To register a death with Leeds Building Society, please contact us in branch, by post or by telephone. But before you speak to us, there are 5 things you need to do.
If you need help at any of the stages, please get in touch. We'll be happy to help as much as we can.
This page only tells you how to settle Leeds Building Society accounts or mortgages following a death. There are a number of other things you need to do when someone dies.
If you live in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, you need to register a death within five days. If you live in Scotland, you have eight days.
To register a death, you need to go to a Registration Office. Check your local council's website to see if you need to book an appointment to do this.
Find your local council's website (external link).
If you register the death in the district where the person died, you should receive the death certificate immediately. If you register the death in another district, the death certificate may take a few days to arrive.
You will usually receive one death certificate for free when you register the death. If you need more copies, you can either:
These copies can be useful for proving the death to other organisations.
It's important to find the last known Will as soon as possible. It can help you work out what to do next.
The Will might name an Executor. The Executor of the Will is responsible for dealing with the estate.
If there's no Will, and you're the next of kin, you need to apply for a grant of representation to sort out the estate.
If there's no Will, and you want to close the account and withdraw the funds, you need to fill in an Intestacy Indemnity Closure Form, then print it out and send it to us.
Depending on the value of the estate, you might still need to apply for a grant of representation before we can release the money in the account(s). Step 4 tells you what you need to do based on the value of the estate.
We need to see the following documents to take care of the deceased's affairs:
The next step is to transfer control of the account. This process varies depending on how much money is in the account. The table below tells you which form(s) you need to fill in based on your circumstances, as well as any other action you need to take.
All of the forms linked to in the table are in PDF format. Please print them off to fill them in.
| Total Balances | There's a Will | There's not a Will |
|---|---|---|
| Below £1,500.00 | Please complete the Will Indemnity Form, and return it to us with a copy of the Will. | Please complete the Intestacy Indemnity Form, and return it to us. |
| Between £1,500.00 and £39,999.99 | Please complete the Will Indemnity Form with the help of a solicitor and return it to us with a copy of the will. | Please complete the Intestacy Indemnity Form with the help of a solicitor and return it to us. |
| Over £40,000.00 | You need Probate or Letters of Administration. If you need help with this please call us or visit us in branch. You can also talk to your solicitor about it. | You need Probate or Letters of Administration. If you need help with this please call us or visit us in branch. You can also talk to your solicitor about it. |
When you have gathered the documents, please call us, write to us or make an appointment at your nearest Leeds Building Society branch.
Once you've done that, our staff will help you through the rest of the process of closing the accounts.
Please note that we can't offer any advice about dealing with tax liabilities of the estate. If you're the administrator/representative of the estate, you may want to seek independent advice.