The bereavement award, explained
You have heard about a fixed payment after a death and want to know what it actually is.
The bereavement award is a fixed statutory sum paid to specific family members after a death caused by a road accident, currently RM30,000, subject to current law.[1] This amount does not depend on the deceased’s income or how much support the family lost. It is a single, defined figure set by Parliament rather than assessed case by case.
Where this figure actually comes from
The sum was raised from RM10,000 to RM30,000 by the Civil Law (Amendment) Act 2019, and this is the only fixed monetary figure this site publishes, because it is set directly by statute rather than assessed by a court.[1]
Who can generally receive this award
The spouse, parents and children of the deceased are generally eligible, a class that was widened by the same 2019 amendment to include certain dependent disabled family members.[2] It is worth checking your own relationship against this list rather than assuming.
How this differs from loss of support
Loss of support reflects the specific financial contribution the family has lost, worked out from the deceased’s income. The bereavement award is separate from that calculation entirely, added on top rather than replacing it. How lost family support is valued covers that calculation.
Does it go to the estate?
No. The bereavement sum belongs to the eligible family members under the dependency claim, not to the deceased’s estate, which is assessed under a separate claim with its own rules. Estate versus dependency explains why this sum does not go to the estate.
What to do next
This award forms part of a wider dependency claim, so the same death certificate, police report and family relationship evidence generally support it. Who can claim after a death explains each eligible relationship in more depth, and how a dependency claim works covers the full claim this sum sits within.
Common questions
Is RM30,000 the exact amount every family will receive?
This is the current statutory sum, subject to current law, and it is the one fixed figure this site names because Parliament sets it directly rather than a court assessing it case by case.
Can more than one family member receive this award?
The statutory sum applies to the claim as a whole for the eligible class, rather than being multiplied per person. How it is shared among eligible family members is worth checking against the specific facts of your family.
Does a grandparent or sibling qualify for this award?
The eligible class generally covers the spouse, parents and children of the deceased, plus certain dependent disabled family members after a 2019 change. Other relationships are worth checking individually rather than assuming.
Is this the same payment as loss of support?
No, they are separate items within the same dependency claim. Loss of support reflects the deceased's actual income and contribution, while the bereavement award is a fixed sum unrelated to income.
Sources
- Skrine, on the Civil Law (Amendment) Act 2019 State only with this source and subject to current law (accessed 2026-09-22)
- Thomas Philip, on Civil Law Act 1956, s.7 (accessed 2026-09-22)