Most of us give plenty of care to our tax affairs but fight shy of thinking about our death.
It might seem morbid to encourage you to give serious thought to how your loved ones would cope with sorting out your affairs if they don’t have the necessary information. You need to make sure that it is all accessible and that they know where to find it.
For many years we have encouraged members to put together an Emergency File, which should contain your personal data, birth and marriage certificates, details of insurance policies, and any other supporting material that would help the family with the inevitable administration.
The government operates a Tell Us Once system for those registering a death in the UK. But even this excellent one-stop shop requires the informant to be in possession of certain vital pieces of information about the deceased.
For those of you who are unaware of this facility, when you register a death in the UK (but not Northern Ireland or from abroad), the Registrar will either complete the Tell Us Once process with you or give you a unique reference number so that you can use the service yourself online or by phone.
Using the system will ensure that organisations such as HMRC, the DVLA, the Passport Office and the Department for Work and Pensions are all informed of the death, saving the family a lot of phone calls, emails or letters.
Given the necessary information, the service will even inform Veterans UK if the deceased was in receipt of an Armed Forces pension, a War Pension or Armed Forces Compensation Scheme benefits.
To find out more about Tell Us Once click here – you may also find the video below helpful.
Members might also wish to download our checklist so that you can do what you can to help you and your family prepare with the inevitable administration.
