Death of a Loved One

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The death of a loved one is one of the most difficult life events that an individual will have to deal with. Dealing with that person’s estate and making sure that interim finances are dealt with often add stress and anxiety at an already difficult time. We can help you through that process.

We can help with:

  • Interim issues, such as household bill payments
  • Obtaining probate
  • Administering the estate
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Guides

What to do when a loved one dies

Frequently Asked Questions

Employees are entitled to “reasonable” time off to deal with unexpected issues and emergencies involving the dependant including, if a 'dependant' dies. A dependent is classed as their partner, parent, child, or someone else who relied on them.

What is reasonable is not defined in the law and employees do not have the right to paid for such time off.

As from April 2020 parents are also entitled to Parental bereavement leave to deal with the death of a child if they die under the age of 18 or are stillborn.

Eligible parents have a right to 2 weeks':

Statutory Parental Bereavement Leave if you are an employee
You have this right from the day you start your job. The leave can be taken as 2 weeks together, 2 separate weeks of leave or only one week of leave. It can start on or after the date of the death or stillbirth but must finish within 56 weeks of the date of the death or stillbirth.

Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay if you are an employee or worker
If you have worked for your employer for at least 26 weeks, on the Saturday before the child’s death and earn on average at least £120 per week before tax, you are entitled to Statutory Parental Bereavement Pay.

The rate of pay is currently either £151.20 a week or 90% of your average weekly earnings (whichever is lower). Tax and National Insurance will be deducted.

You must give notice to your employer if you wish to take Statutory Parental Bereavement Leave. The notice does not have to be in writing but you must tell them when you want the leave to start, whether you want to take 1 or 2 weeks leave and the date on which your child died.

Your employer may have a more generous bereavement or compassionate leave policy and you should ask them for details of this.
If you have a joint bank account, for example with your spouse, then the account will automatically be transferred into your sole name, it will not be frozen and so you can continue using it as normal.

If your relative has a bank account in their sole name then the bank’s requirements will depend on the balance in the account. If the balance is below a certain threshold the bank will usually close the account and pay the funds to the executor or next of kin when they see a death certificate. If the balance is above a certain amount then the bank will freeze the account and the only items of expenditure they will release money for is the funeral director’s invoice and payment of any inheritance tax. The amount varies for each bank depending on their rules.

If the account is frozen the Executors of the Will, if there is a Will, will need to get a Grant of Probate from the Court in order to close the account.

If there are ongoing bills such as utility accounts, if the Executor or their solicitor contacts them and notifies them of the death they will usually wait until Probate is obtained before payment as they know that it is not always possible for the deceased’s estate to make payment of ongoing bills until Probate is obtained.

As the bank will always release funds to pay the funeral director’s invoice, you shouldn’t need to pay any funds from your own account, although you may need to pay for additional costs such as any wake which you can reclaim for the estate as soon as state funds can be accessed.
A sworn translation is a certified official translation of any document. The sworn official translation holds the same validity held by the original document in the country in which it was issued.

Sworn Translators appointed by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation are the only translators who can produce official translations which will be recognised and accepted by any country.

The official translation into English of the Spanish death certificate needs to be submitted to the relevant authorities in the UK to notify of the death. If the deceased had made a Will in Spain but not in the UK, the official translation into English of the Spanish Will may be needed as well.
A Grant of Probate is a document that the Court issues which shows that a person has died and shows who is authorised to deal with their assets, this would be their Executors if they had a Will. If they did not have a Will then it is instead called a Grant of Letters of Administration, and the specified relatives as determined by the laws of intestacy will need to apply for this if it is required.

Whether or not you need to obtain a Grant depends on what your relative’s assets are. For example, if they owned a house in their sole name you will certainly need a Grant, as this is the document required to sell the property. Banks and investment companies will also require a Grant to close the account where the balance is above a certain level, as it is evidence for them that they are releasing the money to the correct people. A Grant will not usually be required for joint investments, as these pass automatically to the joint owner.

If you are not sure whether you need Probate – then please do give us a call to discuss further.
When somebody dies the first things that need to be done are for the death to be registered and the funeral arranged.

It will then be necessary to ascertain if there is a Will. If you are not aware whether your relative has a Will then we can help you search for one.

If there is a Will then the personal representatives are whoever is appointed as Executor in the Will. If there is no Will then the personal representative is the person who inherits the estate according to the Laws of Intestacy.

The personal representative will need to gather together information to show what the assets were of the person who has died so that these can be dealt with and a Grant can be obtained if necessary. We can make contact with assets to find out the necessary information for you if required, once you are aware what the assets are.

Please do give us a call if you would like advice or assistance with this and we can give you guidance as to what information you need to look for.

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