What to Do When Someone Dies: The Legal Steps Explained

Reviewed 30 October 2026 · England and Wales · General information, not legal advice

First comes the medical examiner's confirmation, then registering the death within 5 days of being told you can, Tell Us Once, finding the will and notifying banks. Probate, inheritance tax and distribution follow over the coming months.

When someone dies in England and Wales the legal steps come in a set order: a doctor completes the medical certificate and a medical examiner reviews it, you register the death within 5 days of being told you can, you use Tell Us Once to notify government departments, and you find the will so that the executors can take charge of the estate. Over the following weeks you notify the banks and other organisations, arrange and pay for the funeral from the estate, claim any bereavement benefits, value what the person owned and work out whether probate is needed. This guide takes each step in turn with the 2026 time limits and costs, and ends with a timeline.

The first days: the medical certificate and the medical examiner

A doctor first confirms the death: the GP surgery (or NHS 111 out of hours) at home, the staff in a hospital, hospice or care home. The doctor who looked after the person then completes the medical certificate of cause of death. Since 9 September 2024 every death in England and Wales that is not referred to a coroner is independently reviewed by a medical examiner, a senior doctor who checks the records and the proposed cause of death and whose office will contact the family to explain it and ask whether you have concerns about the care given. Only when the medical examiner's office has sent the certificate to the registrar and told you so can you register the death.

Most medical examiner offices complete their review within about five days, but funeral directors report a typical gap of nearer ten days between a death and clearance to register, with registration about two weeks after the death. A funeral director can collect the person and begin arrangements in the meantime.

When the coroner is involved

A death is reported to the coroner when it was sudden or unexplained, violent or unnatural, happened in custody or state detention, or where no doctor can certify the cause. The coroner may order a post-mortem examination and, if the cause is still unclear or the death was unnatural, open an inquest, which can take many months. Registration waits for the coroner, but the coroner's office issues an interim certificate of the fact of death, which banks, insurers, the Probate Registry and Tell Us Once all accept, so the estate need not wait.

Registering the death and Tell Us Once

You must register within 5 days of being told by the medical examiner's office that you can (8 days in Scotland, which has its own system); weekends and bank holidays count. Register at the office for the district where the person died, or by declaration at any other register office, which is slower. A relative normally registers, but someone who was present at the death, a hospital administrator or the person arranging the funeral can do it. Take the person's full name, date and place of birth, last address and occupation, and the details of any spouse or civil partner.

The registrar gives you the certificate for burial or cremation, known as the green form, which the funeral director needs, and sells death certificates at £12.50 each. Buy several, because banks, insurers, pension schemes and share registrars each ask to see one; copies ordered later cost the same, or £38.50 for the priority service.

Tell Us Once

The registrar also gives you a reference number for Tell Us Once, the free service that notifies government bodies in one go. Use it online or by phone within 28 days of receiving the number. It tells HM Revenue and Customs, the Department for Work and Pensions (State Pension and benefits), the Passport Office, the DVLA (driving licence and up to five vehicles), the local council (council tax, electoral roll, Blue Badge), Veterans UK and a number of public sector pension schemes. It covers people who lived in England, Scotland or Wales; Northern Ireland has a separate service through nidirect. You will need the person's National Insurance number, ideally their passport and driving licence numbers, and the details of the executor or administrator.

Everyone else must be told separately: banks and building societies (the free Death Notification Service covers most of them with a single form), the mortgage lender or landlord, private pension providers, insurers, utility companies, the employer, the GP surgery, Royal Mail for a redirection, and subscription and social media accounts.

Finding the will and the executors

Look for the original will among the person's papers, ask the solicitor who acted for them, check with their bank and, if nothing turns up, search the National Will Register and ask HM Courts and Tribunals Service whether a will was deposited for safekeeping. Check it is the latest version; the Probate Registry needs the original, and proving a copy takes evidence and time.

The executors the will names take charge from this point. They have the legal right to decide on the funeral and to possession of the person's body, usually following any wishes in the will although those are not binding, and they are responsible for everything that follows; what an executor has to do sets it out in full. The will may also appoint guardians for children under 18 under section 5 of the Children Act 1989, an appointment that takes effect if no parent with parental responsibility survives; family law solicitors advise where relatives disagree about it. If there is no will, the estate passes under the intestacy rules and the closest relative applies for letters of administration instead of probate.

Any lasting power of attorney ended at the moment of death: the attorneys must stop using it, return it to the Office of the Public Guardian with a copy of the death certificate and hand over to the executors.

Property, insurance and bank accounts

Secure the home, lock away valuables and documents and keep the heating ticking over in winter. Tell the buildings and contents insurer within days, because most policies restrict cover once a property has been empty for 30 to 60 days and require regular inspections. Motor insurance ends with the policyholder, so nobody should drive the person's car until it is insured in their own name. If the person rented, tell the landlord or housing association promptly: the tenancy does not end automatically, rent remains payable from the estate until it is ended, and a spouse or partner living there may have a right to take it over; landlord and tenant law explains succession rights.

Do not clear the house or hand out possessions yet: the contents must be valued, and gifts made before the executors have read the will cause disputes and tax errors.

When a bank learns of a death it freezes accounts in the person's sole name, which stops direct debits, so warn the utility companies and the mortgage lender; they expect this. Joint accounts pass to the surviving account holder and carry on as normal, although the deceased's share still counts for inheritance tax. Banks will pay the funeral director's invoice directly from a frozen account on sight of the invoice and the death certificate, and will usually also pay inheritance tax to HMRC directly.

