Farra is a death administration assistant for UK families. Get step-by-step guidance for registering a death, applying for probate, notifying banks, and managing bereavement admin. From essential documents to practical checklists, Farra simplifies estate paperwork and funeral-related tasks so you can focus on what matters.
Once the grant of probate is received, the executor's priority is to collect in all estate assets. Starting in the right order — liquid assets first, then investments, then property — ensures that funds are available to pay debts promptly while the longer processes run in parallel.
Bank and building society accounts are usually the quickest assets to collect. Write to each bank (or use their online bereavement notification process) providing:
Banks typically close the account and transfer the balance to the estate account within 2–4 weeks. Some banks do this faster; larger amounts may take longer due to internal sign-off requirements.
Death Notification Service: The DNS (deathnotificationservice.co.uk) allows one notification to reach multiple banks simultaneously. This saves significant time for estates with multiple banking relationships.
The ISA wrapper ceases on death — the account becomes a standard savings account. The surviving spouse or civil partner may be eligible for an "inherited ISA allowance" — an additional ISA allowance equal to the value of the deceased's ISA. They should apply for this from the ISA provider.
The balance is collected in the same way as a bank account, using the grant of probate.
Investment portfolios, unit trusts, and shares take longer to collect because they need to be either sold (liquidated) or transferred in specie to beneficiaries. The process depends on where the investments are held:
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Contact each insurer with the death certificate and policy documents. For policies written in trust, the claim is made by the trustees/beneficiaries directly — the proceeds do not form part of the estate. For policies in the estate, the insurer will require the grant of probate before releasing funds. See our endowment policy guide for more detail.
Pensions require separate claims from each scheme or provider. Contact each scheme with the death certificate and, where needed, the grant of probate. Expression of wishes forms direct trustees to the preferred beneficiary — the funds may not come through the estate at all. See our frozen pension guide and the claiming pensions guide.
Property is typically the longest and most complex asset to deal with. Start the process as early as possible:
For the full property sale process, see our selling a probate property guide.
Check for and collect:
For the complete post-grant checklist, see our what to do after grant of probate guide. For the full administration context, see the estate administration checklist, complete UK probate guide 2026, and applying for probate guide. For distributing assets after collection, see our distributing the residuary estate guide. Farra can help — get started here.
1 in 3 probate applications are sent back. As executor, the errors are your responsibility.
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