Bereavement Guide

Dealing with the death of a loved one and the practical steps you’ll need to take.

In this guide:

It can be difficult to know where to start, and our guide is designed to provide you and your family with a useful source of information to help support you through this incredibly hard time with the least amount of difficulty, based on our personal experiences and professional expertise of dealing with our own families and clients.

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Please note that the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) does not regulate cash flow planning, estate planning, tax or trust advice.

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From this guide:

Dealing with the estate - Gathering all the documents you need

To start the process of dealing with an estate, you need to gather together as many documents relating to the person’s possessions as you can. You need to find items such as:

Investment portfolio statements
Bank account details and statements
Insurance documents
Car ownership documents
Property ownership deeds
Evidence of any debts

Many of these documents may be filed in the personal papers of the deceased. If this is not
the case, it may be worth speaking to their solicitor (if known), an independent financial
adviser (IFA), their bank/s, their insurance companies, the DVLA and for property deeds
specifically, the Land Registry.

When you are contacting each of the organisations about the death, they will ordinarily require a certified copy of the death certificate. These will need to be obtained directly from the registrar. It can be useful to buy a number of copies when you are registering the death, as they are often
cheaper at that time.