What to do when someone dies
Practical, plain-English guides for every stage of bereavement administration in England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.
First 48 Hours
The essential steps right after a death
What to Do When Someone Dies
The essential first steps: from getting the medical certificate to securing the home. A plain-English overview of everything in the right order.
Read guideJargon Buster
Every legal and financial term you might encounter after a death, explained in plain English. No jargon in the definitions.
Register a Death
What to bring, where to go, and the 5-day deadline (8 days in Scotland). Includes what happens at the registrar appointment.
Death Certificates
Medical certificate vs death certificate: the difference matters. How many to order, what they cost, and who needs originals.
Arranging a Funeral
Step-by-step guide to arranging a funeral: choosing a funeral director, burial vs cremation, ceremony options, and realistic costs for 2026.
Death Abroad
Repatriating a loved one from abroad: consulate help, costs, local and UK registration, and what to expect at each stage.
Muslim Funerals
How Muslim funerals work in the UK. Covers ghusl, janazah prayer, burial customs, costs, timing, and what non-Muslim family members or executors need to know.
Stopping Benefits
Which benefits stop, how DWP claws back overpayments, and the benefits you might now be entitled to yourself.
First Week
Practical tasks to handle in the first few days
Tell Us Once Service
One call to notify DWP, HMRC, DVLA, Passport Office, and your council. What it covers, what it doesn’t, and how to use it.
Read guideFuneral Costs
What funerals actually cost in 2026, how to reduce costs, direct cremation, and help with funeral expenses.
Death Notices
Where to publish a death notice, what to include, costs, wording templates, and the Gazette notice that protects executors from unknown creditors.
Care Home Death
What happens when someone dies in a care home: the Medical Examiner system, registration, collecting belongings, fees, and what families need to do.
Council Tax
Class F exemption for empty properties, single person discount, and how to transfer or cancel council tax.
Bereavement Support Payment
£3,500 lump sum plus monthly payments. Who qualifies, how to claim, and the 21-month deadline.
Notifying Banks
How to notify each bank, what they freeze, probate thresholds by bank, and getting funds released for funeral costs.
Bank Probate Thresholds
How much can you access from a bank account without probate? Compare thresholds for 15 major UK banks including Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, and more.
Funeral Expenses Payment
DWP help with funeral costs if you’re on qualifying benefits. Form SF200, what’s covered, and the 6-month deadline.
Redirecting Post
Royal Mail redirect, the Bereavement Register, and why redirecting post catches things you’d otherwise miss.
Bereavement Leave
No statutory paid bereavement leave exists (with one exception). Jack’s Law, time off for dependants, and how to request leave from your employer.
Closing Utilities
Gas, electricity, water, broadband, mobile: how to close or transfer each account, who pays the final bill, and bereavement contact numbers.
Water Cremation
Water cremation is now legal in Scotland. What it is, how it works, what it costs, and when it will be available across the UK.
Burial Rights
Who has the legal right to decide about burial or cremation, what happens when families disagree, and the rules on ashes, graves, and exhumation.
First Month
Legal and financial matters to address
How to Apply for Probate
The full probate application process: forms, fees (£300), timelines, and what to do while you wait.
Read guideMortgage After Death
Joint tenants vs tenants in common, notifying the lender, mortgage protection insurance, and what happens during probate.
Life Insurance Claims
Finding policies, trust vs non-trust, the claims process step by step, and typical payout timescales.
Debt After Death
You do not inherit personal debts. How the estate pays debts in priority order, joint debts, and what to do about debt collectors.
Care Home Fees
Who pays care home fees when someone dies, how Deferred Payment Agreements work, and how to make a retrospective NHS Continuing Healthcare claim.
Do I Need Probate?
Not every estate needs probate. Check bank thresholds, joint ownership rules, and the decision flowchart.
Inheritance Tax
Nil-rate bands, residence relief, spouse exemptions, and the IHT-before-probate catch. Plain English, real numbers.
Intestacy Rules
What happens when there’s no will. Spouse rights, children’s shares, and why common-law partners get nothing.
Executor Responsibilities
What does an executor do? Your complete guide to executor duties, personal liability, timeline, and step-by-step estate administration across the UK.
Probate in Scotland
Scotland uses Confirmation, not Probate. Different courts, different forms, different costs. The full Scottish process.
Unmarried Partners
Unmarried partners have almost no automatic inheritance rights in the UK. What the law actually says, what you can do about it, and how to protect yourself.
