Bereavement

You have to register their death within five days in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and within eight days in Scotland. This can be done at any register office, but if you go to the closest one to where the person died, you’ll get the death certificate straight away. You’ll need to take the medical certificate showing the cause of death (signed by a doctor) with you.

Most organisations will ask to see the death certificate to help you manage the person’s affairs, so it’s a good idea to buy a few extra certificates. Consider using the government’s Tell Us Once service, which lets you report a death to most government organisations in one go.

You’ll need to find the last signed and witnessed version of the will – check the person’s home, their solicitor or their bank. If there’s no will, the person’s estate is distributed according to the law of intestacy. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the person who inherits is the next of kin. In Scotland, the Rights of Succession apply. For more information read the government’s guide to wills, probate and inheritance.

A death needs to be registered before the funeral is held, but you can start arranging it straight away. You may know what kind of funeral the person wanted, or there may be instructions in the will. Most people choose to use a funeral director, to help them make all the arrangements – prices do vary, so contact more than one to compare costs. The person’s bank may be able to give you money from their account to pay for expenses. The Department for Work and Pension offer funeral support for those on low incomes.

You can notify us online of a bereavement, with two options:

Complete our online notification form to tell us if the person who passed away had a Barclaycard relationship. Our online form lets you notify us and send the documents we need when you have them.

Barclays and Barclaycard are also members of The Death Notification Service. This is an online service that lets you notify multiple banks and building societies with just one notification and is free to use, to help make notifying us of a Bereavement as simple as possible for you. Find out more about The Death Notification Service

A note about calling us

Due to the challenging times we’re all experiencing with the impact of coronavirus, we’re sorry you might have to wait longer than expected to speak to someone from our team.

Our bereavement page contains a lot of useful information and guidance that may answer your question. However, we appreciate you might still want to speak to someone, so please bear with us when you call and we’ll answer as soon as possible.

For Barclaycard accounts, give us a call on 0800 161 5199. Lines are open 8am-9pm Monday to Friday and 9am-4pm Saturday.

For Barclaycard and Barclays accounts, call our Central Bereavement Team on 0800 068 2238* Lines are open 8am-5pm Monday to Friday and 9am-2pm Saturday. Find out about our call charges.

Option 1 - to notify us of a bereavement for the first time

Option 2 - for existing cases and general help

Option 3 – for Business accounts

Option 4 – to talk to our probate partner Co-op Legal

Option 5 – Smart Investor products

Option 6 – Executor and Trust accounts

You’ll need to provide details of all known accounts, the executor details and an original copy of the death certificate if sending by post to us. Alternatively, you can have this certified by a member of our team in your local Barclays Branch. Having this information helps us to close any accounts.

Note: due to the challenging times we’re all experiencing with the impact of coronavirus, some of our branches are operating with reduced opening hours or temporarily closed. You can check the latest opening hours using our branch finder.

You’ll need to let a number of organisations know, such as banks, building societies, utility companies and the Department of Work and Pensions. There are also some legal documents, such as passports and driving licences that need to be returned. It’s useful to have any account or reference numbers to hand.

If you have more than one bank to notify then you can use the Death Notification Service. The service includes most large UK banks and building societies, including Barclays and Barclaycard, and is free to use. You only need to complete their online form once – the service will notify each organisation on your behalf, and each bank will respond directly to you with next steps. Find out more about The Death Notification Service.

If you’re named in the will as an executor, or named by the laws of intestacy, you’re called a ‘personal representative’. You can decide whether you want to deal with the estate yourself, or appoint a solicitor, bank, or specialist probate service. If the estate is small and probate isn’t required, a personal representative may be able to deal with everything within a few weeks. But if probate is required or the person owned a property, the process may take longer.