Helping you with bereavement
Grieving the death of a loved one is incredibly difficult. It can be tough to know what to do and how to cope - and that’s without the administrative and financial aspects.
To help you during this challenging time, we have put together a practical guide covering all the steps you need to take following the death of a family member or close friend. The information below should enable you to organise the financial affairs and help to ease the pressure of the bereavement process.
How to Notify Us
Information for Members with a savings account
The process of sorting out savings depends on the types of account held, the amount of money held in the accounts and if there's a Will.
Once we've been told about a death, payments from savings accounts held in the sole name of the deceased are frozen. If it's a joint account, once we've registered the death, control automatically passes to the other account holder(s).
If you are the beneficiary:
Beneficiary is spouse, civil partner, parent or child of the deceased
Balance under £30,000
Documentation required
- Death Certificate – Original or Copy of death certificate can be accepted
- Statutory declaration form completed and signed by the executors/next of kin also certified by a Solicitor/Justice of the Peace/Commissioner for Oaths
- Identification for each executors/next of kin
- Withdrawal form
Balance above £30,000
Documentation required
- Death Certificate – Original or Copy of death certificate can be accepted
- The original Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration
- Withdrawal Form signed by all named on the grant of probate.
- Identification for each executors/next of kin
If you are not the beneficiary:
Beneficiary is not a spouse, civil partner, parent or child of the deceased
Balance under £5,000
Documentation required
- Death Certificate – Original or Copy of death certificate can be accepted
- Statutory declaration form completed and signed by the all and to be witnessed by a certified by a Solicitor/Justice of the Peace/Commissioner for Oaths
- Will
- The original Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration
- Identification for each person
- Withdrawal forms
Balance above £5,000
Documentation required
- Death Certificate – Original or Copy of death certificate can be accepted
- Statutory declaration form completed and signed
- Will
- The original Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration
- Identification for each person
- Withdrawal forms
Information for Members with a Mortgage
Joint Account
If the mortgage was in the name of the person who has died with one or more other people, they are known as a joint borrower. There are two ways joint property can be held (joint tenants or tenants in common), and what happens to the property differs for each.
The mortgage will transfer to the sole name until we hear differently such as the below details. Most commonly the property is Joint Tenants.
If you're the joint borrower and you're unsure how the property was held, we'll be able to let you know what is indicated in our records. If you need any advice about how the property was held, you will need to seek legal advice.
Joint tenants
The name of the person who has died will be taken off the mortgage and their share of the property will transfer to the other joint borrower. Unless the person who died was bankrupt, in which case their share passes to the trustee in bankruptcy.
You don’t need a Grant of Probate for this to happen – just the death certificate, which you should also register at the Land Registry to remove the person who has died from the property title.
Tenants in common
The share of the property belonging to the person who has died won’t transfer automatically to the other joint borrower(s). Instead, it will pass according to the instructions they left in their Will. If there is no Will, the property will be passed on according to the rules of intestacy (rules that come into effect when someone dies without leaving a Will).
Documents we require
- Original Death Certificate
Sole Account
If the mortgage was only in the name of the person who has died, they’re known as the sole borrower. This means the mortgage is a debt of their estate and must be repaid in full. The money to do this usually comes from a life policy, the estate, or from selling the property.
We can’t release full information about the mortgage to you until we’ve seen the original Grant of Probate (if there was a will) or Letters of Administration (if there wasn't a will) or Certificate of Confirmation (Scotland).
We can’t transfer the mortgage to anyone else. If you’re a beneficiary, you or someone else can apply for a new mortgage for the property, but we can’t guarantee to accept the application, which would be subject to our affordability and lending criteria.
Documentation we require
- Original Death Certificate
- Grant of Probate/ Letters of Administration/ Certificate of Confirmation
Registering the death
You are required to register someone’s death within 5 days in England and Wales. This is done at a registry office and it’s best to go to the one in the area where the person died. You’ll be able to locate it here.
A relative will usually need to register the death but others are allowed in certain circumstances. You’ll need to take the medical certificate on the cause of death and have their date of birth to hand. More information on this and what documents are needed can be found here.
The registrar will then provide you with all the necessary documentation to progress the funeral arrangements which includes:
- Certificate for burial or cremation
- Certificate for registration of death (often referred to as the death certificate)
As an official copy of what’s on the death register, the death certificate is often required when informing companies and financial institutions about the deceased. It’s worth paying to get more than one copy because many organisations will ask to see an original before they can help you.
Checking for a will
It’s a good idea to try and locate a will as soon as possible. It may contain useful information about the deceased’s burial or cremation wishes as well as any details of a funeral plan.
The executor of the will is also named in this document. This is the person responsible for dealing with the estate (which comprises their property, money, debt, businesses, insurance and pensions.) In addition, a will sets out who’ll get any assets that are left by the deceased.
If the will can’t be located or if someone dies without making a will, an administrator will be appointed to take the same role. This is usually the role of the closest living relative. The government offers more on this here.
Without a will, distributing assets is more difficult but there’s a system to help. This sees the estate distributed according to the law of intestacy, which determines how the estate should be divided and shared and will differ depending on where the person lived.
Notifying us
If the deceased is a Furness Building Society customer, please notify us as soon as possible and we’ll freeze the account. We’ll let you know what information we require and what will happen next. You can send us what we need through the post or by visiting your nearest branch.
Before any amendments can be made to our records, we’ll always need:
- The deceased’s name, address and date of death
- Your name, address and contact details
- Original copy of the death certificate or copy of the death certificate
Depending upon the type of account and balance held, we may require additional documentation. We’ll advise you of what we need when you notify us of the death.
Arranging the funeral
Sometimes people include funeral instructions in their will so check this first. You may also choose to use a funeral director to help you with the necessary decisions. It may be worthwhile meeting with more than one as it’s important you trust them and you’re comfortable with their suggestions. Please remember that funeral director fees can also vary so bear this in mind during your discussions.
Paying for a funeral
Before you start planning, check if there’s already a financial plan in place as this will mean the burial or cremation has already been arranged and paid for. If you can’t find a plan but you think they might have made one, you can use the Funeral Planning Authority’s Trace Your Plan, which will check if one is in place with any registered providers.
It can be difficult to cover funeral fees and it’s likely you may struggle to consider cost at such a tough time. Here are a few tips to help with pricing:
- Check the basic fees - find out the funeral, burial or cremation costs in advance and make sure you have the money before you add on anything else.
- Set a budget - when you know the basics, you’ll be in a better position to consider any desired extras such as flowers, music etc and budget accordingly.
- Get financial assistance - these can be covered by the deceased’s estate, insurance or friends and family may contribute.
Contacting relevant parties
You’ll need to think about who needs to know, in addition to family and friends. This includes any organisations the deceased had a relationship with and it may take a bit of coordination.
To help you, we have pulled together a list of the most common companies you’ll need to contact:
- Solicitors
- Banks or Building Societies
- Employer
- Mortgage provider
- Credit card providers
- Store card providers
- Utility companies (gas, electricity, water, telephone and broadband)
- Email and social media platforms
- Membership clubs and groups
- Insurance companies
- Pension providers
- Royal Mail
- Doctor and Dentist
- Government departments (DVLA, HMRC, Passport Office, DWP and local authority)
Dealing with inheritance tax
Inheritance tax may be applicable and if you’re the executor or administrator, you’ll need to look into this. Inheritance tax is a tax paid on the estate if, after any debts are settled, it’s worth more than £325k. For more information on this, visit the HMRC website.
Next steps
Do you have any questions? You may still want to speak to us and our team is here to help you. Please get in touch by visiting us in branch or giving us a call on 0800 834 312.
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