Bereavement support

A death must be registered within 5 days in England and Wales (8 in Scotland), or when the coroner says it’s okay. You can find out more about who should register the death on the Citizens Advice website.

You’ll need to take the medical certificate you got from hospital or GP to the registry office. Other important documents could be useful (if you have them), such as their birth certificate, marriage or civil partnership certificate, NHS medical card, or proof of address (such as a utility bill).

It’s also helpful if you have the full name, date of birth and occupation of any surviving or late spouse or civil partner.

You can register the death at any district registration office, but using the one in the area where the person died could help to make the process faster. You can find a register office at www.gov.uk/register-offices.

Registering a death is free and usually takes about 30 minutes but it’s best to make an appointment.

To report the death to lots of government organisations, such as HMRC, DVLA, Department for Work and Pensions and the local Council Tax office, you can use the Tell Us Once service.

Once you’ve registered the death and have a death certificate, you can arrange the funeral.

Funerals can be pricey, so get quotes from a few places so you can find what works for your budget. The person who passed might have left behind some wishes for their funeral or even a pre-paid funeral plan, so it’s worth checking their paperwork first.

Most people use a funeral director who will guide you through the process. You can choose one from the Society of Allied and Independent Funeral Directors.

It’s possible to arrange a funeral yourself. You could contact the cemeteries and crematorium department of your local authority for help and information or the Natural Death Centre.

Any belongings or assets owned by the person who's passed is called their 'estate'. Some people leave a will, and it might have a named executor to be in charge of sharing the estate with the right people.

Being an executor is like being the estate manager and this process is often called ‘administering the estate’. The executor will collect the things that belonged to the person who passed away, pay any debts they had, and then share the estate with the people who are supposed to get it.

The first step is to find out if there’s a will. You can search for this using will registration companies. They’ll search their own databases and make local and national searches with solicitors and will writers.

If you're sure there wasn't a will and you're the closest family member (like a spouse, civil partner, or child), you could be the best person to manage the estate. You might need to apply for a letter of administration by post, so for more information visit www.gov.uk/wills-probate-inheritance.

Probate (or Confirmation in Scotland) is the legal process for taking care of someone's estate after they've died.

A grant of representation (this may be a grant of probate if a will was left, or letters of administration without a will) is a legal document that needs to be applied for, to allow someone to distribute an estate. If a will is left, the estate will be distributed by named executors following the wishes of the deceased. If there's no will, an appointed personal representative will distribute the estate following the law of intestacy.

If the estate is worth less than £5,000 and doesn't include land, property, or shares, or if the person shared the estate with their surviving spouse, you might not need this. You can call the HMRC probate line to get more advice.

This process might be a bit different in Scotland and Northern Ireland , so it's best to check their government websites for more information.

If the person who passed away had a pension, sometimes the benefits can go to their spouse, civil partner, or someone else who’s close to them. There are different rules for government and workplace pensions, so it’s best to contact the government pension service and private pension companies directly. They’ll help you figure out your unique situation.

Pension companies give out yearly pension statements, which could be electronic or paper statements. If you can't find one, try calling the person’s employer and previous employers. You can also use get more information from the government’s website.

HMRC may write to the executor, personal representative, or administrator (if there's no will) within a month of registering the death. They'll explain if any action is needed.

Most of the time HMRC only write if they think there's tax to be refunded or owed from the estate. It’s worth checking the deceased person's tax position on your own too. There could be allowances that can be claimed or transferred to a surviving spouse or civil partner.

If the person had a joint account with someone else, the other account holder can usually keep using the account as usual. They should still tell the bank about the death to keep them up to date.

If the account was only in the name of the person who passed away, the bank will usually freeze it when they find out. This is to make sure no more payments go out.

The bank can release funds for urgent expenses like funeral costs, inheritance tax, and probate fees. Give them a call as soon as possible if you need to cover these costs.

If the person who passed away was still working, they might have had something called ‘death-in-service’ cover as part of their employee benefits. If they did, their family or someone else who's close to them could receive a tax-free lump sum. Check with their employer to see if they had this cover. 

When someone passes away, any money they owed gets paid from their estate first. These debts could be things like rent, credit card balances, and car loans, and they might be individual or shared, secured or unsecured.

Let any creditors know if you're handling the estate as soon as you can. This means you won’t get unnecessary reminder letters or demands.

If you’re worried about debt, the MoneyHelper Service can help you get free advice.

If the person who passed away owned a property with a mortgage, it won't automatically transfer to the surviving spouse or partner, even if it's mentioned in the will.

The mortgage lender will want to know if the surviving partner can handle the monthly payments on their own. If they're not sure, they might ask to sell the property to pay off the mortgage. It's important to talk to the lender as soon as possible to work things out.

Sometimes, there might be a life insurance policy in place to pay off all or part of the mortgage. While the claim is being processed, it's still a good idea to contact the mortgage lender and keep them updated.

If your husband, wife, or civil partner passes away before you reach State Pension age, the government might be able to support you with your money. To get all the details, check out Bereavement Support Payment. You can also look into the Widowed Parent’s Allowance.

You can let most government organisations (including HMRC, DVLA and the local council) know about a death all at once using the Tell Us Once service.

If the person who passed away had credit cards, let the card providers know about the death and get the cards deactivated as soon as possible. You can reach out to their customer service department or visit them in person if they have a branch close to you.

If the deceased had any insurance cover in place, reach out to their insurance providers and make sure that any cover that’s still needed is still in place while the rest is cancelled. If you're not sure who to contact, you can check the bank statements to see where the payments were going.

Home insurance

Let the insurer know if no-one’s living at the person’s property anymore. The policy can usually continue, but there might be some new policy terms.

To protect an empty property, arrange regular visits to check inside and out, and remove post and anything of high value. You may also want to consider turning off the water supply and draining the system.

Motor insurance

If there’s a vehicle that needs to be moved, the person moving the vehicle must be covered for driving other cars on their own insurance. Or they can be added to the policy of the person who passed away as a named driver. If a vehicle is insured with Aviva, contact us to see how we could help. 

Life insurance

If you jointly held a policy with the person who passed away and you’ve made a claim, check with the insurance provider whether you’re still covered afterwards.

There’s a chance that you or your family may still need life insurance cover, so you’ll want to think carefully about your options. For tailored advice, you should speak to your financial adviser. If you don’t have an adviser, MoneyHelper provides up-to-date resources to help you find regulated advisers. Advisers may charge for their advice.

Contact providers to close accounts, pay off bills, or get back any money that's owed to you. If you’re not sure who provides what, look through old bills and bank statements to see where the money was going.

If you or others shared a home with the person who passed away, you might need to change the name on some accounts. If you're now using less gas, electricity, or water, it’s worth checking if there’s any cheaper rates available.

Decide which subscription TV channels, mobile phone contracts, and internet connections are needed, and then speak to the providers to cancel or make changes to the ones that aren’t.

Keep in mind that if someone’s going to be on their own, having a reliable internet connection might now be a lot more important than before.

Your friends and family can be a great support when going through grief, but sometimes you might need a bit more help or just someone to talk to. For free counselling by phone, email or face-to-face, reach out to Cruse Bereavement.

To stop receiving mail addressed to someone who’s died, you can use the The Bereavement Register.

If you're a verified family member, you can ask social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to remove the account of someone who’s passed away.

You may want to take time to think about this as these social media pages can be full of memories and moments you don’t want to lose.