What to Do When Someone Dies in the UK¶

There is no single official manual. Government guidance is split across departments, hospitals, councils, banks, pension providers, and gov.uk topic pages, and almost none of it is written assuming the reader is grieving. This page tries to be the manual: an ordered sequence of what needs to happen, when, and where to find the detailed guidance for each step.

It covers the first 48 hours, the first week, the first month, and the longer tail of administration. Most of the work fits inside the first three months. A few items, like the formal close of the estate, can take a year.

If you can only do one thing today: Get the medical certificate of cause of death from the doctor or hospital and wait for the medical examiner's office to contact you. Nothing else — registration, the funeral, banks, probate — can begin until that paperwork is in your hands. [source: gov-uk/after-a-death-register-the-death-2026-04-29.html]

The first 48 hours¶

Two or three things genuinely need to happen quickly. Everything else can wait a few days.

1. Get the medical certificate of cause of death¶

If the death was expected and a doctor attended in the last 28 days, the medical certificate of cause of death is issued by the GP or hospital doctor. Since September 2024, every non-coronial death in England and Wales is also reviewed by a medical examiner, a senior doctor unconnected to the patient's care, before registration can begin. The medical examiner's office contacts the family directly to explain the cause of death and confirm that registration can proceed. [source: gov-uk/after-a-death-register-the-death-2026-04-29.html]

If the death was sudden, unexplained, or happened during surgery, the coroner (or Procurator Fiscal in Scotland) is involved. The medical examiner step is replaced by the coroner's investigation, which can take weeks. The coroner's office issues an interim certificate that covers most administrative needs while the investigation continues.

2. Register the death¶

In England and Wales, registration is within 5 days of the medical examiner releasing the paperwork — not 5 days from the date of death. Scotland is 8 days. Northern Ireland is 5 days. The 5 days include weekends and bank holidays. [source: gov-uk/after-a-death-register-the-death-2026-04-29.html]

Registration happens at the register office for the area where the death occurred, not where the deceased lived. The full process — who can register, what to bring, what you walk out with — is in the How to register a death guide.

You leave registration with three things: the Certificate for Burial or Cremation (the green form, which the funeral director needs), a Tell Us Once reference number, and certified copies of the death certificate (order at least 5 to 10).

3. Contact a funeral director¶

You don't have to call on day one but most families find it helps. Funeral directors handle the practical logistics — collecting the body, dealing with the coroner where applicable, scheduling the funeral, sourcing flowers and orders of service. You can use any funeral director; you are not obliged to use the one suggested by the hospital or care home.

Before agreeing to a quote, ask for a written itemised estimate. Prices vary considerably depending on the type of service, the cemetery or crematorium, and whether the funeral is religious or civil.

4. Secure the home and notify the home insurer¶

If the deceased lived alone:

Lock the property and make it secure.
Tell the home insurer that the property is now unoccupied. Most home insurance policies have a clause about unoccupied homes that triggers after 30 to 60 days.
Don't cancel utilities yet. You will need heating to prevent pipe damage and you'll want final meter readings before any account is closed.
Arrange a Royal Mail bereavement redirection so important post is forwarded to wherever you can read it. The full sequence — including stopping marketing mail with the Bereavement Register and the Mailing Preference Service — is in the redirecting post guide.

The first week¶

With registration done and the funeral being organised, the immediate crisis eases. The first week is about getting the right notifications out and finding the will.

5. Use Tell Us Once¶

Tell Us Once is the UK government's bundled-notification service. Used at registration, it tells HMRC, the DWP, the Passport Office, the DVLA, and the local council in a single online or phone session. It does not contact banks, insurers, utility companies, or pension providers. After Tell Us Once, expect to contact 20 to 30 organisations individually for those.