Copy of a Will
How to find and get a copy of someone’s will in the UK, before and after probate, covering England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.
When You're Ready
Tasks that can wait until you feel able
Digital Legacy: Managing Online Accounts, Devices and Digital Assets After a Death
Phones, laptops, social media, email, crypto: what to do with someone’s digital life after they die. Platform-by-platform guide with the 2025 law change explained.
Read guideCar After Death
DVLA notification, V5C logbook, SORN, selling, scrapping, and claiming back road tax.
Pensions After Death
State Pension, workplace pensions, the age-75 tax cliff, and how to trace lost pensions.
Estate Planning
A practical UK estate planning checklist covering wills, power of attorney, funeral wishes and more, with costs and jurisdiction differences.
Making a Will
How to make a will in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Costs, legal requirements, and what happens if you die without one.
DIY Will vs Solicitor
Compare the costs of DIY wills, online services, and solicitor-drafted wills in the UK. Understand when to use each option.
Naming Guardians
How to appoint a legal guardian for your children if you die. What happens if you don’t, who can be a guardian, and how to make the right choice.
Will Storage
Discover safe storage options for wills and important documents in the UK, from Probate Registry to solicitors. Keep your will where it will be found.
Power of Attorney
How to set up a lasting power of attorney in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Types, costs, and step-by-step process.
Funeral Plans
A practical guide to prepaid funeral plans in the UK. What they cover, what they cost, FCA regulation, and how to choose one.
Advance Decisions
What advance decisions are, how they work, and what you need to know about living wills in England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.
Funeral Wishes
How to plan your own funeral and record your wishes so your family knows what matters to you.
Pensions & IHT 2027
From April 2027, unused pension funds count towards inheritance tax. What is changing, who is affected, and what families and executors need to do.
End-of-Life Planning
A practical UK guide to advance care planning, DNACPR, ReSPECT forms, choosing where to be cared for, benefits, and having the conversation.
Personal Belongings
Sorting clothes, jewellery, and personal items after someone dies. Legal ownership, family disagreements, and when you are ready.
Pets After Death
A practical UK guide to caring for pets after an owner dies. Covers legal responsibility, rehoming, charities that help, microchip transfers, and planning ahead.
Social Media After Death
How to memorialise or close Facebook, Instagram, Apple, Google and other accounts after someone dies. Legal position and platform-by-platform process.
Browse all 51 guides
What to Do When Someone Dies
The essential first steps: from getting the medical certificate to securing the home. A plain-English overview of everything in the right order.
Jargon Buster
Every legal and financial term you might encounter after a death, explained in plain English. No jargon in the definitions.
Register a Death
What to bring, where to go, and the 5-day deadline (8 days in Scotland). Includes what happens at the registrar appointment.
Funeral Costs
What funerals actually cost in 2026, how to reduce costs, direct cremation, and help with funeral expenses.
Death Certificates
Medical certificate vs death certificate: the difference matters. How many to order, what they cost, and who needs originals.
Arranging a Funeral
Step-by-step guide to arranging a funeral: choosing a funeral director, burial vs cremation, ceremony options, and realistic costs for 2026.
Death Notices
Where to publish a death notice, what to include, costs, wording templates, and the Gazette notice that protects executors from unknown creditors.
Death Abroad
Repatriating a loved one from abroad: consulate help, costs, local and UK registration, and what to expect at each stage.
Muslim Funerals
How Muslim funerals work in the UK. Covers ghusl, janazah prayer, burial customs, costs, timing, and what non-Muslim family members or executors need to know.
Care Home Death
What happens when someone dies in a care home: the Medical Examiner system, registration, collecting belongings, fees, and what families need to do.
Tell Us Once
One call to notify DWP, HMRC, DVLA, Passport Office, and your council. What it covers, what it doesn’t, and how to use it.
Council Tax
Class F exemption for empty properties, single person discount, and how to transfer or cancel council tax.
Car After Death
DVLA notification, V5C logbook, SORN, selling, scrapping, and claiming back road tax.
Stopping Benefits
Which benefits stop, how DWP claws back overpayments, and the benefits you might now be entitled to yourself.
Bereavement Support Payment
£3,500 lump sum plus monthly payments. Who qualifies, how to claim, and the 21-month deadline.
Notifying Banks
How to notify each bank, what they freeze, probate thresholds by bank, and getting funds released for funeral costs.
