Notifying banks, HMRC, and other organisations after a death

Why institution notification matters

Once someone dies, their accounts need to be frozen (to protect against fraud), their regular payments need to stop, and eventually the funds need to be collected into the estate. None of this happens automatically — as executor, you need to contact each organisation in writing.

For a typical estate, there may be 10–30 institutions to notify. Each requires a personalised letter with the deceased’s details, your details as executor, and a copy of the Grant of Probate (once issued).

When to notify

There are two rounds of notification:

1. Initial notification (immediately after death) — send a death notification letter with a death certificate to freeze accounts and stop payments. You don’t need the Grant of Probate for this step.
2. Collection notification (after Grant of Probate) — send a second letter with the Grant of Probate asking the institution to close the account and transfer the balance to the executor account.

TidyEstate generates letters for the collection stage — the notification that includes the Grant of Probate reference and formally requests account closure and fund transfer.

What each letter needs to include

• The deceased’s full name, date of birth, date of death, and last address
• The account or policy reference number
• Your full name and address as executor
• The Grant of Probate reference (or, for initial notification, a note that the Grant is pending)
• A clear request — whether to freeze the account, confirm the balance, or close and transfer
• Instructions on where to send correspondence
• Your signature

Who to notify and when

Banks and building societies

Contact each bank where the deceased held an account. Bring a death certificate and your ID to any branch visit, or send copies by post. Most large banks have a dedicated bereavement team.

Most banks will freeze the account on notification (preventing further withdrawals) and provide a date-of-death balance statement for probate purposes.

HMRC

HMRC needs to know about the death to stop PAYE (if the deceased was employed), close any self-assessment account, and recover any outstanding tax or issue a refund. The Tell Us Once service (from the register office) handles HMRC PAYE notification automatically.

If the deceased was self-employed or had a self-assessment account, you may need to contact HMRC’s bereavement helpline directly (0300 200 3300) and file a final tax return.

DWP and state pension

State pension and any DWP benefits stop on the date of death. Tell Us Once handles DWP notification. If state pension was overpaid after the date of death, DWP will ask for it back from the estate.

Pension providers

Contact each pension provider. Ask about any death-in-service benefit, any nominated beneficiary, and what happens to the pension fund. Most workplace and personal pensions have an expression of wishes nomination — this guides the trustees on who receives the pension, though it’s not legally binding.

Life insurance providers

If the deceased had life insurance, contact the provider to make a claim. If the policy is written in trust, the trustees pay out directly to the named beneficiaries without going through the estate.

DVLA

The deceased’s driving licence should be returned to DVLA. If they owned a vehicle, the vehicle needs to be transferred to the estate (and then sold or transferred to a beneficiary). Tell Us Once notifies DVLA.

Utility providers, subscriptions, and council

Utilities at the deceased’s property need to be transferred to whoever takes over the property (or cancelled if it’s being sold). Cancel subscriptions, gym memberships, and any regular services. The local council needs to be notified for council tax purposes — Tell Us Once handles this.

Electoral roll, passport office

Both are handled automatically by Tell Us Once.

How TidyEstate helps

TidyEstate generates personalised notification letters for every institution on your list — either individually or as a merged batch PDF for printing all at once. The letters are filled with your estate data (deceased’s details, your details as executor, account references) and formatted correctly for each institution type.

You can track the status of each notification in the app — from “generated” through “sent” to “acknowledged” and “closed”.

The Death Notification Service

Many UK banks and financial institutions participate in the Death Notification Service (DNS) at deathnotificationservice.co.uk. You can notify multiple banks in one step. Participating banks include Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, NatWest, and others.

Note: DNS only provides initial notification (account freezing). You still need to send individual letters with your Grant of Probate to collect and close the accounts.