What to do when someone dies: a step-by-step guide
Death is tough enough without all of the admin, calls and work that comes with it.
We’ve put together a guide to talk you step-by-step through what to do when someone dies, including the essential practical and legal steps you, or the people close to you, will need to take after someone you love dies. Who takes these actions depends on who the executor or administrator of the estate is.
Each step has an in-depth article that accompanies it, so you can get detailed guidance for whatever stage of the journey of life after loss that you’re at.
These series of articles are specifically focused on processes within England and Wales, and these steps laid out are typically completed by the executor, or the administrator, of the estate.
Got a question about what to do when someone dies?
You can contact a member of our team at 020 8068 9990 who can help to guide you through the process.
Step 1 - Verify and Register The Death
The first week after losing someone is overwhelming. It’s hard to know what you need to do, or how to do it.
There are some essential things to do in the week after someone dies. These include verifying their death with a medical professional and deciding how you want to care for them - whether you want them to be looked after at home, by the funeral director, or elsewhere. Lastly, you'll need to register their death within 5 days in order to get their death certificate.
However, the initial steps to take after a loved one’s death can look different if a coroner needs to be involved.
We've created a guide which breaks each of these moments down in more detail, including how the process might change if a coroner needs to be involved.
Step 2 - Plan Their Funeral
The most important thing to know is that there’s no ‘right way’ to do a funeral. A funeral is a farewell to the person who has died, and since we’re all unique, funerals can be too.
In this article, we’ve put together some of the practical essentials you need to get you started with organising a funeral for a loved one that’s personal and meaningful: from checking if they already put plans in place, choosing a funeral director, to dealing with funeral expenses.
Step 3 - Report Their Death to Different Organisations
It’s important to notify various organisations of the death of your loved one.
This can feel like a big task, as everyone has a wide array of accounts across a range of organisations. This article sets out how to notify each of the various types of departments, institutions and companies - public and private - to help break the process down into bite-size pieces. This includes how to notify government departments via the Tell Us Once service.
Step 4 - Build a Picture of Their Estate
An essential step to take after the death of a loved one is to build a picture of their estate (their estate is everything owned by them).
You can do this by finding a will, if they had one, and by thinking about the different assets they owned, any debts they had, and the value of both. Learn more about the process in this article.
This is useful so you can figure out if you will need to go through probate, pay Inheritance Tax and settle any potential debts.
Step 5 - Figure out if you need to pay Inheritance Tax
Next, you have to work out if Inheritance Tax needs to be paid and/or if a full Inheritance Tax account is needed.
According to Money Saving Expert, only around 4% of families have to pay Inheritance Tax, as most estates fall below the Inheritance Tax threshold – so this step isn’t necessary for everyone.
Learn more about the cases in which Inheritance Tax is needed, and how and when to pay it, if required, in this article.
Step 6 - Figure out if Probate is Needed
Probate is the legal process of dealing with someone’s property, money and possessions after they die. It can also refer to the legal document issued by the court, a Grant of Representation, which allows the person named to deal with the estate of someone who has died.
Not all estates require probate – it’s only required in about 50% of cases in England & Wales.
Learn about probate – what it is, if you need it, how to prepare for it and how to apply for probate – in this article.
Step 7 - Administer the Estate
Once you've calculated the value of the estate, figured out whether any Inheritance Tax needs to be paid (and you’ve paid it, if it is required), and received a Grant of Representation (if probate was required), you can administer the estate.
Administering the estate is the official term for gathering the assets from their estate, selling or transferring any property (if desired), paying any debts and liabilities out of the estate, making payments to beneficiaries and finalising the estate accounts.
Learn more about the end-to-end Estate Administration process in this article.
Want some help with estate administration?
Unsure where to start?
Not sure what is needed and what isn’t in your specific case?
Wanting to talk to an expert to ask some questions or get support? We can help.
Book a free consultation with one of our experts to answer any questions you have about the process, whether you need probate and whether you might like to use our services.
Visit our website: https://octopuslegacy.com/probate
Book in a meeting: https://will.octopuslegacy.com/probate-call
Or give us a call on: 020 8068 9990
