# The Wilson Funeral Home — About Funerals (preserved undated booklet; PDF produced 2024)

Document ID: doc-0179

Publisher/source: The Wilson Funeral Home

Physical PDF pages: 33

Document/version date: Undated; PDF production metadata September 2024 only

Original capture/access label: June 2026

Original and primary sources reviewed: 10 October 2026

[Preserved bundled original](/pdfs/2024%20-%20Wilson%20Funeral%20Home%20-%20About%20Funerals%20Guide.pdf)

[Primary publisher context](https://wilsonfunerals.co.nz/resources/)

## What the document contributes

A Wellington funeral provider’s practical booklet describing funeral choices, ceremonies, burial and cremation, cultural needs, bereavement support and administration. The preserved PDF has 33 physical pages, largely double-page spreads with printed numbering through 64, and contains personal-profile and service-planning forms. It has no established printed publication date; September 2024 PDF production metadata does not prove publication. Its service offers, payment terms and broad probate statements are historical provider guidance. Current official grant and estate sources and a written current quote are needed; the provider now links a different 24-page booklet.

About Funerals explains decisions families may face before and after a death, including venue, celebrant, symbols/music, viewing, embalming, caskets, streaming, tributes, tangihanga, natural burial and memorials. Later sections cover death registration/certificates, payment, probate and possible financial assistance, then offer blank personal-profile and service-detail worksheets. The provider’s commercial and local perspective is useful for preparing questions, but does not independently establish legal requirements, universal estate procedures, grant approval or current prices. Preserve the original against the current 2026-named download rather than merging their page references or provider terms.

## Included material

- Contents, welcome and Wellington provider history (physical pp. 1–4)
- Burial/cremation, venues, ceremony, transport, music and flowers (printed pp. 8–21)
- Caskets, urns, notices, embalming, clothing and viewing (pp. 22–33)
- Service sheets, streaming, tributes and bereavement (pp. 35–39)
- Death certificate, payment, probate and financial assistance (pp. 40–43)
- Memorials, tangihanga, cultural diversity, cemetery bus and natural burial (pp. 44–51)
- Professional-association/provider websites and planning forms (pp. 52–64)

## Substantive findings

- The cover identifies About Funerals from The Wilson Funeral Home. The original contains 33 physical PDF pages, including double-page spreads; printed numbering ends 64. No printed publication date was established. Creation/modification metadata is 2 September 2024, not proof of release.

- The booklet is intended both for pre-planning and families arranging a funeral, with provider-specific examples and explanations (physical p. 3; printed pp. 4–5).

- Choice topics include burial/cremation, location and timing, celebrant, cultural practices, viewing, symbols/music, caskets, notices, streaming and bereavement support (printed pp. 8–39, 44–51).

- The payment spread describes the provider’s historical estimate/invoice process and payment conditions. Its six-week payment period and $575 late fee are not statutory rules or verified current pricing (physical p. 21; printed pp. 40–41).

- The probate section gives a broad statement that executors must obtain probate and an approximate 12-week process. These should not be applied to every estate or treated as a current guaranteed court timeframe; obtain estate-specific advice (physical p. 22; printed pp. 42–43).

- The booklet identifies Work and Income and ACC funeral assistance. Current primary sources distinguish means/asset and other-coverage conditions for MSD assistance from death caused by an ACC-covered injury; neither is automatic for every funeral (physical p. 22; printed p. 43).

- Death registration, the medical cause-of-death certificate and a purchased BDM death certificate are distinct steps. The provider’s historical three-working-day certificate delivery claim is not a current processing guarantee (physical p. 21; printed p. 40).

- Blank personal-profile and funeral-service forms record biographical details, preferences and tasks; they are not a will, EPA, advance directive or booking contract (physical pp. 29–32; printed pp. 56–63).

- On 10 October 2026 the official publisher linked a different 24-page About-Funerals-Booklet-2026-TWFH.pdf, produced 7 May 2026. The newer filename/metadata do not establish a printed publication day for the bundled original.

## Identity, dates and provenance

Preserved original SHA-256: 45930eabecf87a144f926bbc425c06fe1f5e56bb4f46d789752b6bbaef248071 (2,061,440 bytes, 33 physical pages). All original bytes and the exact filename remain unchanged. Earlier generic Parliament source URL and inaccurate catalogue count are preserved in the scoped audit fixture as capture history.

The original is largely double-page spreads, with printed numbering through 64. The current official resources/homepage button supplies a different 24-page PDF named for 2026, with production metadata 7 May 2026. No printed first-publication date was established for the original; the retained filename year and its 2 September 2024 production metadata are not publication proof.

