Money Advice Service

Working out what to do first when someone dies can seem overwhelming. Besides letting family and friends know, there are several organisations you need to notify when a person has passed away. This guide breaks down what you need to do as soon as possible, as well as in the weeks and months after someone dies.

What you need to do straight away after a death

As soon as you can, you will need to get a medical certificate, register the death and arrange the funeral.

You don’t need to deal with the will, money and property straight away. When you’re ready, read our guides ‘Sorting out the estate when there is a will’ and ‘Sorting out the estate when there isn’t a will’.

Get a medical certificate

When?

Immediately, unless there is a coroner’s inquest where the certificate is issued after this.

How?

If the person died in hospital, the hospital will give this to you. If the person has died at home, you should call the person’s GP.

Any costs?

The certificate is free.

Register the death

When?

Within five days for England, Wales or Northern Ireland; within eight days for Scotland.

If there’s a coroner’s inquest (or procurator fiscal if in Scotland) registration is delayed until the inquest concludes.

How?

Depending on which country the deceased lived in, you must register the death at:

Any costs?

Registering a death is free. However, to get a certificate you’ll pay £4 in England and Wales or £8 in Northern Ireland.

The cost does rise if you later decide you want more copies. We suggest getting additional copies, as it’s usually cheaper and easier to do so at this point.

This lets you deal with several organisations at the same time, instead of having to wait for your only copy to be returned before you can deal with the next one.

Any documents needed?

You need the following information for the person who died:

  • medical certificate with the cause of death
  • full name including any previous names (e.g. maiden name)
  • date and place of birth
  • last address
  • occupation
  • full name, date of birth and occupation of their surviving/late spouse or civil partner if they were married.

If available, you should also take their:

  • birth certificate
  • marriage or civil partnership certificate
  • National Insurance number
  • NHS medical card
  • proof of address, e.g. utility bill
  • driving license
  • passport

You should also bring identification (e.g. a driving licence) to show proof of your identity.

Arrange the funeral

Once you have registered the death, you can arrange the funeral. Most people do this through a funeral director, but it’s also possible to arrange the funeral yourself.

Read our guide ‘Arranging a funeral yourself – without a funeral director’.
Find out more about arranging a funeral through a funeral director in our guide ‘How much does a funeral cost?’

In the weeks following the death

Once you’ve arranged the above, you need to start telling various organisations about the death.

Notify the person’s landlord and other organisations

When?

As soon as possible.

Who?

If you were privately renting together and the lease is in the deceased’s name, you’ll need to let the landlord know and ask for it to be transferred to your name.

You’ll also need to have your name transferred for any bills or payments.

Organisations might include housing associations or council housing offices, mortgage providers, employers and utility providers.

How?

Contact each organisation.

Notify government departments

When?

As soon as possible after receiving the death certificate.

Who?

  • Passport Office to cancel their passport
  • HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) for their taxes
  • Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to stop their State Pension and benefits
  • Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) to cancel their driving license, car tax and car registration documents
  • Local council for their Council Tax, electoral register and other housing benefits
  • Public sector or armed forces pension scheme for their pension

How?

You can use the Tell Us Once service to notify the above government departments at the same time.

The service is offered by most local authorities in England, Wales and Scotland, but not in Northern Ireland.

If the Tell Us Once service is not offered by your local authority, then you’ll need to notify these departments individually.

Use the Tell Us Once service on the GOV.UK website.

Any costs?

The service is free.

Information needed?

You will need to provide the following information:

  • Unique reference number given to you when you register the death
  • Name, date of death and National Insurance number of the deceased
  • Contact details, date of birth, passport number (if available) and National Insurance number of the next of kin
  • Details of the person dealing with the deceased’s estate
  • Permission from the next of kin, the executor, the administrator or anyone who was claiming joint benefits or entitlements with the deceased, to give out their contact details.

If available, you should also provide:

  • Name and address of their next of kin
  • Details of any benefits or entitlements they were getting, e.g. State Pension
  • Details of any local council services they were getting, e.g. Blue Badge
  • Name contact details of the person or company dealing with the deceased’s estate, i.e. the ‘executor’ or ‘administrator’
  • Details of any public sector or armed forces pension schemes they were getting or paying into.

Return the person’s passport and driving licence

When?

As soon as possible after receiving the death certificate

How?

By post. See the following links for details of where to send these documents:

It’s likely that your household finances changed when your partner died. There are things you can do to manage the bills, mortgage, insurance and finances. Learn more in Dealing with finances and insurance after your partner dies.

Notify insurers and creditors

When?

Ideally, as soon as possible after receiving the death certificate, or within a month of the death.

Who?

Insurance company, bank or building society, credit card companies, utility companies, pension provider and any other companies that owed money to the person who died or were owed money by them.

How?

By calling the company, visiting the local branch (for banks or building society), or by visiting their website, where they might have an online form that you can complete.

Any costs?

Free to notify these companies. But the person who died might have had outstanding debts or payment arrangements with these companies that need to be settled.

How you sort out the person’s financial affairs will depend on whether They made a will or died without a will.

Any documents needed?

You will need official copies of the death certificate when dealing with these companies.

You’ll also need to give the contact details of the executor or administrator of the estate.

You can contact a number of financial institutions, including most major banks and building societies, even if you didn’t know about the account, using the free online Death Notification Service.

Additional resources and support

You can find out more about what to do when someone dies at:

Late miscarriage, stillbirth and neonatal death

You can find out more about financial help at this difficult time in our guides:

Bereavement support

Dealing with the death of someone close to you can seem overwhelming.

Your GP or your local religious or community group is often a good place to start to looking for support in dealing with bereavement.

There are also a number of organisations that offer support to help you deal with your grief:

This article is provided by the Money Advice Service.