Tell Us Once is not available in Northern Ireland; the NI Bereavement Service handles equivalent notifications. [source: gov-uk/after-a-death-tell-us-once-overview-2026-04-29.html]

6. Phone the Bereavement Service for benefits and pensions¶

Even if you used Tell Us Once, phone the DWP's Bereavement Service on 0800 151 2012. It stops the State Pension and most working-age benefits, gets the date of death on record (which becomes the cut-off for any overpayment calculation), and starts a Bereavement Support Payment claim where the survivor is eligible. The full sequence is in the stopping benefits guide. [source: gov-uk/bereavement-support-payment-how-to-claim-2026-04-29.html]

The 3-month deadline for claiming the full Bereavement Support Payment is the single most expensive thing families miss. Even if eligibility is uncertain, claim and let the DWP decide. [source: gov-uk/bereavement-support-payment-what-youll-get-2026-04-29.html]

7. Find the will¶

Look in the deceased's home (filing cabinet, desk, safe), at any solicitor they used, with their bank (some hold wills in safe-custody), and at the National Will Register. If a will exists and is held by a solicitor, that's usually the easiest route — the solicitor will release it to the named executor. A separate guide on locating and obtaining a copy of a will is in preparation alongside this one.

The executor named in the will is the person legally responsible for dealing with the estate. If there is no will, the next of kin (under the intestacy rules) becomes the administrator. Neither has authority to deal with the estate's assets until a Grant of Probate (or Letters of Administration) is issued.

8. Notify the bank¶

Phone the deceased's bank or banks as soon as you can. The accounts will be frozen, but the bank should:

Release funds for funeral costs (most banks accept the funeral director's invoice and pay directly).
Confirm the balance on the date of death (you'll need this for inheritance tax and probate).
Confirm their probate threshold — the amount below which they will release funds without seeing a grant.

Bank thresholds vary; the do I need probate guide covers the typical range and how to interpret it.

The first month¶

The funeral has typically happened by now. Attention shifts to the longer-term administration.

9. Value the estate¶

You cannot apply for probate without a clear picture of what the estate is worth. This means contacting every bank, building society, pension provider, insurer, and investment platform for a date-of-death balance, plus valuing any property, vehicles, and significant possessions.

This is usually the most time-consuming part of administration. Each organisation has its own bereavement team, its own forms, and its own response time. Keep a running log of what you've contacted, when, and what was confirmed; you'll need it.

10. Apply for probate (if needed)¶

Whether probate is needed depends on the estate's value and how the assets are held. The do I need probate guide covers the test. Many estates can be settled without a formal grant, particularly where assets are held jointly or pass automatically to a survivor.

Where a grant is needed, the application is made through the Probate Registry using Form PA1P (with a will) or Form PA1A (without). The probate fee is £300 for estates over £5,000, and zero below that. The full application sequence — including any IHT400 return that has to be filed first — is in the probate application guide. [source: gov-uk/applying-for-probate-2026-04-29.html]

11. Notify everyone else¶

Beyond Tell Us Once and the bank, the wider notification list is long. The standard categories:

Pension providers — workplace and private. Bank statements over the previous few months are the most reliable record of which pensions were being paid.
Insurance companies — life, home, car, travel. Some policies pay out on death; others need to be cancelled. Life insurance written in trust pays directly to the named beneficiary outside the estate and is settled separately.
Utility companies — gas, electricity, water, broadband, phone. Take final meter readings; ask whether the account can be transferred to the survivor or needs to be closed.
Council tax — Class F exemption may apply to an unoccupied estate; a single-person discount may apply to the surviving partner. The stopping benefits guide covers both.
DVLA — return the driving licence (if not handled by Tell Us Once) and update the V5C for any vehicle.
The Passport Office — Tell Us Once handles this if used; otherwise return the passport with a covering letter.
Subscriptions and recurring payments — bank statements over three months show the recurring debits. Contact each one, cancel, and ask for a refund of any prepaid period.
Social media accounts — Facebook, Instagram, Twitter/X, and LinkedIn each have memorialisation or deletion processes documented on their support pages.

The redirecting post guide covers what to do about correspondence from companies the family didn't know existed; this is often how dormant accounts come to light.

The first three months¶

12. Deal with property¶

The deceased's property is treated according to how it was held:

Joint tenants — the property passes automatically to the surviving owner. Land Registry form DJP, with a copy of the death certificate, removes the deceased's name from the title.
Tenants in common — the deceased's share forms part of the estate and passes through probate.
Sole ownership — the property forms part of the estate and is dealt with via probate.
Rented — check the tenancy. Most tenancies can be ended with one month's notice, sometimes with a bereavement clause that allows earlier termination.

