Plain-English guides to the admin no one teaches you.
Bank bereavement, digital accounts, what an executor actually has to do, and how to get organised before any of it is needed. Every guide on a regulated topic is reviewed by a named UK professional.
The first two weeks: what an executor actually has to do.
When someone dies, the practical list arrives long before anyone feels ready. This guide walks through the early steps in order, from registering the death to notifying banks, so you can do the next right thing without holding it all in your head.
- Registering the death and using Tell Us Once
- Who to notify first, and what they will ask for
- What you can and cannot do before probate
Notifying banks and settling accounts.
Telling banks and building societies someone has died
Tell Us Once: notifying government in a single step
Closing utilities, subscriptions and recurring payments
Online accounts and the digital estate.
What happens to online accounts when someone dies
Making a list of digital accounts worth recording
Password managers and emergency access, explained
The executor's job, step by step.
Do you need probate? A plain-English check
Gathering the paperwork an executor will need
Valuing an estate without losing the plot
Getting organised before it is needed.
Lasting power of attorney: the two types, plainly
Writing down care preferences before they are needed
Talking to parents about getting organised
The terms that trip people up.
- Probate
- The legal process of dealing with the estate of someone who has died, including proving the will is valid where there is one.
- Lasting power of attorney (LPA)
- A legal document letting you appoint someone to make decisions for you if you cannot. There are two types: property and finances, and health and welfare.
- Executor
- The person named in a will who is responsible for carrying out its instructions and settling the estate.
- Intestacy
- What happens to an estate when someone dies without a valid will. Fixed legal rules then decide who inherits.
- Estate
- Everything a person owns at death, minus what they owe: property, money, possessions and certain digital assets.
- Grant of representation
- The official document that confirms someone's authority to deal with an estate, often needed before banks will release funds.
Reviewed by named professionals, sourced from primary references.
FamilySafe sits where being wrong has real consequences. So we do not publish guidance on regulated topics written by generic copywriters. Every guide on money, law or care is authored or reviewed by a UK professional carrying the relevant credential, with their name and registration shown on the page.
FamilySafe provides general guidance and organisation tools. It is not a substitute for regulated legal, financial or medical advice, and does not replace will-writing, LPA creation or probate administration. AI may assist with drafting, but no guidance on a regulated topic is published without review by a named human professional carrying the relevant UK credential. AI content policy and editorial policy on request.
Reading is good. Being ready is better.
Turn these guides into a record your family can actually use. Start with one thing, free, and build from there.