What To Do When Someone Dies

Within a few days after a death, someone needs to:

• Make sure that the home and possessions of the person who has died are secure.
• Register the death.
• Start arranging the funeral.

The family and friends of the person who has died can usually deal with most of the practical things that need doing immediately after a death. Solicitors normally get involved a little later, when the personal representatives ask for their advice about the estate. If there is no family member or friend to deal with the practical matters, then solicitors can help with some or all of these too.

Are the home and possessions safe?

If the person who has died lived alone, someone should go to his or her home on the day of the death. Take the security precautions that you would take when leaving your own home empty for a while, such as locking all doors and windows, stopping deliveries of papers and milk and moving valuable items so that passers-by cannot easily see them.

Everything that is in the home of the person who has died should remain there. This makes it easy to arrange for all the person’s property to be valued.  If there are very valuable items and you believe they are not adequately insured, consider moving them to a more secure place but consult the executors or close relatives of the person who has died or the deceased’s solicitors before you do this.

If you know that the person who has died had a gun licence and kept firearms at the property, report the death to the police so that they can make arrangements for the guns to be kept safely.

If the person had a pet, make temporary arrangements for it to be looked after by family or friends or through an animal rescue charity.

Insurance

As soon as possible you should ensure that the property (and contents, if appropriate) are insured and you should call the insurance company to notify them of the death. The insurance provider may have more conditions that you need to comply with if the property is to be left empty, for example the stopcock may need to be turned off or the heating left on.

Registering the death

An appointment should be made with the Registrar to register the death and obtain the death certificates there will be a small fee for the death certificates, but the estate should reimburse you for these.

Collecting paperwork and seeking advice

Once you have the death certificate, you may wish to seek the advice of a legal professional to confirm the contents of the Will and establish the next steps. It would help the legal professional if you can attend the appointment armed with paperwork and information about the deceased’s assets and liabilities.

For further information regarding the above or if you would like to discuss a Wills & Probate related query with one of the team, please call us on 0800 011 6666 or e-mail the team at legal@timms-law.com.