What do I do with my late husband's or wife's money?

What needs doing first, and what can wait?

In England and Wales the death must be registered within 5 days of the medical examiner's office confirming you can (8 days in Scotland). The registrar will offer Tell Us Once, which reports the death to HMRC, the DWP, the Passport Office, the DVLA and the local council in one go, along with some public sector pension schemes.

It does not reach banks, mortgage lenders, insurers, utility companies or most workplace and private pensions. You contact those yourself, and each will want a copy of the death certificate.

A few things have deadlines worth knowing about. If you were under State Pension age, Bereavement Support Payment pays in full only if you claim within 3 months. If Inheritance Tax is due, payments normally have to start before probate can be granted.

Almost everything else can wait. GOV.UK advises not making financial plans or putting property on the market until probate has been granted, and there is rarely any need to move money, sell the house or reinvest a lump sum in the first few months.

What is automatically mine when my husband or wife dies?

Some things pass to you straight away and never form part of the estate. GOV.UK says money and shares held jointly go automatically to the surviving owner unless you had agreed otherwise. A joint bank account usually just becomes yours once the bank has seen the death certificate.

Property depends on how you owned it. If you were joint tenants, their share passes to you automatically, outside the will and without probate. If you were tenants in common, each of you owned a distinct share, and theirs passes under their will or the intestacy rules instead. The title register at HM Land Registry shows which applies.

Pension pots and death benefits are also usually paid out by the scheme's trustees rather than through the will, so contact each scheme directly. Our page on what happens to a husband's pension covers this.

What happens if there is a will, and if there isn't?

Whatever was in their sole name, plus any share held as tenants in common, is their estate. If there is a will, the executors named in it deal with the estate and pay out what it says. After debts, costs and specific gifts, what is left is the residuary estate, often left to the husband or wife.

If there is no will, intestacy rules decide who inherits. In England and Wales, a surviving husband, wife or civil partner inherits everything if there are no children or other descendants. If there are children, HMRC's guidance sets out that the spouse gets:

• all personal possessions
• the first £322,000 of the estate (the statutory legacy, in force since 26 July 2023)
• half of anything above that, with the other half going to the children

Unmarried partners inherit nothing under these rules, however long you lived together. The closest relative, normally the husband, wife or civil partner even if you had separated, can apply to be the administrator. Scotland has different intestacy rules.

Do I need probate?

Not always. Probate is the legal right to deal with someone's estate, and it is needed when an organisation holding their money or property asks for it. Every bank and investment company sets its own threshold, so ask each one. You may not need it if everything was jointly owned, or if there were only savings.

In England and Wales the application fee is £526 if the estate is worth more than £5,000, and nothing below that. Extra copies of the grant cost £2 each if you order them with the application, which is worth doing, and £16 each later.

You must value the estate and deal with any Inheritance Tax before applying. GOV.UK says the grant usually arrives within 12 weeks of applying. In Scotland the equivalent process is called confirmation.

Is there Inheritance Tax to pay?

Usually not on what passes to you. Anything left to a husband, wife or civil partner who lives in the UK is exempt from Inheritance Tax, however large the amount.

For the rest, every estate has a tax-free nil-rate band of £325,000, plus up to £175,000 more where a home goes to children or grandchildren. That residence band reduces for estates worth over £2 million. Tax is charged at 40% above the threshold. Both allowances are frozen until April 2031.

Whatever part of their allowances went unused can be transferred to you and added to your own when you die. Because everything left to a spouse is exempt, this often means their allowances are untouched. That is worth recording now, because your executors will need to claim it later.

What happens to their ISA?

An ISA cannot be held jointly, so it stays in their name. For deaths since 6 April 2018 it becomes a "continuing account of a deceased investor": it stays free of Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax until the estate is settled, the executor closes it, or 3 years pass, but it still counts towards the estate for Inheritance Tax.

As their husband, wife or civil partner you also inherit extra ISA allowance, known as an additional permitted subscription. GOV.UK explains you can pay in up to the value of their ISAs, either at the date of death or when the account is closed, on top of your normal £20,000 allowance. The providers can explain their deadlines.

Key amounts after a death, 2026/27 (England and Wales)

Source: GOV.UK — Inheritance Tax

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