Absa Deceased Estates Contact Details

To tell Absa that a customer has died, contact the Absa Deceased Estates team on 0861 113 003 or deceasedestates@absa.africa, Monday to Friday from 08:00 to 16:00, or use the Report a death form on Absa’s website. If you want Absa to administer the estate itself, that is a different desk: the Estate Intake Centre on 0860 110 287. We read both routes in Absa’s Deceased Estates Guide and its wills, trusts and estates pages on absa.co.za on 16 September 2026.

ContactDetails.co.za is an independent directory that is not linked to Absa. We cannot report a death, release funds or see a deceased person’s accounts.

Official task/support route

What it is for	Contact
Reporting the death of an Absa customer, accounts and debts (Deceased Estates team, also called Retail Deceased Estates Credits)	0861 113 003, deceasedestates@absa.africa; Mon to Fri 08:00 to 16:00, excluding public holidays
Online death report	Report a death, relationshipbanking.absa.co.za/de/
Absa as estate administrator (Estate Intake Centre)	0860 110 287, absatrust@absa.co.za
Life, funeral and other policy payouts	Absa Life Call Centre 0860 227 253
Homeowner’s insurance debit order on a deceased’s home	0860 100 876 (Mon to Fri 07:30 to 16:30), adminhoc@absa.co.za
Transfer papers for a car paid off before death	AVAF Document Hub, avafadmin13@absa.co.za
Cancelling a home loan bond	0860 111 007 or any branch

Absa’s Talk to us directory lists the Estate Intake Centre with the general mailbox absa@absa.co.za, while its estate planning page uses absatrust@absa.co.za. The Intake Centre’s own page describes its work as administering deceased estates, so a family simply notifying the bank should start with 0861 113 003.

The guide names no walk-in estates office: Absa branches take Form 7581 and funeral claim documents, and papers for the Master must be handed in or posted, because faxes are refused.

What you need before contacting

The Deceased Estates team deals with an Absa customer’s accounts, loans and policies after death. Its guide says to include a copy of the death certificate and the name of the person, trust or company nominated in the will when you report. The estate itself must be reported to the Master of the High Court within 14 days. Estates above R250 000 get an executor and a Letter of Executorship; smaller estates get a Master’s Representative and a Letter of Authority.

Absa also takes funeral payment requests, where the bank pays the funeral parlour. For these it lists:

• Instruction Form 7581, signed at a branch, or requested by email to deceasedestates@absa.africa with the requester’s name, ID copy and contact details
• Certified, dated copies of the death certificate and the deceased’s ID
• The funeral parlour’s invoice with its email address and a cost breakdown
• A dated letter from the Master or Magistrate requesting the funeral cost (MBU12), and the parlour’s bank confirmation letter if it does not bank with Absa

To cancel a home loan bond, the executor sends the Letter of Executorship, their ID and proof of address, the death certificate and the deceased’s ID.

Step-by-step contact process

1. Report the death to the Deceased Estates team on 0861 113 003, by email or through the Report a death form, with the death certificate copy and the nominated name.
2. For a funeral payment, email the documents above with “Funeral/Burial order” in the subject line. A funeral claim lodged at a branch before an executor exists takes 24 to 48 hours to reflect.
3. Lodge insurance claims separately. Absa gives life cover claims about 25 working days (lifeclaims@absa.co.za), credit protection about 15 working days and funeral cover about 48 hours, the last two through creditlifeclaims@absa.co.za.
4. For a financed car, the executor can settle it from estate funds, sell it to an heir or a third party, or, if the estate cannot pay and no offer comes in, arrange for Absa to collect it for auction, with any shortfall charged to the estate. Tell Absa where the car is kept, and insure it if it is driven while the estate is wound up.
5. For a home loan, an heir or surviving spouse can apply to take over the bond through a substitution of debtor, which is credit-checked, or the executor can cancel the bond as described above.

Absa warns that debts on the deceased’s products stay payable and that interest and fees may keep running after death. Once an executor is appointed, Absa lodges a claim against the estate.

Escalation route

1. Ask the Deceased Estates team on 0861 113 003 if a step is unclear; Absa refers to this as its Deceased 911 team.
2. If Absa’s handling of the estate is the problem, complain to the Complaint Resolution Suite on 0800 41 41 41 or actionline@absa.co.za.
3. A dispute with Absa over accounts, credit or policies that stays unresolved can be referred to the National Financial Ombud Scheme on 0860 800 900 or info@nfosa.co.za.

Sources

• absa.co.za: Deceased Estates Guide, read 16 September 2026
• absa.co.za: Estate planning and My will, trust and estate pages, read 16 September 2026
• absa.co.za: Talk to us directory, read 16 September 2026
• nfosa.co.za published contact details