Bereavement

• Your name and contact details
• Suitable identification
• The original death certificate or certified copy
• If there is a will, the original or a certified copy of the will
• Information about any items held in safe custody with us (if applicable)
• The original Certificate of Confirmation/Grant of Probate/Letters of Administration or certified copy (if the value of the estate is £35k or over)
• All cards (debit and credit), cheque books and passbooks
• If you are appointing a solicitor, details of the firm

• Current full valid UK/non-UK passport
• Current UK/EEA photocard driving license
• Current EEA member state ID card

Other documents may be accepted. For further information please contact the Bereavement Services Team.

Virgin Money accounts are identified by a unique 12 digit reference number with one letter known as the account number or have a sort code starting 08-xx-xx.

Clydesdale Bank accounts can be identified by sort codes starting 82-xx-xx.

Yorkshire Bank accounts can be identified by sort codes starting 05-xx-xx.

Our Bereavement Services Team will check all the details and contact you shortly.

Once we’ve been notified, we‘ll check for all the accounts held with us. The next steps relating to each type of account or product are as follows:

Sole Accounts
Sole accounts will be frozen and any payments into and out of the account stopped. Where any payments are still required to be made you should contact the person or people who the payment is to be made to make other arrangements. Interest will continue to be applied if applicable. Any funds held in the accounts form part of the estate and will be released when the settlement is complete.

Joint Accounts
Joint accounts will stay active, and we will change these into the name of the surviving party. Any new cheque/passbooks will be issued if necessary. All payments into or out of the account will continue as normal.

Credit Cards
We will arrange for any cards held in the deceased’s name to be cancelled and will explain any next steps on a call. These steps will depend on whether there is an outstanding balance on the account.

Term Deposit Accounts
Term deposits can be left until maturity and will continue to earn interest. Term deposit accounts, whether joint or sole, can be closed without receiving a penalty.

Cash ISAs
Cash ISAs are treated in the same way as a sole account. Any funds will be released, and accounts closed at settlement.

Inheritance tax may be payable depending on the value of the estate and who the estate is being left to. The personal representative(s) are usually responsible for paying this, using the funds from the estate.

Please let us know via the online form or when the bereavement services team contact you. You can also contact us by telephone or in store to discuss.

We’ll release any funds as soon as possible. What we’ll need to release the funds depends on the total amount held with us:

Discharge and indemnity
When the total funds held with us are less than £35,000 (and the estate is such that Certificate of Confirmation/Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration are not required), our Bereavement Services team will ask for this form to be completed. We also use this form when the balance falls below £35,000 once funeral expenses have been paid.

We’ll need suitable identification from all parties signing the form.

Certificate of Confirmation/Grant of Probate/Letters of Administration
When the total funds held with us are more than £35,000, or the value of the estate is such that Certificate of Confirmation/Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration is required we’ll need to see sight of the original or certified copy. These official documents allow personal representative(s) to close accounts and administer the estate.

If you’re unsure of your legal obligations, you may want to seek independent legal advice. Alternatively, you can visit gov.uk Link opens in a new window.

There are some expenses relating to funeral and estate costs which can be settled using the money in the bank account(s). We can either do this directly with the relevant company, or if payment has already been settled, we can reimburse the relevant person. All we require is the invoice or proof of payment. We can also release all funds to settle part of the expenses if the accounts we hold aren’t enough to settle the expenses in full.

These can include:

Funeral expenses

• Funeral service
• Catering
• Flowers
• Headstone

Estate costs

• Confirmation/probate fees
• Inheritance tax costs

If you need any expenses to be paid, please let the store know, or forward the details to our Bereavement Services team.

This is a service which lets you tell all government organisations about a death. The service will work to notify key government departments included in the list below:

DWP
HMRC
DVLA
Passport Office
Local Authority

To find out more, please visit www.gov.uk/after-a-death/organisations-you-need-to-contact-and-tell-us-once Link opens in a new window.