We’re here to support you. On this page, you can read about what to do first when someone dies, and how to deal with an estate, get help from our bereavement team and get legal support if you need it.
There may be a lot to think about right now. Here are the most important steps.
Please note, when one of our credit card holders dies, any additional cardholders on their credit card account need to stop using it immediately.
Firstly, it’s important that you read the government advice for when someone dies. This can help you understand all the steps involved, and what your responsibilities might be. You can:
You’ll need a death certificate before you can make certain changes to the account of the person who has died. You can get one from the General Register Office (GRO).
Initially, we keep all of the deceased’s accounts open and unchanged, so:
You can stop these things by asking us to secure the accounts.
If you haven’t already done so, we need you to complete our online bereavement form. This can be done by the solicitor, executor or next of kin.
Complete a Co-operative Bank or smile bereavement instruction form
Complete a Britannia bereavement instruction form
Complete a bereavement instruction form (PDF) and send this to the email below.
For Co-operative Bank accounts, please email:
mail.services@co-operativebank.co.uk
For Britannia accounts, please email:
If you haven’t already done so as part of the online instruction form, we need you to send us an original or certified copy of the death certificate if by post or in branch. Or a digital copy if sending by email.
And if the deceased held any sole accounts, please also send the documents in the relevant list below, depending on what their combined balance is. You can ask us to confirm the balances once you’ve sent us the death certificate.
You need to get any copies of documents you’re sending via post or in branch certified.
If either of these documents exist, you need to send us:
You may also need to send us proof of identity and address of any next of kin who don’t have an account with us – we’ll let you know if we need this.
You need to send us:
You can send us digital copies of your documents by email.
mail.services@co-operativebank.co.uk
You can post original or certified copies of documents to us.
The Co-operative Bank
PO Box 4931
Swindon
SN4 4PL
Britannia Bereavement Team
Freepost(15796)
Dept CO33
Leek
Staffordshire
ST13 5RG
We recommend that you don’t send us originals of important documents, such as passports. But if you choose to, we suggest that you use a trackable delivery service.
Once we’ve received any originals, we’ll aim to send them back out to you within one day. We’ll use recorded delivery to send back any original proof of identity and address.
If you want to bring the documents into a branch, please contact us to make an appointment. If you’re taking documents into a branch, you can take original documents.
03457 212 212 for current accounts and savings accounts (call charges)
0345 600 6000 for credit cards (call charges)
Lines are open Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm and Saturday and Sunday, 9am to 5pm.
0800 132 304 (call charges)
Lines are open Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm and Saturdays, 9am to 12pm.
Find out who you can contact, whether you want to speak to someone about your situation, get help understanding what to do next, or get legal or specialist support.
Our bereavement team are on hand to help at this challenging time. They’re here to listen to what you have to say, and help guide you through the next steps.
You can call them using one of the numbers below. If the person who has died had any Britannia accounts, please use the number for the Britannia team.
03457 212 212 for current, mortgage and savings accounts (call charges)
0345 600 6000 for credit cards (call charges)
Lines are open Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm and Saturday and Sunday, 9am to 5pm.
0800 132 304 (call charges)
Lines are open Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm and Saturdays, 9am to 12pm.
Estate management and inheritance law is complex. Managing these legal concerns may be the last thing you want to do right now. Or you may be looking for some guidance.
We’ve partnered with Co-op Legal Services, who provide advice and regulated legal services for probate and estate administration, including grant of probate and letters of administration. You can ask them for a no-obligation, fixed-fee quote.
Learn more about legal support available
Bereavement can be an isolating experience, and you may feel you’d benefit from speaking to someone you don’t know personally. Many organisations and services specialise in supporting you following the death of someone close to you, including:
Usually, you need to follow the process above before we can release funds.
However, we can release funds if you send us an invoice or payment receipt for any of the below costs. You can send this by email, send by post or bring in branch.
For example, this includes:
This includes fees relating to:
Once you’ve completed a bereavement instruction form and sent the documents:
When someone dies, Power of Attorney privileges and third party access to their account end on their date of death.
Anyone who had Power of Attorney won't necessarily or automatically become responsible for managing the estate of the deceased. What happens next depends on:
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