Bereaved families are facing bills of thousands of dollars to pay for the funerals of loved ones, because of hold-ups at the country's largest bank.

ANZ bank has been playing an apology on its 0800 helpline for deceased estates, saying it is taking up to 30 working days to process requests to release money from the accounts of people who have died because of "high volumes".

The delay didn't impress Palmerston North academic Cory Matthew, who said he waited nearly two months for assistance from ANZ to wind up his mother's affairs after her death late in August.

Matthew said ANZ's issues meant he had to pay funeral costs of $8500 out of his own pocket to avoid a late payment fee.

That was despite a recorded message on ANZ's 0800 deceased estates number that funeral payments would be paid on or before the due date.

"I did happen to have that sitting around, but it is more I don't think it is very professional of them," Matthew said.

Matthew's mother ironically spent most of her career with ANZ.

"During the war when there was threat of a Japanese invasion she was employed in Stratford, and her job was to ride on the truck with the bank securities and she had a Molotov cocktail to destroy the banknotes so the Japanese wouldn't get them.

"She'd be a bit shocked to find they couldn't sort things out after she was gone," says Matthew.

ANZ contacted his lawyers and sent them the forms they needed on Wednesday.

ANZ spokesman Stefan Herrick acknowledges the delays are "unacceptable" but says the bank is starting to get on top of its backlog.

"We have put in extra resource and new processes. I think in a few weeks things should hopefully be pretty much back to normal," he said.

Matthew assumes hundreds of families are in the same boat.

He obtained probate from Hamilton High Court following his mother's death two months ago, but his lawyers were unable to do anything until Wednesday because of the delays at the bank.

A spokeswoman for the Public Trust says the organisation, which helps people sort out their affairs after death, had also been affected by the problem at ANZ.

"We can confirm that we have been experiencing some delays with ANZ. We understand there are steps being taken to improve processing times, and these are primarily due to resourcing issues and system changes," says the spokesperson.

Statistics New Zealand spokesman James Weir says deaths tend to spike in the September quarter, and the number of people dying each year is increasing as the country's population grows and ages.

But the department doesn't have recent statistics that might show if there has been an unusual number of bank customers dying in the past few months that would explain ANZ's "high volumes".

Research published by the Public Trust last month finds people who have been appointed executors of wills spent an average of 50 hours winding up estates and knew little beforehand about what they need to do.

Unexpected tasks could include applying for probate, finding beneficiaries, filing tax returns, re-homing pets, resolving disputes between beneficiaries and advertising for creditors.

"Many don't know they have a legal responsibility to manage the distribution of the estate, ensuring everything is finalised in accordance with the will – even less realise they're personally liable and in a worst case scenario could be sued if things don't go to plan," says manager Matt Sale.

FINAL DUTIES

- Apply to a High Court for probate or to administer the estate, if the deceased had assets worth more than $15,000

- Contact Inland Revenue if they had had a Kiwisaver account, ran a business, paid a student loan or paid or received child support

- File a final tax return for the person who has died

- File an estate return if income is still being received by the dead person's estate.

- Contact Work and Income if they received a benefit or a veteran's pension, or Senior Services if they were getting NZ Super

- Arrange for any life or funeral insurance to be paid out

- Check whether they were owed any pay or superannuation from their workplace

- Freeze the deceased's bank accounts until the will is executed, or transfer any joint accounts to the surviving account-holder

- Cancel any bills or accounts under the deceased's name

- Contact the Department of Internal Affairs to cancel the deceased's passport and NZTA to cancel their driver licence

- Ask a lawyer to arrange to transfer the title of any joint home to the surviving partner

Source: Govt.nz

By Tom Pullar-Strecker-Stuff.