Historical payment terms on physical p. 21 (printed pp. 40–41) and the probate/certificate processing estimates are provider statements, not statutory deadlines or current assurances. Ask for an itemised current quote and contract. The current government death guidance says funeral costs may be released from a bank account before probate, but a bank application and its process are still necessary. Probate/administration needs depend on the estate; the booklet’s broad executor statement does not establish a universal requirement. No numeric small-estate threshold is asserted by this review because official estate-page retrieval was inconsistent.

MSD Funeral Grant and ACC funeral support have different criteria. Current Work and Income guidance considers residence, relationship, assets, income in relevant cases and other coverage; a provisional grant may require repayment if criteria are not subsequently met. ACC support requires a death from an injury it covers. No current grant rate or blanket entitlement is copied into the historical booklet. The medical cause-of-death certificate, registration and a purchased BDM death certificate are distinct.

[Current publisher-linked download](https://wilsonfunerals.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/About-Funerals-Booklet-2026-TWFH.pdf)

This current download has 24 physical pages and SHA-256 70c8c183c864b6f11224e5ae7a0dd9ae7d25ed01c4bc2bb45e8600dd4f96669e; byte-identical to the preserved original: no. No newer PDF was substituted into this record.

## Practical use and implications

Prepare funeral preferences and a checklist of questions, request an itemised current quote, identify who is authorised to arrange/payment responsibilities, and verify official death-registration, grant and estate processes.

- Commercial explanatory text is not legislation. Verify death-registration requirements, estate administration and grant conditions using current official sources.

- Keep quotations, payment agreements, capacity, cemetery options and provider service details current; historical brochure promises do not demonstrate present delivery.

- Use the worksheets to discuss preferences, then obtain current terms. Funeral Grant and ACC assistance depend on their separate criteria; bank release for funeral costs is a bank process, not a guaranteed full-estate payout.

## Evidence boundaries

Historical commercial/provider booklet, not personalised estate/legal advice, statutory tariff or current service availability. No printed publication date established; retained 2024 filename and 2 September 2024 PDF metadata describe capture/production clues only. Original 33-page spread PDF, hash and June 2026 access preserved. Current 24-page 2026-named publisher file differs. Historical six-week / $575 payment terms, probate 12-week wording, certificate turnaround and bus/tribute offers are not current guarantees. Current MSD grant and ACC covered-injury criteria are separate; no updated rates or automatic eligibility inferred.

No individual medical or legal advice, allocation assessment, booking, price check or proof of local delivery is supplied. Review day, historic capture, printed document/version dates, production metadata and current source changes are separate.

## Primary context references

- [Wilson Resources](https://wilsonfunerals.co.nz/resources/) — Current resources/homepage links different 24-page PDF called About-Funerals-Booklet-2026-TWFH.pdf. Current HTML confirms Newtown and Karori contacts; no matching live original found.
- [Expected Death](https://www.govt.nz/browse/family-and-whanau/death-and-bereavement/what-to-do-someone-dies/) — Updated 14 August 2026. Unexpected death: call111 ambulance/police. Expected home death: contact doctor, may wait until morning if overnight. Funeral expenses may be released by bank without awaiting probate; apply to bank, not guaranteed payment.
- [Registration](https://www.govt.nz/browse/family-and-whanau/death-and-bereavement/registering-a-death/) — Updated 22 May 2024. Registration within3 working days of burial/cremation if arranging yourself; registration free, ordered certificate fee separate; doctor/nurse cause-of-death certificate or coroner authorisation required.
- [Funeral Grant](https://www.workandincome.govt.nz/products/a-z-benefits/funeral-grant.html) — Updated24June2026. Funeral Grant reasonable costs, residence/relationship criteria, deceased assets and partner/child applicant income/assets relevant. Other coverage may exclude help. Provisional payment may require repayment if later criteria fail. No rate copied into historical guide.
- [Acc](https://www.acc.co.nz/im-injured/financial-support/financial-support-after-death) — Support after death from an injury ACC covers, not every death; amount depends on death date and changes. No rate copied into historical guide.
- [Probate](https://www.govt.nz/browse/family-and-whanau/death-and-bereavement/wills-probate-estates/) — Linked official estate/administration source. Retrieval is inconsistent; do not assert a numeric small-estate threshold or universal probate timeframe on this audit evidence alone.

## Research evidence

The complete preserved PDF page text, metadata, hashes, current-download comparison, primary references and retrieval limitations are recorded in artifacts/research/end-of-life-carer-source-audit-2026-10-10.json. The original PDF was visually checked. Primary sources were checked on 10 October 2026; phone/email response or service availability was not tested.