Bank Probate Thresholds
How much can you access from a bank account without probate? Compare thresholds for 15 major UK banks including Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, and more.
Funeral Expenses Payment
DWP help with funeral costs if you’re on qualifying benefits. Form SF200, what’s covered, and the 6-month deadline.
Pensions After Death
State Pension, workplace pensions, the age-75 tax cliff, and how to trace lost pensions.
Mortgage After Death
Joint tenants vs tenants in common, notifying the lender, mortgage protection insurance, and what happens during probate.
Life Insurance Claims
Finding policies, trust vs non-trust, the claims process step by step, and typical payout timescales.
Debt After Death
You do not inherit personal debts. How the estate pays debts in priority order, joint debts, and what to do about debt collectors.
Care Home Fees
Who pays care home fees when someone dies, how Deferred Payment Agreements work, and how to make a retrospective NHS Continuing Healthcare claim.
Apply for Probate
The full probate application process: forms, fees (£300), timelines, and what to do while you wait.
Do I Need Probate?
Not every estate needs probate. Check bank thresholds, joint ownership rules, and the decision flowchart.
Inheritance Tax
Nil-rate bands, residence relief, spouse exemptions, and the IHT-before-probate catch. Plain English, real numbers.
Intestacy Rules
What happens when there’s no will. Spouse rights, children’s shares, and why common-law partners get nothing.
Executor Responsibilities
What does an executor do? Your complete guide to executor duties, personal liability, timeline, and step-by-step estate administration across the UK.
Probate in Scotland
Scotland uses Confirmation, not Probate. Different courts, different forms, different costs. The full Scottish process.
Unmarried Partners
Unmarried partners have almost no automatic inheritance rights in the UK. What the law actually says, what you can do about it, and how to protect yourself.
Estate Planning
A practical UK estate planning checklist covering wills, power of attorney, funeral wishes and more, with costs and jurisdiction differences.
Making a Will
How to make a will in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Costs, legal requirements, and what happens if you die without one.
DIY Will vs Solicitor
Compare the costs of DIY wills, online services, and solicitor-drafted wills in the UK. Understand when to use each option.
Naming Guardians
How to appoint a legal guardian for your children if you die. What happens if you don’t, who can be a guardian, and how to make the right choice.
Will Storage
Discover safe storage options for wills and important documents in the UK, from Probate Registry to solicitors. Keep your will where it will be found.
Power of Attorney
How to set up a lasting power of attorney in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Types, costs, and step-by-step process.
Funeral Plans
A practical guide to prepaid funeral plans in the UK. What they cover, what they cost, FCA regulation, and how to choose one.
Advance Decisions
What advance decisions are, how they work, and what you need to know about living wills in England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.
Funeral Wishes
How to plan your own funeral and record your wishes so your family knows what matters to you.
Pensions & IHT 2027
From April 2027, unused pension funds count towards inheritance tax. What is changing, who is affected, and what families and executors need to do.
End-of-Life Planning
A practical UK guide to advance care planning, DNACPR, ReSPECT forms, choosing where to be cared for, benefits, and having the conversation.
Copy of a Will
How to find and get a copy of someone’s will in the UK, before and after probate, covering England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.
Digital Legacy
Phones, laptops, social media, email, crypto: what to do with someone’s digital life after they die. Platform-by-platform guide with the 2025 law change explained.
Redirecting Post
Royal Mail redirect, the Bereavement Register, and why redirecting post catches things you’d otherwise miss.
Personal Belongings
Sorting clothes, jewellery, and personal items after someone dies. Legal ownership, family disagreements, and when you are ready.
Bereavement Leave
No statutory paid bereavement leave exists (with one exception). Jack’s Law, time off for dependants, and how to request leave from your employer.
Closing Utilities
Gas, electricity, water, broadband, mobile: how to close or transfer each account, who pays the final bill, and bereavement contact numbers.
Water Cremation
Water cremation is now legal in Scotland. What it is, how it works, what it costs, and when it will be available across the UK.
Burial Rights
Who has the legal right to decide about burial or cremation, what happens when families disagree, and the rules on ashes, graves, and exhumation.
Pets After Death
A practical UK guide to caring for pets after an owner dies. Covers legal responsibility, rehoming, charities that help, microchip transfers, and planning ahead.
Social Media After Death
How to memorialise or close Facebook, Instagram, Apple, Google and other accounts after someone dies. Legal position and platform-by-platform process.