What happens to a bank account when someone dies in the UK

What happens to a sole account when someone dies

A sole account is frozen from the moment the bank is notified of the death. Frozen means no withdrawals, no card payments, and no transfers out. The money still belongs to the estate, and it stays in the account earning any interest until the estate is settled.

When the account freezes, the direct debits and standing orders stop. This matters, because payments for things that should continue, such as buildings insurance on the deceased's property, will fail. Note down what was being paid before you notify the bank, so you can arrange to keep essential cover running. Our guide on direct debits and standing orders after a death covers which payments to protect.

Some payments can still come out of a frozen account. Most banks will pay the funeral bill directly to the funeral director from the deceased's account when you send them the invoice, even before probate. They will also usually release funds directly to HMRC for inheritance tax and to the Probate Registry for the probate fee. These are paid to the organisation, not to you.

What happens to a joint bank account

A joint account passes automatically to the surviving account holder under the right of survivorship. It is not frozen, and the survivor keeps full access to the money without waiting for probate. The account is simply changed into the survivor's sole name once the bank has seen the death certificate.

There is a tax point worth understanding. Even though the money passes outside probate, half the balance of a joint account is usually treated as the deceased's share for inheritance tax, unless the money clearly belonged to one person. So the account can still count towards the estate's value even though the survivor keeps the cash.

How to tell the bank someone has died

You notify the bank by contacting its bereavement team with a certified copy of the death certificate. Every major UK bank has a dedicated bereavement team, and most now accept notification online or by post rather than in a branch. A certified copy of the death certificate costs £12.50 in England and Wales, and the bank will usually return it to you, though sending a copy to each bank at once is faster. See how many death certificates you need.

The Death Notification Service at deathnotificationservice.co.uk lets you notify several banks and building societies in one submission. It covers many of the largest names, including Barclays, Lloyds, Halifax, NatWest, HSBC and Santander. It does not cover every provider, and it does not close the account or release the money on its own. Someone from each bank still contacts you to complete the process.

Tell Us Once does not notify banks. It covers government departments such as HMRC, DWP and the DVLA, and nothing in the private sector, so banks, building societies and any other provider are down to you.

Do you need probate to close a bank account?

Whether you need probate to release a bank account depends on how much is in it. Each bank sets its own threshold, and if the balance is below that figure the bank will usually release the money without a grant of probate, in exchange for a completed claim form and a signed indemnity.

Thresholds vary widely, from around £5,000 at the cautious end to £50,000 at banks such as Barclays, Lloyds and Halifax. Above the threshold, the bank requires the grant of probate, or letters of administration where there is no will, before it will release the funds. Because thresholds differ, an estate can be below the limit at one bank and above it at another, so check each account's provider individually.

If every account and asset sits below the relevant thresholds and there is no property to transfer, you may not need probate at all. For how the grant works and when it is required, see what is probate and how long does probate take.

How long does it take to get the money?

For a below-threshold account, the money is usually released within two to four weeks of the bank receiving your completed forms and the death certificate. For an above-threshold account, the wait is longer, because the bank cannot release anything until the grant of probate is issued, and the grant itself takes time to obtain. The account balance is safe throughout. Frozen does not mean at risk.

What to watch for while an account is frozen

Check for accounts you do not know about. People often hold old savings accounts, ISAs and premium bonds they rarely mention. The free My Lost Account service traces forgotten bank, building society and NS&I accounts, and it is worth running for any estate.

Watch the debts as well as the balances. An overdraft is a debt of the estate and is paid from the estate before beneficiaries receive anything. A loan or credit card in the deceased's sole name is also paid from the estate, not by relatives personally. What happens to different debts, and who is responsible, is covered in our guide on what happens to debt when you die.

Guard against fraud. A deceased person's identity is a target, so shred bank correspondence, do not share account details, and register the death with the Death Notification Service and the bank promptly, which flags the accounts and stops new activity.

Can you use the deceased's money to pay for the funeral?

Yes, the funeral can usually be paid from the deceased's frozen account before probate, but the bank pays the funeral director directly rather than giving the money to you. Send the bank the itemised funeral invoice, and most will settle it straight from the account, because the funeral is a recognised first call on the estate.

The same direct-payment route often applies to inheritance tax and the probate fee. HMRC runs a Direct Payment Scheme that lets banks pay inheritance tax to HMRC from the deceased's accounts before the grant is issued, which solves the common problem of owing tax before you can access the money to pay it. Ask the bank for its bereavement payment form for both the funeral and any tax due.

Stop using the deceased's cards straight away

Stop using the deceased's debit and credit cards from the moment they die, even for their own bills, and even if you know the PIN. Using the account of someone who has died is fraud, and that applies to family members as much as anyone. Contactless payments, standing card details saved with retailers, and app subscriptions all count.

A joint account is different, because the survivor is a genuine account holder and can keep using it. For a sole account, the safe course is to notify the bank, let it freeze the account, and pay legitimate costs such as the funeral through the bank's bereavement process rather than the card.

What the bank needs from you

The bank needs a certified copy of the death certificate, proof of your identity, and its completed bereavement notification form. Where the balance is above the bank's threshold, it also needs the grant of probate, or letters of administration where there is no will, before it releases the money. Some banks ask to see the will as well.

Ask each bank for a date-of-death balance and a list of any direct debits and standing orders on the account. You need the balance to value the estate for probate and inheritance tax, and the list of payments to see what will stop when the account freezes. How to pull the whole estate together is covered in how to value an estate for probate.

Money owed to the deceased

Money can flow towards the estate as well as out of it, so look for sums owed to the person who died. Final wages, a tax refund, an overpaid utility account in credit, a pension payment due, or a deposit held by a landlord are all assets of the estate that you claim in.

Tell each relevant organisation the person has died and ask whether anything is owed. Employers may owe final pay and holiday pay. HMRC may owe a refund where too much tax was paid in the year of death. Energy suppliers frequently hold a credit balance on a direct debit account, which they refund to the estate once the account is closed. These sums are easy to overlook because nobody sends a bill for money they owe you.

Notifying every account at once

A person's money is rarely in one place. Between current accounts, savings, an ISA, premium bonds and an old account or two, a typical estate touches several banks, each with its own bereavement form, its own threshold and its own call queue. Contacting them one by one, and repeating the same details each time, is where the admin piles up.

Legacy Trail finds the accounts and services the person held and notifies them centrally, so you avoid weeks of individual contacts and do not have to give the same information to each provider in turn.