The first few hours
Give yourself a moment
You don't have to sort everything out at once. There's no legal deadline in the first hours that puts you under pressure – the administrative clock only really starts once the death has been registered. The one thing that needs doing soon is contacting a doctor.
Let the people close to you know
Tell close family and friends personally – a phone call means more than a text. It helps to jot down a short list of who needs telling: immediate family, close friends, the person's employer. You don't have to make every call yourself; ask someone you trust to take on part of the list.
Contact a doctor
A doctor issues the medical certificate of cause of death – without it, nothing else can proceed. If the death was expected (illness, palliative care), the person's usual GP or the hospital doctor can normally do this. For a sudden or unexpected death, call 999 or 111 instead. This medical certificate is what allows you to register the death.
The first few days
Arrange a funeral director
Get in touch with a funeral director – most are reachable around the clock. They'll arrange collection of the person who died, know the local registration process, and can talk you through the options for the funeral itself. Nothing has to be decided immediately; a good funeral director will give you the time you need.
Register the death
Register the death with the local register office, normally within 5 days in England and Wales (8 days in Scotland; slightly different rules apply in Northern Ireland). You'll need the medical certificate. Order at least 5–8 certified copies of the death certificate while you're there – it costs more to order extra ones later.
Use Tell Us Once
At the end of the registration appointment, the registrar will offer you the Tell Us Once service and give you a reference number. It reports the death in one go to HMRC, the DWP, DVLA, the local council and the Passport Office, so you don't have to contact each one separately. It's free, optional, and available for 28 days after you get the reference number. Tell Us Once covers England, Scotland and Wales; Northern Ireland has its own separate service.
Look for a will
Check the person's papers, or ask their solicitor if they had one, for a will. If you find one, it will usually name an executor and set out who inherits. There's no single central register of wills in the UK, though a will may have been lodged with a solicitor, bank, or the Principal Registry's wills storage service.
Secure the home and the post
If the person lived alone: check the post regularly (important letters can still arrive), consider a temporary mail redirection, and keep the keys somewhere safe. Leave utilities like gas and electricity connected until the property's situation is resolved – cancelling too early can cause practical problems.
Admin to plan for
For everything below you'll need the death certificate (step 5) – get that sorted first. Most organisations also accept a certified copy.
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DWP / State Pension
If the person received benefits or the State Pension, any payments made after the date of death must be repaid. Tell Us Once handles the notification; a surviving spouse or civil partner may be able to claim Bereavement Support Payment. -
Banks
Let the bank know about the death – the account is usually frozen until you can show proof of authority (Grant of Probate, Letters of Administration, or Confirmation, depending on jurisdiction). -
HMRC
If the person was self-employed or had income requiring Self Assessment, a final tax return is needed for the tax year of death. See our guide on proving your authority to act for what HMRC and others will ask to see. -
Council Tax
The council needs to know so Council Tax can be adjusted or a single-person discount applied if a surviving partner remains in the property – Tell Us Once covers this too.
Common questions about the first two weeks
Do I need to do anything immediately after a death?
No. In the first hours there's no legal deadline putting you under pressure – the only urgent step is contacting a doctor (or, for an unexpected death, the emergency services) so a medical certificate of cause of death can be issued.
What is Tell Us Once and do I have to use it?
Tell Us Once is a free government service that reports a death to most public bodies in one go – HMRC, the DWP, DVLA, the local council and the Passport Office. It's optional but strongly recommended. You'll get a reference number from the registrar, and you have 28 days to use it. It covers England, Scotland and Wales; Northern Ireland has its own separate equivalent.
How many copies of the death certificate should I order?
At least 5–8 copies. Banks, insurers, pension providers and the Land Registry may each want their own original or certified copy, and ordering extra copies later costs more and takes longer.
What happens if I can't find a will?
If no will turns up, the rules of intestacy decide who inherits, and a close relative usually applies for Letters of Administration instead of a Grant of Probate. A solicitor can explain who inherits in your specific family circumstances.