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We know how difficult it can be when somebody passes away. That’s why we’re here to support you. If your loved one held any products with us or had investments through Skipton's Financial Advice service, we'll help you understand what to do next.

When someone has passed away

Register the death

You need to do this at a Register Office. See gov.uk/register-a-death for more details.

Legally, you need to register a death within five days in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and within eight days in Scotland, unless the Coroner is investigating it. You’ll be issued with a death certificate.

It’s a good idea to ask for several certified official copies of the death certificate as you may need them for different providers. There’s a small charge for this but it is often more cost effective to ask for copies at the time of registration rather than later on.

Notify us

Speak to us

Call us

Talk to our Bereavement team

0345 266 1209

We've set up a dedicated email SkiptonDirect-BereavementNotification@skipton.co.uk so you can notify us when a loved one who had accounts with Skipton or through our partners has passed away. When we receive the email we will update our system and write to you letting you know what you need to do next.

We will need to know:

  • Details of the deceased person: their name, address, date of birth, date of death, whether there is a Will and any Skipton account numbers (if known).
  • Details of the person notifying us: their name, address, relationship to the deceased person, email address, phone number and when we should contact them (we only call if we need more information or if you ask us to).
  • Any additional information you want to give us.

    • You don't need to send any documents by email. If we need to see documents such as a death certificate, we will let you know how to send these to us.

The person dealing with the estate will have a personal contact every step of the way, who will try and make things as easy as possible.

Once you've told us about a death, even if it is not officially registered with us, payments out of savings accounts held in the sole name of the deceased are frozen. If it's a joint account, control will pass to the other account holder(s) instead..

You can call our Bereavement team on 0345 266 1209 from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. We'll make a note of the death on our systems and let you know what you need to do next.

The person dealing with the estate will have a personal contact every step of the way, who will try and make things as easy as possible.

Once you've told us about a death, even if its not officially registered with us, payments out of savings account are held in the sole name of the deceased are frozen. If it's a joint account, control will pass to the other account holder(s) instead.

You can write to us at:

Bereavement team
Principal Office
The Bailey
Skipton
North Yorkshire
BD23 1DN

When you write to us by post, please provide details of the deceased person: their name, address, whether there is a will and any Skipton account numbers (if known). Please also provide us with details of the informant: their name, address, relationship with the deceased person and contact details. Please enclose the relevant document we will need to register the death, as explained in step 3 below.

The person dealing with the estate will have a personal contact every step of the way, who will try and make things as easy as possible.

Once you've told us about a death, even if its not officially registered with us, payments out of savings account are frozen.

Read our Bereavement guide

Our Bereavement guide has more detail on what you need to know at this time.

Provide us with the relevant documents

We’ll need one of the following documents to register the death:
  • The original death certificate or an official copy from your local register office
  • A death certificate verification form (directly from the solicitor acting for the estate). Please note, we can accept this for customers who had savings accounts and/or a mortgage with us only. We can’t accept it for customers who had investments through Skipton because product providers need to see the original death certificate
  • Original coroner’s interim death certificate (if the cause of death hasn’t been determined).
  • A Grant of Representation if already available – this can include a Grant of Probate, Letters of Administration, or Certificate of Confirmation in Scotland.

    • You can post your document to:

    Bereavement team
    Skipton Building Society
    The Bailey
    Skipton
    North Yorkshire
    BD23 1DN

    We will return the documents to you, once we have processed them.

    What happens next?

    We'll write to the personal representative or the solicitor acting for them to request any further information we need. We'll also ask for certain forms to be filled in and returned to us.

    The process of sorting out savings depends on the types of account held, the amount of money held in the accounts and if there's a Will. Once we’ve been told about a death, payments from savings accounts held in the sole name of the deceased are frozen. If it's a joint account, once the death is registered, control automatically passes to the other account holder(s).

