The Complete Bereavement Checklist: What To Do In The Weeks After a Death (UK)

Once you’ve navigated the first 48 hours after a death, a longer list of practical tasks begins — and it can feel relentless, arriving just when your energy is lowest. This checklist is here to make the following weeks manageable. It picks up where our guide to the first 48 hours leaves off, walking you through everything that typically needs doing in the days and weeks that follow, in a sensible order. Nothing here has to be done all at once. Take it at your own pace, and tick things off as you go.

First, the things that can't wait long

A few tasks are time-sensitive and worth handling in the first week or so:

• Register the death within five days (eight in Scotland), and order several certified copies of the death certificate — most families need five to ten.

• Secure and insure any empty property. Standard home insurance often lapses after around 30 days of a property being empty, so arrange unoccupied property cover early.

• Notify the deceased’s bank promptly, which helps prevent fraud and stops most direct debits.

• Arrange the funeral, checking first for a will or a prepaid funeral plan.

Notifying the right people and organisations

Over the following weeks, a surprising number of organisations need to be told. Working through them in groups keeps it manageable.

Government departments

Use the free Tell Us Once service to notify most government departments — HMRC, the DWP, the Passport Office, the DVLA, and the local council — in a single step. The registrar gives you a reference number when you register the death.

Banks, pensions and financial providers

Contact each bank, building society, pension provider, and insurer. The banks’ shared Death Notification Service lets you tell several at once. Each will ask for a certified copy of the death certificate.

Utilities, subscriptions and memberships

Gas, electricity, water, broadband, phone, and TV providers; plus streaming services, gym memberships, and any regular donations or subscriptions. Check recent bank statements to catch anything easy to miss.

Dealing with the estate

The largest task is usually administering the estate — and it typically unfolds over months, not weeks, so there’s no need to rush it. The main steps are:

•      Find the will and identify the executor (or, if there’s no will, who will act as administrator).

•      Value the estate — everything owned and everything owed.

•      Apply for probate if it’s needed (not every estate needs it).

•      Deal with any inheritance tax, then pay debts before distributing anything to beneficiaries.

Our guides on probate and what an executor has to do cover this in detail when you’re ready for it.

Looking after yourself

Amid the admin, it’s easy to forget you’re grieving. There’s no right way to feel and no timetable. Support is available whenever you need it — from your GP, from bereavement charities like Cruse and Marie Curie, and from the people around you. Be as patient with yourself as you would be with someone you love.

Let us guide you through it

This checklist covers the shape of what’s ahead, but knowing what you specifically need to do — in your situation — is easier with a plan made for you. Answer a few simple questions and First48hrs will give you a personalised, step-by-step guide. It’s free.

[Get Your Free Guide →] 

This article was last updated in July 2026. Processes and figures are set by government and can change — see GOV.UK for the latest.