Dealing with the estate of someone who's died: Settling debts and taxes

Dealing with the estate of someone who's died

Settling debts and taxes

You must pay any debts and settle the taxes for the person who died. This includes:

paying any unpaid bills
paying any unpaid personal taxes
applying for tax refunds
filling in a Self Assessment return for income the person earned before they died if needed
repaying any overpaid benefits

To find out what taxes are owed or if any tax refunds are due, you can either:

use the Tell Us Once service
contact HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) directly to ask

It can take at least 30 days for HMRC to contact you after using the Tell Us Once service.

Tell any employer or private or workplace pension provider about the person鈥檚 death. Ask them to tell HMRC if there鈥檚 a last salary or pension payment. HMRC needs this to calculate the final amount of Income Tax due.

giving any creditors 2 months to claim anything they鈥檙e owed. Do not distribute the estate鈥檚 assets until the 2 months is up. If you do and the estate then cannot afford to pay a debt, you may have to pay it yourself.

Other taxes you might need to pay

You must also check if you need to:

pay tax on any new income the estate generates after the person has died聽
pay Inheritance Tax

View a printable version of the whole guide

Step 1 Register the death
1. Register the death
Check what to do if:
Step 2 Tell government about the death
The Tell Us Once service allows you to inform all the relevant government departments when someone dies.
1. Use the Tell Us Once service to tell government
2. If you cannot use Tell Us Once, tell government yourself
You'll also need to tell organisations outside government, like employers and private pension providers, banks, and utility companies.
Step 3 Arrange the funeral
Step 4 Check if you can get bereavement benefits
You might be eligible for financial help.

Check if you can get:
and Deal with your own benefits, pension and taxes
Your tax, benefit claims and pension might change depending on your relationship with the person who died.
1. Manage your tax, pensions and benefits if your partner has died
2. Check how benefits are affected if a child dies
and Find bereavement support and services
Get help with managing grief and the things you need to do when someone dies.
1. Find bereavement help and support
2. Find bereavement services from your local council
and Check if you need to apply to stay in the UK
If your right to live in the UK depends on your relationship with someone who died you might need to apply for a new visa.

Check the rules if:
- you're in the UK as the partner of a British Citizen or someone with indefinite leave to remain
- your partner who died served as a member of HM Forces
1. Contact UKVI to check the rules for other visas
Step 5 Value the estate and check if you need to pay Inheritance Tax
To find out if there鈥檚 Inheritance Tax to pay, you need to estimate the value of the property, money and possessions (the 鈥榚state鈥�) of the person who died.
1. Estimate the value of the estate to find out if you need to pay Inheritance Tax
1. Find out how to report the value of the estate
1. Pay Inheritance Tax if it鈥檚 due
Step 6 Apply for probate
You might need to apply for probate before you can deal with the property, money and possessions (the 鈥榚state鈥�) of the person who died.
1. Check if you need to apply for probate
1. Apply for probate
Step 7 Deal with the estate
Pay any debts or taxes owed by the person who's died. You can then distribute the estate as set out in the will or the law.
1. Deal with the estate
1. Update property records

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