Letting us know

Loans that are solely in the deceased’s name will need to be paid back from the estate, if the money is available.

For loans in joint names, the surviving account holder becomes responsible for the loan and can continue to make the usual repayments or repay the loan in full.

If you’re worried about making payments on an outstanding loan, please call us on 0333 202 7412³.

These can be left open until maturity, before being paid to the personal representative. Alternatively, they can be closed when the estate is settled, without any loss of interest or penalty.

We’ll contact our business banking team, including the Relationship Manager, if the account holder had one, who’ll get in touch with the other individuals linked to the business. If this isn’t possible, or the deceased was a sole trader, they might contact you instead.

If the deceased died on or after 6 April 2018, any cash ISAs will remain open until their personal representatives close the ISA as part of their administration of the estate, or for a maximum of three years from the date of death, whichever is earlier.

If the deceased had an ISA with us when they died and have a surviving spouse or civil partner, they can make use of the ISA allowance that has built up – called the Additional Permitted Subscription (APS). For more information on this and to obtain an application form, please see our APS ISAs page.

After we’ve received notification of the account holder’s death, we’ll release the money held in trust to the personal representative to distribute, or a replacement trustee can be appointed to manage the account.

Sole accounts

We’ll freeze any accounts in the deceased’s name only within 24 hours after you notify us, and then

• Cancel any standing orders and Direct Debits
• Stop charging interest and fees
• Cancel all cards connected to the account
• Return any payments received into the account
• Pay back any overdraft from money left in the account

Joint accounts

As long as you’re one of the named account holders, you can still use your joint account. We’ll amend all accounts and stationery to your name, so you’ll be able to use the account as normal.

If you’ve become the sole account holder for a joint account and it has an overdraft, this will now be in your name. If you’re worried about keeping up with payments, give us a call on 0345 703 4034³ and we’ll see how we can help. We’re here Monday to Thursday from 8am to 8pm, Friday from 8am to 7pm, and Saturday from 9am to 4pm.

We’ll freeze these accounts when you notify us. We can then transfer the money into the deceased’s sterling account, or transfer the original currency into a new account of your choice.

Joint accounts will be changed so they’re in the name of the surviving holder. If you ask us to transfer the currency balance into a sterling account, the rate will be sourced at a specific time on the date that the transfer is made. For details on the exchange rate, call us on 03459 757 575⁴.

You can ask us to transfer investments that are in the deceased’s name only to one or more beneficiaries, or sell them (the proceeds will be paid to the estate).

Where an account is in joint names and one of the holders has died, the investments can either be sold, with the relevant share of proceeds being paid to the deceased’s estate, or the ownership can be transferred to the remaining holders. We’ll freeze any joint investment accounts until probate has been completed.

If the deceased has a Smart Investor account, you can find out more on our FAQs page.

For a mortgage in the deceased’s name only, it might be possible to pay it off using the proceeds of the estate or an insurance policy. Where this is not possible, we need to know what you intend to do with the property. For example, if a beneficiary plans to live in it, we may be able to set up a new mortgage in their name, subject to affordability and approval.

For a joint mortgage, if it can’t be paid off by an insurance policy, we can change the account to the name of the surviving borrower, providing the property was owned as a ‘joint tenancy’. If, however, it was owned as ‘tenants in common’, we’ll need instructions on how you’d like to proceed.

Please call us on 0800 022 4022⁵ if you have any mortgage questions.

If you’re worried about making payments to accounts that are now in your name, we’re here to help – just give us a call on 0333 202 7407 and we’ll see how we can support you. Lines are open Monday to Thursday from 8am to 8pm, from 8am to 6pm on Friday, and from 9am to 1pm on Saturday. 

If the deceased had a safe product such as a box, envelope or wallet, please contact our bereavement team on 0800 068 2238¹(option 2).

We’ll work with you to arrange a convenient time to inspect the contents at one of our branches. We might ask to see certain documents, such as a Grant of Probate or Letters or Administration.

If the deceased had a trust deed, it should explain what happens if a trustee dies.

If there isn’t a trust deed, the personal representative of the deceased trustee can choose to add a new trustee, leave the account for remaining trustees to run, transfer operation of the account to the beneficiary or ask for it to be closed.

For any questions about this, please contact us on 0800 068 2238¹(option 6).