If someone has died without leaving a will, sorting out their financial affairs can be a complex exercise. Questions around who is entitled to deal with the estate, what the intestacy rules mean in practice, and what happens to bank accounts when someone dies without a will in the UK often arise, and specialist legal support can be invaluable in answering them and navigating the estate administration process.
To speak to our experts, please call us free of charge on 0800 988 3674 or Make A Free Online Enquiry.
What Happens To A Bank Account When Someone Dies Without Leaving A Will?
As soon as a bank or building society is told that an account holder has died, any accounts held in their sole name are frozen. Incoming and outgoing payments stop, standing orders are cancelled, and direct debits no longer go out. This is a standard legal safeguard to protect the estate and prevent unauthorised access.
At this point, nobody can touch the money, regardless of how close they were to the deceased. Being a spouse, child, or the person who shared a home with them does not give you an automatic right to withdraw funds or transfer money from the deceased person’s bank or building society accounts. That authority has to be formally obtained.
Joint Accounts And The Right Of Survivorship
If the deceased held an account jointly with another person, the rules are different. Most joint accounts carry the right of survivorship, which means the surviving account holder automatically becomes the sole owner of the balance when the other holder dies. The bank simply needs to be shown a death certificate, and the account is transferred into the surviving holder’s name.
This only applies where the account was held as beneficial joint tenants. If the account was instead held as tenants in common, the deceased’s share does not pass automatically. It falls into the estate and must be dealt with under the rules of intestacy alongside everything else.
The Rules Of Intestacy
Dying without a will is known as dying intestate, and when that happens, the law sets out exactly who is entitled to inherit the estate. The intestacy rules follow a strict order of priority. A surviving spouse or civil partner takes first priority. Where the estate exceeds a set amount, the spouse receives that threshold amount plus all personal possessions, with the remainder split equally between the spouse and any children.
Where there is no surviving spouse or civil partner, the estate passes equally to children. If there are no children, parents inherit, then siblings, and so on through the family. One of the most significant points is that unmarried partners have no automatic right to inherit under these rules, regardless of how long the relationship lasted. This is why making a will is crucial to protect the people you love.
We can help families understand their position under the intestacy rules and advise on the best way to move forward with administering the estate.
Applying For Letters Of Administration
Because there is no will, there is also no executor. In their place, a family member, usually the closest surviving relative, must apply to the Probate Registry for a Grant of Letters of Administration. This is the document that gives the administrator the legal authority to deal with the estate, including instructing banks to release funds.
We can help with the full letters of administration process, from the initial paperwork through to the distribution of the estate once the grant has been received.
Can The Bank Release Money Before The Grant Has Been Obtained?
Most banks will release funds directly to a funeral director to cover the cost of the funeral before any grant of administration is in place. You will usually need to provide both a death certificate and an invoice from the funeral home.
Some financial institutions will release amounts of money below a specific threshold without insisting on seeing a Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration. However, there is no hard and fast rule, and each bank sets its own threshold for what it will agree to without formal authority.
For anyone dealing with the estate of someone who has died without a will, our specialist team at Bartletts is here to help. We have been advising clients across Liverpool, Chester, Wrexham, and beyond for over 160 years, and our probate solicitors are experienced in handling intestate estates of all sizes and complexities.
To speak to our experts please call us free of charge on 0800 988 3674 or Make A Free Online Enquiry.