    If there's a mortgage, the personal representatives should carry on making the monthly payments while we make our inquiries, so the loan doesn't fall into arrears and cause complications (the mortgage is a debt of the estate). If this is difficult, our Credit Management team can talk you through your options. You can call them on 0345 850 1766.

Help with accounts

There are different steps you might need to take depending on what type of accounts the customer held. You can find more detailed information on dealing with each type of account below.

Savings

Savings accounts including ISAs, bonds and trust accounts.

Savings

Mortgages

Find out what to do if the deceased held a mortgage with us.

Mortgages

Investments

Investments held through our financial advice service.

Investments

Wills & funeral plans

Legacy products held with our trusted partners.

Wills & funeral plans

Frequently asked questions

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Who are the Bereavement team?

Based at head office in Skipton, our team supports bereaved next of kin and personal representatives. They'll guide you through our process of notifying us of the death of a customer and closing the accounts. You can call the team directly on 0345 266 1209 between 9am and 5pm, Monday to Friday.

When you call, you'll need to answer a few security questions but you'll only need to go through the details once per call. There might be a limit on the amount of information we'll be able to give you at this time, unless you can prove you're an executor (if there is a Will) or legal next of kin (if there is no Will) or you're the solicitor acting for the estate.

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Who can Skipton give account information to after the death has been registered?

If there's a Will, we'll be able to provide account information to the named executor(s) or the solicitor acting on their behalf. We might ask to see the Will to make sure we're giving information to the right person. If there isn't a Will, see the FAQ below, 'What happens if they didn't make a Will?'.

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How can I get the Will?

If it was written using Skipton's Will-writing service, please contact the Bereavement team, who will be able to confirm whether we have details of where the Will is being stored. If you're sure the deceased made a Will via Redstone Wills Ltd, our specialist partner, please get in touch with them on 0808 168 2560. Please note, only the executor is entitled to receive the Will.

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What happens if they didn't make a Will?

If someone hasn't made a Will, this is called being 'intestate'. In this case, we can only give information to certain people. First we speak to the spouse or civil partner, or the solicitor appointed to act on behalf of the estate. If there's no surviving spouse, we might be able to deal with adult children or parents.

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What is a Grant of Probate (GOP) and do I need one?

A GOP gives the appointed executor authority to distribute the assets of the estate. Where total balances held with Skipton Building Society are over £30,000 the executor will need a GOP (or Letters of Administration if there is no Will), which is issued by your local District Probate Office. If total balances are £30,000 or less, we may be able to release the funds if you provide us with a completed Letter of Indemnity and/or a Statutory Declaration.

These documents have particular requirements (See 'What documents do I need if the total held with Skipton is £30,000 or less?"). If you can't meet the requirements for any reason, even if the estate is worth £30,000 or less, you'll need a GOP (or Letter of Administration if there is no Will).

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    How can I get a Grant of Probate (GOP)?

    You can apply to the Probate Registry yourself. Please note, the government website also uses the term 'Grant of Representation' for GOP or Letters of Administration.

    Alternatively, you can pay a fee for someone to handle this for you, like a solicitor or other professional. Our partner, 1825 Estate and Trust Administration, can do this for you. You can read more about 1825 on our Partnerships page, or call our bereavement team on 0345 266 1209 who can refer you to them.

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    What documents do I need if the total held with Skipton is £30,000 or less?

    If the balance is £1,000 or less, we can accept a Letter of Indemnity, as long as the beneficiaries are the ones solely entitled to the funds held with us and are the spouse, civil partner, child or parent of the deceased.

    If the funds are between £1,001 and £4,999, we can accept a Statutory Declaration form that has been completed in the presence of a solicitor, as long as the beneficiaries are the ones solely entitled to the funds held with us.

    If the balance is between £5,000 and £30,000, we can accept a Letter of Indemnity, as long as the beneficiaries are the ones solely entitled to the funds held with us and are the spouse, civil partner, child or parent of the deceased. This must be provided along with a Statutory Declaration form that has been completed in the presence of a solicitor. 

