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Bereavement.

Dealing with bereavement

We’re here to help.

Losing someone close to you can be very difficult. In addition to the emotional upheaval of coping with a death, you may also need to take care of the practical matters. This page has been put together to help you deal with any accounts that the deceased held with us.

If you have any questions, or if there is anything else you are unsure of, we are here for you.

Getting started

What to do first.

Register the death. This should be done at the registry office closest to where the death occurred. The registry office will issue you with a certified copy of the registration of death and should offer you the ‘Tell Us Once’ service. For more information on the ‘Tell Us Once’ service, please visit www.gov.uk.
Obtain the Will. Having the most up to date Will is important as it states the wishes of the deceased and names the executors. The executors are the named persons responsible for carrying out these wishes.
If there is no Will, the deceased’s estate is distributed according to the law of intestacy. This law determines how the estate is divided and shared. For more information on intestacy visit www.gov.uk.
Establish whether probate is required. This is usually needed when the deceased’s estate includes property. If the estate is just made up of cash held in banks and building societies they may accept a ‘Letter of Indemnity’. For accounts held with Suffolk Building Society, this letter can be obtained from any of our branches. We allow the closure of an account using a ‘Letter of Indemnity’ provided the total balances across all accounts with Suffolk Building Society do not exceed £15,000.

Getting in touch with us

What
you’ll need.

Death certificate or Grant of Probate

We will need a certified copy or a solicitor certified copy of the death certificate or Grant of Probate. We will also accept an interim or coroner’s certificate or the original Grant of Probate.

Identification

We will ask you to confirm your identity before managing the deceased’s account(s) and will use our electronic verification system. If this verification is unsuccessful, we may need further proof of your identity and we may ask you some ‘security’ questions. We may also ask you for a full valid UK photocard driving licence or a full valid UK or EU nationals passport. Speak to us about other forms of personal identification you can use.

Passbooks

We will need the passbook(s) relating to the account(s), if they are available.

Getting in touch with us

How we
can help.

Dealing with the death of someone close to you is never easy, and we want to do our bit to make the process as painless as possible.

Help with mortgage payments

If the deceased held a mortgage with us, there are ways we can help – such as suspending all payments on the account for a limited period to give you space to manage the estate. Scroll down to our ‘Mortgage Accounts’ link to see how we can help you further.

Help with Inheritance Tax

In most cases, any Inheritance Tax due must be paid before the Grant of Probate is issued. If you find yourself in this situation, we can help by releasing the funds held in the deceased’s accounts to pay for Inheritance Tax.

We can make a cheque payable to HMRC or send the payment to HMRC direct. We will need a copy of the Inheritance Tax Calculation for our records. There is no charge for sending a CHAPS payment to HMRC direct.

For more information on Inheritance Tax, you can use the government links below.

Help with funeral and other costs

We understand that it can often be difficult to pay for the funeral, but if the deceased had funds in their accounts, we can release these in order to help. We can also release funds to help you pay associated costs such as care fees or an unpaid utility bill if needed. All we need is the original invoice or bill and the cheque will be made payable to that party.

Accounts held with us

What to do with different types of accounts.

You can find further information on dealing with different types of our accounts on the following links.

Investment Accounts

Mortgage accounts

Further help

Counseling and support.

If you need any further help or support, the following links and resources might help.

The Society is happy to liaise with any third party organisation acting on your behalf if we hold your written authority to do so.

Money Advice Trust – National Debtline
www.nationaldebtline.co.uk
Phone: 0800 808 4000

MoneyHelper (formally the ‘Money Advice Service’)
www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk
Phone: 0300 500 5000

Citizens Advice
www.citizensadvice.org.uk/index/getadvice

Step Change Debt Charity
www.stepchange.org
Phone: 0800 138 1111

Cruse Bereavement Care
www.cruse.org.uk
Phone: 0808 808 1677
(Mon-Fri 9.30am-5.00pm)
Helpline: [email protected]

Young person’s helpline:
[email protected]

The Bereavement Trust
www.bereavement-trust.org.uk
Phone: 0800 435 455

Trained volunteers offer comfort, support and practical advice to the bereaved from 6pm until 10pm. If the line is engaged, please ring 0800 9177 416.

Get in touch

Prefer to talk?

If you’d prefer to just speak to someone at this difficult time, our door is open and it’s got real people behind it.You can fill out the form here and we’ll get back in touch with you. Or please feel free to visit your local branch in person, drop us an email or give us a call.

Prefer to give us a call?
Call 0330 123 0723

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