What to Do When Someone Dies in the UK: The Complete Admin Checklist

Losing someone is hard enough without a mountain of paperwork landing on top of the grief. But the admin has to be done, and the good news is that it follows a fairly clear order. You don't have to do it all at once, and you don't have to do it alone.

This is a calm, plain-English checklist of what to do when someone dies in the UK, in roughly the order it needs doing.

The first few days

When someone dies in the UK, the first steps are practical:

1. Get a medical certificate of cause of death. A doctor completes this, and since 2024 a medical examiner reviews it before the death can be registered. If the death was sudden or unexpected, it may be referred to a coroner first.
2. Register the death. You must do this within 5 days in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (8 days in Scotland), at a register office, usually by appointment.
3. Order several copies of the death certificate. You'll need to show it to banks, pension providers and others many times over — and originals (or certified copies) are often required, not photocopies. Ordering a handful now saves a lot of waiting later.

GOV.UK has a clear official overview of what to do after someone dies if you'd like the government's own checklist alongside this one.

Tell the government — once

Once you've registered the death, you can use Tell Us Once, a free government service that reports the death to most government departments in one go: the DWP, HMRC, the council, the Passport Office and DVLA. The registrar usually gives you a reference number to use it.

It's genuinely helpful, but it only covers the government side. We've explained exactly what it does and doesn't do in our guide to Tell Us Once.

Tell everyone else — yourself

This is the bit that catches families out. Tell Us Once does not notify banks, mortgage or insurance providers, utilities, most private pensions, or subscriptions. Those are all down to you, one organisation at a time.

It's usually the slowest part of the whole job, and you can only do it once you know which accounts exist in the first place. Our step-by-step guide to closing a deceased person's accounts walks through how to tackle it calmly, including the free services that let you notify several banks at once.

Find the will

You'll need the will to know who the executor is and how the estate should be handled. It's usually at home, with a solicitor, or registered somewhere. If you're struggling to track it down, our guide on where to find someone's will covers every place to look.

A will stays private until probate is granted. After that, it becomes a public document. We explain what that means in is a will public after death?.

Work out whether you need probate

Probate is the legal process that confirms the executor's authority to deal with the estate. You won't always need it. Small or jointly-owned estates often don't. But you typically will when there's property in the person's sole name, or when banks require it before releasing larger balances.

You can check the rules and apply on GOV.UK's applying for probate and dealing with the estate pages, and our guide to what an executor actually does explains the role in plain English.

The funeral

There's no rush to make funeral arrangements in the first day or two. Check whether the person left any funeral wishes — in a death folder, a letter, or a pre-paid plan — and whether a funeral director or their faith community can guide you. Funeral costs can sometimes be paid from the person's estate or bank account before probate.

Looking after yourself

This is a lot to carry while grieving. You don't have to be strong about all of it. GOV.UK lists bereavement help and support, and Cruse Bereavement Support offers free, confidential help if you need someone to talk to.

The kindest thing anyone can do in advance

If you take one thing from this guide, take this. Almost every hard part above comes down to finding things: which bank, which pension, where the will is kept, what the passwords were.

That's exactly what a death folder prevents. When someone has written down where everything lives, the months of detective work shrink to an afternoon of phone calls. If you've just been through this yourself, it's also the gentlest possible prompt to sort your own, and to help an older parent get organised before it's ever needed.

Beqst is a calm, secure place to build exactly that, and to keep it current as life changes. It helps you get organised. It isn't a legal or financial adviser, so for decisions about probate, tax or the estate you should speak to a regulated professional.

Start your free death folder →

Related reading: What Is a Death Folder? · Tell Us Once Explained · Where to Find a Will · What Does an Executor Do?