    In all cases, there must be no assets held elsewhere that require GOP or Letters of Administration.

    Beneficiaries who don't have accounts at Skipton Building Society will need to provide identification along with the above documents. View or download 'Proving your identity' to see what you'll need.

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    Can I pay a funeral or inheritance tax invoice before getting probate?

    Yes, we can release funds to pay for funeral expenses once the death has been registered with us. We'll need the invoice from the funeral directors so we can issue a cheque, made payable to the funeral company. We can also release any amount that's on an HMRC inheritance tax calculation form, subject to the balance of the account, even if this means closing the account. This is called 'withdrawal before probate'. To do this, you'll need to complete the 'Withdrawal before probate' form, which can be downloaded here.

    Please complete and take this document to your nearest branch or post it to:

    Bereavement team
    Skipton Building Society
    The Bailey
    Skipton
    North Yorkshire
    BD23 1DN
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    What if they had a prepaid funeral plan?

    If the deceased arranged a prepaid funeral with our partner Dignity, please call them on 0808 301 7743 or visit the Dignity Funerals website.

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    What happens about the mortgage?

    Once the death has been registered, if you are the personal representative of the deceased we can talk to you about what will happen next, which depends on the type of mortgage it is. In the meantime, it’s important for the personal representatives to make the monthly mortgage payments and pay for buildings insurance. If making payments is difficult, please call our Credit Management team on 0345 850 1766. They can talk through the options open to you. Find out more on our Bereavement mortgage page.

    If the mortgage was held in the sole name of the deceased, it is a debt of their estate and must be repaid in full. The money to do this usually comes from a life policy, the estate, or from selling the property.

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    What other help is available?

    Bereavement Advice Centre
    0800 634 94 94
    www.bereavementadvice.org

    Citizens Advice Bureau
    www.citizensadvice.org.uk

    The Bereavement Register
    Reduce the amount of unwanted marketing post being sent to people who have passed away
    www.thebereavementregister.org.uk

    The General Register Office
    (includes links to the Scottish and Northern Ireland register offices)
    www.gov.uk/general-register-office

    Applying for Grant of Probate, Letters of Administration or Confirmation:

    England & Wales
    www.gov.uk/applying-for-probate

    Scotland
    www.scotcourts.gov.uk
    0131 444 3300

    Northern Ireland
    www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/applying-probate

    Find a solicitor on the Law Society's website
    www.lawsociety.org.uk/for-the-public/using-a-solicitor/find-a-solicitor
    020 7320 5650

    Fraud Prevention - CIFAS
    A not-for-profit organisation working to reduce fraud and financial crime.
    www.cifas.org.uk

    Cruse Bereavement Care
    www.cruse.org.uk

    UK Government
    www.gov.uk

    Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs (HMRC)
    www.hmrc.gov.uk

    HMRC Probate and Inheritance Tax Helpline
    0300 123 1072

    Tell Us Once Service
    Report a death to most government organisations in one go
    www.gov.uk/after-a-death/organisations-you-need-to-contact-and-tell-us-once

    Skipton Estate & Trust Administration Service and Skipton Trustees Professional POA Service are administered by ‘1825’. 1825’ is a trading name used by 1825 Financial Planning and Advice Limited, which is part of the Standard Life Aberdeen group (Standard Life Aberdeen plc and its subsidiaries). 1825 Financial Planning and Advice Limited is registered in England (01447544) at 14th Floor 30 St. Mary Axe, London, England, EC3A 8BF and is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Please note that POA and Estate & Trust Administration are not regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

    *To help maintain service and quality, some telephone calls may be recorded and monitored.

    Site intended for UK residents only. Skipton Building Society is a member of the Building Societies Association. Authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority, under registration number 153706, for accepting deposits, advising on and arranging mortgages and providing Restricted financial advice. Principal Office, The Bailey, Skipton, North Yorkshire, BD23 1DN.

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