the funeral Hope and Sons electronically registers the death of the person who has died. Following this online registration, Births, Deaths and Marriages processes the application and couriers the death certificate to us, usually within five to ten working days. We forward the death certificate directly to you (or to the solicitor who is dealing with the estate).

We are legally required to include certain information when registering a death. We obtain this information from you while making the funeral arrangements with you. It is important that this information is accurate.

If the death has been referred to the Coroner, you will notice the words ‘subject to coroner’s findings’ in the cause of death section. This means that the official cause of death was not available at the time we registered the death. It is possible to update the death certificate once the Coroner has concluded their enquiries and ascertained the cause of death.

We can give guidance on the range of assistance options available for families requiring help with funeral costs. Financial assistance may be provided from either Work and Income New Zealand (WINZ) or the Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC), both require an official application be submitted.

WINZ Funeral Grant Info

ACC Funeral Grant Info

Some airlines operating in New Zealand offer compassionate airfares to immediate family members travelling to a funeral. You should check with the airline you are travelling with whether the ticket you are travelling on is able to be discounted in this way. If a discount is possible, we can supply you with a supporting letter from our company.

Free brochures to download, covering different experiences of loss:

Caring for Parents

After a Loss in Pregnancy

Death of a Child

Caring for Grieving People

Children Grieve Too