Death and bereavement

  • Register a death

    Find out how to register a death in the UK or abroad

  • What to do after someone dies

    The steps you must take after a death - register a death, report a death with Tell Us Once, coroners, funerals and death abroad

  • Wills, probate and inheritance

    Sorting out a deceased person's affairs - get a grant of representation, become an executor and distribute an estate - and if there's no will

  • Apply for an exhumation licence

    You need an exhumation licence if you are removing human remains from the ground

  • Bereavement Allowance

    Bereavement Allowance (previously widow's pension) is a weekly benefit for widows, widowers or surviving civil partners - rates, eligibility, claim form, how to claim

  • Bereavement Payment

    Bereavement Payment if your husband, wife or civil partner dies - eligibility, what you'll get, how to claim, claim form BB1

  • Child Benefit if a child or parent dies

    Child Benefit if your child dies or the claimant dies - report the death, when to make a new claim, arrears

  • Claim or refer an unclaimed estate

    If someone dies without a will or known family, their ownerless property (bona vacantia) goes to the crown - check if you're an entitled relative, search for an estate, refer or claim on an estate

  • Find a soldier's will

    Search for the will of a soldier who died while serving in the British armed forces between 1850 and 1986

  • Find bereavement services from your council

    Contact your council to find resources and support to help when you have to cope with a death

  • Finding a person's will

    Types of places to search for a deceased person's will - including at their solicitor, bank or the Principal Registry of the Family Division

  • Funeral Payments

    Funeral Payments to help pay funeral costs if you're on a low income - eligibility, how to claim, form SF200

  • Guardian's Allowance

    Guardian's Allowance help if you're looking after a child who is not your own - rates, eligibility, how to claim, appeal a decision

  • Intestacy - who inherits if someone dies without a will?

    Find out who is entitled to a share of someone’s property, possessions and money if they die without making a will

  • Making a will

    How to make a will: making sure it's valid, using a solicitor and making amendments to it when your circumstances change

  • Paying Inheritance Tax

    How to pay Inheritance Tax: get a reference number, payment methods, use the deceased's bank account, National Savings and Investments, government stock

  • Payment to register a death abroad

    Pay the Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) if you register the death of a British national abroad

  • Register a stillbirth

    Where and how to register a stillbirth, who can register it, financial support you may be able to get and support organisations

  • Tell Us Once

    Use the Tell Us Once service to report a birth or death - registering, how to use it

  • Telling DVLA about a bereavement

    What you need to tell DVLA if someone who was a driver has died

  • Valuing the estate of someone who's died

    When someone dies, you need to find out the value of the estate to see if Inheritance Tax is due - valuing the estate, reliefs, gifts, joint assets, stocks and shares, trusts and deductions

  • Widowed Parent's Allowance

    Widowed Parent's Allowance - what you'll get, eligibility, how to claim, bereavement benefits claim form BB1

Additional detailed guidance from government departments