Nobody plans for the week after a death, and the government’s own guide is written for exactly that week. This page puts its steps in the order they arrive, with each deadline where it falls, and links to the pages on this site that take each step further: Tell Us Once, whether probate is needed, how probate works, and what to do when an executor stalls.
The first days: confirming and registering the death
After someone dies, a doctor confirms the death and then contacts the medical examiner, which GOV.UK says can take a few days. The medical examiner, a senior doctor not involved in the person’s care, checks the cause of death. Their office then contacts you to explain it, but speaking to them is voluntary (GOV.UK, What to do after someone dies: register the death, checked 1 November 2026).
You must wait for the medical examiner’s office to confirm you can register the death, then register it within five days, or eight in Scotland, counting weekends and bank holidays. If you need longer, tell the register office immediately. Registration gives you the certificate for burial or cremation, the green form, which the funeral director, crematorium or burial authority needs before the funeral can take place.
If the death is reported to a coroner, the documents you need to register it may be different. The coroner releases the body for burial or cremation once their examinations are finished. If you need proof of the death while an inquest is under way, you can ask the coroner for an interim death certificate (GOV.UK, checked 1 November 2026).
What is Tell Us Once, and what does it cover?
The registrar will explain Tell Us Once, the service that reports the death to most government organisations in one go, and will either complete it with you or give you a unique reference number to use online or by phone within 28 days (GOV.UK, What to do after someone dies: tell Us Once, checked 1 November 2026).
Our Tell Us Once page lists what to bring and what the service does and does not reach.
You can use Tell Us Once if the person who died lived in England, Scotland or Wales, including if they died while temporarily abroad. You cannot use it if they lived in Northern Ireland or permanently abroad. If an inquest is under way, you can still ask a registrar for a reference number once you hold an interim death certificate from the coroner.
What it does not reach is worth knowing at the same time: banks, mortgage providers, insurers, utilities, landlords and private or workplace pensions all have to be told directly. GOV.UK says to contact pension providers as soon as possible to avoid having to repay payments made after the death.
| Organisation | Does Tell Us Once tell them? | What happens, per GOV.UK |
|---|---|---|
| HMRC and the DWP | Yes | HMRC deals with personal tax and cancels benefits and credits; the DWP cancels benefits and State Pension |
| Passport Office and DVLA | Yes | Cancels a British passport; cancels the driving licence, removes the person as keeper of up to 5 vehicles and ends the vehicle tax |
| The local council | Yes | Cancels Housing Benefit, Council Tax Reduction and a Blue Badge, tells council housing, and removes the person from the electoral register |
| Public sector pension schemes | Yes | Cancels future payments from schemes such as the Armed Forces, Civil Service, Local Government and NHS pensions |
| Banks, mortgage providers, insurers, utilities, landlords, personal and workplace pensions | No | You contact each one yourself |
Source: GOV.UK, Organisations you need to contact and Tell Us Once, checked 1 November 2026.
The Bereavement Service call
The DWP Bereavement Service, on 0800 151 2012, cancels the person’s benefits and State Pension. It is open Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm. GOV.UK says it will also check whether you can get help with funeral costs or other benefits. Make this call even if Tell Us Once has already reported the death (GOV.UK, Report the death without a Tell Us Once reference number, checked 1 November 2026).
If you use Relay UK to call the Bereavement Service, dial 18001 first, then 0800 151 2012. There is also a Welsh-language line on 0800 731 0453.
The weeks after: the estate
Dealing with the estate is the executor’s job if there is a will, or the closest relative’s as administrator if there is not. The steps are the same either way, and GOV.UK sets them out across three guides. Our how probate works page walks through the estate steps in order, from valuing the estate to distributing what remains.
The first question inside that is whether probate is needed at all, and there are cases where it is not: money owned jointly passes to the surviving owner unless agreed otherwise, property held as joint tenants passes the same way, and each bank sets its own limit below which it releases savings without a grant. Our do I need probate page covers the cases and the fee.
Which deadlines run from a death?
Six dates run from a death, and they come from four different GOV.UK guides and one Act of Parliament. Some count from the death and some from a later event, such as the medical examiner’s confirmation or a notice in The Gazette. The table below gathers them with their sources.
Our probate deadline planner works them out from the date of death and puts them in your calendar, with a reminder before each one.
| Step | Deadline | Counted from | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Register the death | 5 days (8 in Scotland), including weekends and bank holidays | The medical examiner’s office confirming you can register | GOV.UK, What to do after someone dies: register the death |
| Use Tell Us Once | 28 days | Getting the reference number from the registrar | GOV.UK, What to do after someone dies: tell Us Once |
| Pay any Inheritance Tax | By the end of the sixth month, to avoid interest | The death | GOV.UK, What you need to do |
| Send full estate details (IHT400), if tax is due | 12 months, and before applying for probate | The death | GOV.UK, If Inheritance Tax is due or full details are needed |
| Creditors’ notice in The Gazette | 2 months before distributing | The date of the notice | GOV.UK, Settling debts and taxes |
| The executor’s year | Not bound to distribute before one year | The death | Administration of Estates Act 1925, section 44 |
All checked 1 November 2026.
If the person who died was a carer, or was cared for
Two things change at once when a death ends a caring arrangement. Carer’s Allowance must be told when the person cared for dies, and the benefit does not stop the same day; our Carer’s Allowance contact page covers what to report.
And if the person who died was the one being cared for, their Attendance Allowance and Pension Credit end, which the Bereavement Service handles. Our bereavement entries on the deadline tracker list the dates that follow.
When it goes wrong
Estates stall, and an executor who will not communicate with the people due to inherit is a problem with a legal answer. There are formal steps a beneficiary can take, from asking for accounts to a court application. Our when an executor delays page sets them out, with the one-year rule that decides whether a delay is a delay.
Where the dispute is about the will itself or who should apply for probate, a caveat stops probate being granted for six months and costs £4 (GOV.UK, Stopping a probate application: challenge someone else's probate application, checked 1 November 2026). Our when an executor delays page covers the caveat. A dispute about the will or about who should apply for probate is a point where a solicitor’s help may be worth considering.