Administrator: A person who obtains Letters of Administration, which then entitles them to deal with the estate if no Will has been made.
Beneficiary: A person who inherits either under terms of a Will or by the rules of intestacy (if no Will was made).
Certificate of Confirmation: The Scottish equivalent to a Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration.
Certified copy: A photocopy of the original document that has been signed by a person in an acceptable profession to say that the original has been seen.
Death Certificate: This is a certified copy of the entry in the death register. Upon request, the registrar will provide you with a number of certified copies – you will need to pay a fee. This will help to save time if you need to register the death with several organisations.
Executor: The person named in a Will who is to deal with the estate and, if necessary, obtain a Grant of Probate.
Grant of Probate: A formal court document issued by the Probate Service confirming the appointment of the Executor(s) named in the Will.
Informant: The person who notifies us of our deceased customer. We will correspond with this person during the registration period.
Inheritance Tax: A tax on a deceased person’s estate when the value is above a specific threshold. The Tax must be paid before Grant of Probate is issued and the estate distributed to beneficiaries. Payment is made directly to HMRC.
Intestate/Intestacy: When someone dies without leaving a valid Will in place.
Letters of Administration: A formal court document issued by the Probate Service, to appoint an Administrator, often the next of kin to the deceased. This is usually issued where there is no Will, or the Executor(s) appointed in the Will is unable or unwilling to act.
Personal Representative(s): This is the Executor or Administrator managing the deceased’s estate which means they will collect all the assets and pay bills. They will apply for Grant of Probate if required.
Should you wish to notify us before you have the Death Certificate we will record your details as the informant but will not be able to confirm any account details with you until we have an original or certified copy of the Death Certificate.
We will need to know
• Their full name and address
• Their date of birth
• Their date of death
• Your full name and address
• Your contact details
• Your relationship to the deceased person
We will require identification from the Personal Representative or Executor(s) in order for us to close any account held. This can be provided in branch, certified copies via post or through a secure online platform.
Once we receive the Death Certificate we will write to the Personal Representative detailing the balances of the accounts held and what documents we will require to close the accounts. We will include closure forms, should you need replacements at any time please contact us.
The Societys’ Probate limit is £25,000. If the value of all sole accounts held within the Society including accrued interest up to the date of death is over £25,000, Grant of Probate/Letters of Administration must be applied for and received before accounts can be closed.
If Grant of Probate/Letters of Administration is being applied for on the deceased estate for any other institution or reason and the value of all sole accounts held within the Society including accrued interest up to the date of death is over £1,000, we must receive the original or certified copy of the Grant of Probate/Letters of Administration before accounts can be closed.
Once we are notified that a customer is deceased any marketing will be stopped on sole accounts and online access removed.
Once the Death Certificate is received the registration process will begin.
Joint accounts
On receipt of the Death Certificate, we will amend the account to the remaining account holder; the account can be used without interruption. We will inform the account holder that the account has been amended and return any passbooks held by us.
Notice account and Fixed Term Bond account terms and conditions will still apply a copy of the product leaflet will be sent to the account holder.
Sole accounts
Sole accounts are frozen from the date we are notified, payments that are received electronically will be returned to the sender. The accounts will remain open and accrue interest until they are closed.
On production of the correct documentation accounts will be closed and any accrued interest will be included in the closure amount.
Notice accounts and Fixed Term Bond accounts can be closed without penalty.
ISAs
The ISA account will remain open and accrue interest until the administration of the estate is completed and the account is closed.
If your spouse or civil partner has passed away you can inherit their ISA allowance this service is called Additional Permitted Subscriptions (APS). If you wish to take advantage of this please contact us and we will provide additional information and forms to be completed.
Trustee accounts
If any accounts are being held by the deceased person in the capacity of trustee, we will write out to inform you of the options available.
Mortgage accounts
Should the person who has passed away have a mortgage account with us this will be dealt with separately, we will contact our Mortgage Support Team with the relevant details and they will be in contact with you.
We can release funds towards funeral expenses or inheritance tax, if there is insufficient funds to cover the whole payment we will release the available balance. Payments can only be made after we have received the Death Certificate and the registration process has been completed.
Funeral expenses
Should you require funds for funeral expenses please request a Personal Representative’s request for funds to cover funeral expenses form. Once we have received the completed form and an original or certified copy of the funeral invoice we will release a cheque made payable to the funeral directors. We are not able to make a payment for any catering or flowers which are invoiced separately. The cheque will be handed or posted to the Personal Representative.
Inheritance Tax
Should you require funds to pay Inheritance Tax expenses please request a Personal Representative’s request for funds to cover inheritance tax form. Once we have received the completed form and a completed IHT423 form (available from HMRC) we will send the payment directly to HMRC
FAQs
What happens if I don’t have the passbook?
We do not require the passbook to close an account but recommend that if you have the passbook to have it updated.
Do I need an appointment if I come to a branch?
Should you wish to complete the notification process in a private setting we recommend booking an appointment. If you wish to use our walk in service we can take all the details required over the counter.
What is acceptable identification?
You can view the full list of acceptable identification here, alternatively we can provide you with our Proving your identity leaflet.
Who can certify copies of documents?
You can view the full list of acceptable professions on page 2 of our proving your identity leaflet available on our website alternatively we can provide you with a copy.
Helpful services
Tell us once
This is a government run service where a number of government departments will be notified at one time. The service is offered by most local authorities and can be accessed online or by phone when you register the death with the registrar.
Lost accounts
If you are not sure if the person who has passed away had accounts elsewhere you can run a check online with mylostaccounts.org.uk they will aid you in locating any organisations where an account may be held.
Useful organisations
Cruse Bereavement Care – cruse.org.uk
The Samaritans – samaritans.org
Age UK – ageuk.org.uk
Citizens Advice Bureau – citizensadvice.org.uk
Government website – gov.uk
