First Month

Planning the funeral, notifying key services and claiming benefits

What to do after a death falls into a few weeks of tasks that cannot wait: registering the death, getting the certificates you need, and telling the organisations that will not act until they are told. These guides cover that first month in the order the work usually arrives, so you can take one thing at a time rather than the whole list at once.

Start with what to do when someone dies for the sequence, then who to notify when someone dies for the full list of organisations. Tell Us Once reports most government departments for you. It does not reach banks, pensions or utilities, which is where how to notify a bank after someone dies picks up.

How to find out if someone has died in the UK: death records, notices and searches

How to check whether someone has died in the UK using death notices, the GRO death index, probate records, burial records, ScotlandsPeople and GRONI.

10 min read

What to do when someone dies at home in the UK: the first hours and days

Who to call when someone dies at home, what happens if the death was expected or unexpected, when the funeral director comes and what to do in the first days.

11 min read

How to find a will in the UK when you cannot find the original

This guide sets out the search order, what each step costs and how long it takes, how to retrieve a will deposited with the court, and what happens when the original is lost or only a photocopy survives.

9 min read

How to notify HMRC after a death: what Tell Us Once covers and what it does not

This guide covers how the notification reaches HMRC, when you need to contact HMRC separately, and what the executor still has to do once HMRC has been told.

8 min read

How to cancel a deceased person's subscriptions and digital accounts

This guide covers the order to work through the list, what Netflix, Spotify, Amazon, Apple, Google, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn each need, and what to do about shared plans.

9 min read

How to apply for probate in the UK: a step-by-step guide

This guide covers what a grant of probate is, whether you need one at all, the bank thresholds that often decide the question, and the application itself: the steps, the forms, the cost and the timeline.

9 min read

Who to notify when someone dies: a complete UK list

This guide lists who to contact when someone dies in the UK, grouped into government, money, utilities, subscriptions and everything else.

8 min read

How to Register a Death in the UK: Step by Step

This guide covers how to register a death in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland: who can do it, what the registrar asks for, and what registering a death in the UK gives you at the end.

8 min read

Bereavement Support Payment UK: who qualifies, how much, and how to claim

This guide covers the 2026/27 rates, who can and cannot claim, what you need before you apply, the two deadlines that decide how much you receive, and the effect on your tax and other benefits.

6 min read

How to notify a bank after someone dies in the UK: documents, process and timescales

This guide covers the documents banks ask for, how to reach each bank's bereavement team, how long each stage takes, and the other providers with bereavement teams.

8 min read

The Death Notification Service (DNS): what it is, who is signed up, and how to use it

This guide covers which institutions are signed up, which are not, how to complete a notification, and what happens next.

8 min read

How to stop deceased mail: the Bereavement Register and Deceased Preference Service explained

This guide explains the four free services that stop unwanted deceased mail, the paid Royal Mail option for redirecting genuine post, and how stopping mail reduces identity fraud. It also covers what none of the services can do.

8 min read

What to do when someone dies in the UK: a step-by-step guide

This guide covers the first hours, the first 2 weeks and the first 6 months in England and Wales, with Scotland and Northern Ireland noted at each step.

8 min read

What happens to council tax when someone dies in the UK

This guide explains the council tax rules for every situation: sole occupants who owned or rented, surviving residents, how to notify the council, and what happens when the exemption runs out.

7 min read

Death certificate UK: how many copies you need and where to use them

This guide covers what a death certificate costs across the UK, how many copies to order, where each copy is used, and how to get more if you run out.

7 min read

Tell Us Once: what it covers and what families still need to do

This guide explains what the Tell Us Once service covers, how to use it, and the long list of private organisations it does not reach, which is where most of the notification work actually sits.

6 min read

Bereavement leave UK: what employees and employers need to know

This guide covers the statutory position, parental bereavement leave, the difference between compassionate and bereavement leave, what employers typically offer, and what is changing under the Employment Rights Act 2025.

8 min read

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First Month

Guides in this category

How to find out if someone has died in the UK: death records, notices and searches

What to do when someone dies at home in the UK: the first hours and days

How to find a will in the UK when you cannot find the original

How to notify HMRC after a death: what Tell Us Once covers and what it does not

How to cancel a deceased person's subscriptions and digital accounts

How to apply for probate in the UK: a step-by-step guide

Who to notify when someone dies: a complete UK list

How to Register a Death in the UK: Step by Step

Bereavement Support Payment UK: who qualifies, how much, and how to claim

How to notify a bank after someone dies in the UK: documents, process and timescales

The Death Notification Service (DNS): what it is, who is signed up, and how to use it

How to stop deceased mail: the Bereavement Register and Deceased Preference Service explained

What to do when someone dies in the UK: a step-by-step guide

What happens to council tax when someone dies in the UK

Death certificate UK: how many copies you need and where to use them

Tell Us Once: what it covers and what families still need to do

Bereavement leave UK: what employees and employers need to know

Need help notifying and closing accounts?

Free Notification Service

Account Discovery Service

Simple. Secure. Supportive.