13. Pay debts and distribute¶

Once probate is granted and the assets have been collected, the executor pays debts in the statutory order — administration costs, funeral expenses, secured debts, preferred debts, then unsecured debts — before any inheritance is distributed. A separate guide on debt after death covers the order, joint debts, insolvent estates, and the Section 27 Trustee Act 1925 notice that protects the executor against unknown creditors.

If inheritance tax is due, it must be paid within 6 months of the end of the month in which the death occurred. HMRC offers a payment plan where the estate includes property that has not yet been sold. [source: gov-uk/inheritance-tax-2026-04-29.html]

After debts and tax are settled, the executor distributes according to the will (or under the intestacy rules if there's no will). Estate accounts — a record of everything that came in and went out — close the administration and are shared with beneficiaries.

The wider picture¶

A few things are worth knowing in the round.

Estate administration takes longer than people expect. A straightforward estate often takes most of a year to fully administer; complex estates with multiple properties, business interests, or contested wills can take two or three years. The bottlenecks are usually outside the family's control: probate processing, HMRC clearance, property sales.

Grief and admin don't mix well. You will find yourself on hold with a bank, explaining for the fourth time that someone has died, and suddenly you cannot speak. That is normal. You can hang up and try again the next day. Most bereavement teams understand entirely.

You don't have to do it alone. Family members can take on specific tasks. A solicitor can handle the probate application. A specialist accountant can handle complex inheritance-tax positions. Citizens Advice and free debt charities can help where finances are tight.

You're doing better than you think. Reading a guide like this means you are already ahead of where most families are in the first weeks. The work is real but it is bounded; it ends.

A short checklist¶

First 48 hours:

[ ] Medical certificate of cause of death received.
[ ] Medical examiner's office spoken with (or coroner involvement confirmed).
[ ] Funeral director instructed.
[ ] Home secured if the deceased lived alone; insurer notified.

First week:

[ ] Death registered (deadlines: see register a death).
[ ] Death certificates ordered (multiple copies — see death certificate).
[ ] Tell Us Once used.
[ ] Bereavement Service phoned.
[ ] Will located.
[ ] Bank(s) notified; funeral funds released if needed.

First month:

[ ] Estate valuation under way.
[ ] Bereavement Support Payment claimed if eligible (within 3 months for full payment).
[ ] Pensions, insurers, utility companies notified.
[ ] Probate application started if needed.
[ ] Royal Mail redirection set up.

First three months:

[ ] Probate granted (or established not to be needed).
[ ] Inheritance tax paid by deadline.
[ ] Property dealt with.
[ ] Section 27 notice placed.
[ ] Debts paid in priority order.
[ ] Estate distributed.

Scotland and Northern Ireland: the differences¶

Scotland uses its own legal system. Registration is within 8 days, the equivalent of probate is Confirmation through the Sheriff Court rather than the Probate Registry, and the executor is called an executor-nominate or executor-dative. Tell Us Once is available; many of the entitlements (Bereavement Support Payment, State Pension) operate identically across Great Britain.

Northern Ireland has its own General Register Office and its own NICTS for probate. Tell Us Once is not available; the NI Bereavement Service handles the equivalent. The basic structure of administration is similar to England and Wales but the specific forms and offices differ.

Both Scotland and Northern Ireland will get their own jurisdiction-specific guides on this wiki. For now, the England-and-Wales guides linked above flag the major differences in dedicated sections.

What this guide doesn't cover¶

This page is the orientation. It links to the detailed guides for each topic — registration, the death certificate, Tell Us Once, applying for probate, inheritance tax, redirecting post, stopping benefits, debt after death, and copying a will. Those guides are where the specific facts and procedures live.

It also doesn't cover what to do when the death happens abroad, when a child or baby has died, or when a person is missing and presumed dead. Each of those routes has its own gov.uk path; see the sources linked here as a starting point.

If you're struggling, you don't have to do this alone. Samaritans (116 123, 24/7) | Cruse Bereavement Care (0808 808 1677) | Mind (0300 123 3393)

Last verified: 29 April 2026 against gov.uk/after-a-death.