The β-decay process of the 6 He halo nucleus into the α + d continuum is studied in a three-body model. The 6 He nucleus is described as an α + n + n system in hyperspherical coordinates on a Lagrange mesh. The convergence of the Gamow-Teller matrix element requires the knowledge of wave functions up to about 30 fm and of hypermomentum components up to K = 24. The shape and absolute values of the transition probability per time and energy units of a recent experiment can be reproduced very well with an appropriate α + d potential. A total transition probability of 1.6 × 10 −6 s −1 is obtained in agreement with that experiment. Halo effects are shown to be very important because of a strong cancellation between the internal and halo components of the matrix element, as observed in previous studies. The forbidden bound state in the α + d potential is found essential to reproduce the order of magnitude of the data. Comments are made on R-matrix fits.