Paying for the funeral and bereavement benefits

Check first for a prepaid funeral plan, an insurance policy or wishes in the will. Funeral costs are the first charge on the estate, ahead of other debts, so whoever pays can recover the money once the estate is in funds. A funeral cannot go ahead without the green form or the coroner's equivalent.

If you receive a qualifying benefit such as Universal Credit or Pension Credit, you can apply for a Funeral Expenses Payment within 6 months of the funeral. It covers burial or cremation fees and up to £1,000 towards other costs such as the funeral director's fees and the coffin, and is deducted from any money you later receive from the estate. If nobody is able or willing to arrange a funeral, the local council must do so.

A surviving spouse or civil partner under State Pension age, and since 9 February 2023 a cohabiting partner with dependent children, can claim Bereavement Support Payment if the person who died paid at least 25 weeks of National Insurance contributions or died because of their work. The higher rate for people with children is a £3,500 lump sum plus £350 a month for 18 months; the standard rate is £2,500 plus £100 a month. Claim within 3 months of the death to receive the full amount: the monthly payments are reduced for later claims, the lump sum is lost after 12 months and nothing is payable after 21 months. The rates have not changed since 2017. Tell private pension schemes quickly too, because many pay a lump sum or a dependant's pension to the nominated person.

Valuing the estate and deciding whether probate is needed

The executors or administrators then write to every institution for the value of each asset at the date of death, obtain a professional valuation of any property, list the contents and debts, and gather details of gifts made in the 7 years before death. Those figures determine whether inheritance tax is payable: the nil-rate band is £325,000, with a further £175,000 residence allowance where a home passes to children or grandchildren, both frozen until 5 April 2031, and anything left to a spouse or civil partner is exempt. Inheritance tax explained covers the detail; any tax must be paid by the end of the sixth month after the month of death.

Whether a grant is needed depends on the assets, not on whether there was a will. A house or flat in the person's sole name, or a share held as tenants in common, always needs one, as do most shareholdings and any account above the bank's own limit. An estate made up entirely of jointly owned assets and small balances often needs no grant at all. Where one is needed, the application fee has been £526 since 13 July 2026 (nothing for an estate of £5,000 or less); how long probate takes sets out the stages and how much probate costs the fees solicitors charge, whether fixed, hourly or a percentage of the estate. Many families handle a simple estate themselves and bring in a wills and probate solicitor only for the grant or the tax forms; compare probate solicitors in Liverpool or search solicitors near me.

A timeline summary

1. Day 1: a doctor confirms the death and the medical examiner's review begins; contact a funeral director.
2. Days 2 to 14: the medical examiner's office confirms you can register; register within 5 days of that, collect the green form, buy death certificates and note the Tell Us Once reference.
3. Within 28 days: use Tell Us Once, notify banks, tell insurers and secure the property.
4. Weeks 2 to 4: the funeral; find the original will and confirm the executors; start the Bereavement Support Payment claim.
5. Months 1 to 3: value the estate and decide whether inheritance tax forms are needed.
6. Months 2 to 6: pay any inheritance tax by the end of the sixth month after the month of death, then apply for the grant.
7. Months 6 to 12: collect the assets, pay the debts, sell any property and distribute the estate.

Frequently asked questions

How soon after a death do you have to register it?

Within 5 days of the medical examiner's office telling you that the certificate has gone to the registrar, not 5 days from the death itself. Because of the medical examiner review introduced in September 2024, registration usually happens one to two weeks after the death. Where the coroner is involved you cannot register until the coroner releases the paperwork, which may be after an inquest, but you can use the interim certificate in the meantime.

Can I use the deceased person's bank account to pay bills?

Not directly: once the bank is notified, sole accounts are frozen and cards and direct debits stop. The bank will usually pay the funeral director's invoice and inheritance tax straight from the account, and executors who pay other urgent bills from their own money can reclaim them from the estate once funds are released. A joint account stays open and the surviving holder can carry on using it.

Who has the right to arrange the funeral?

The executors named in the will have the legal right to decide the arrangements and to possession of the body, and where there is no will the right belongs to the person entitled to administer the estate, usually the spouse or civil partner, then children, then parents. Wishes written in a will or letter are not binding but are normally followed. Where relatives cannot agree, the court can be asked to decide, although it rarely gets that far.

How many death certificates do I need?

Most families buy between five and ten at £12.50 each when registering. Banks, building societies, insurers, pension schemes, share registrars and the Land Registry all ask for a certified copy, and although many return the original or accept the free Death Notification Service, having spare copies avoids weeks of waiting. Tell Us Once deals with government departments without a certificate. Extra copies ordered later cost the same, or £38.50 for the priority service.

What happens to the person's debts?

Debts are paid from the estate before anyone inherits, and relatives are not responsible for them from their own money unless the debt was joint, when the surviving borrower remains liable for the whole of it. A mortgage stays attached to the property and must be paid or redeemed when it is sold. If the debts exceed the assets the estate is insolvent and must be dealt with in a strict legal order, so take advice before paying any creditor.

Do I still need probate if there is a will?

Possibly. The will decides who inherits, but whether a grant is needed depends on the assets. A house in the person's sole name, shares and bank balances above the bank's own limit all require a grant of probate before they can be sold or paid out. Where everything was jointly owned with a surviving spouse and the sole accounts are small, the estate can often be dealt with on the death certificate alone.

Related guides

• How Long Does Probate Take?
• What Does an Executor Do? Duties, Responsibilities and Risks
• What Happens If You Die Without a Will? The Intestacy Rules Explained
• How much does probate cost?

This guide describes the law in England and Wales as at 30 October 2026. It is general information, not legal advice about your situation; the law and the figures it quotes change, so check the position with a solicitor before acting. LawFirms.co.uk is a directory and does not provide legal services.