Cruse Bereavement Care is the largest national charity for bereaved people in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, with a sister organisation in Scotland.

Cruse offers face-to-face, group, telephone, email and website support to people after someone close to them has died.

Samaritans offer listening and support to people in times of need. It is available day or night, for anyone who is struggling to cope, and who needs someone to listen without judgement or pressure.

Call them on 116123. If you don’t feel you can speak to someone, there are other ways you can contact them.

Samaritans has also worked in partnership with Cruse Bereavement Care to create Facing the Future - support groups for people bereaved by suicide.

MoneyHelper provides free, clear and unbiased advice on money related issues. You can contact them on 0800 138 7777.

They have a dedicated website section which contains several guides to help with financial and practical matters following a bereavement.

The person appointed when either no will can be found or there is no executor to carry out the intentions of the will.

Someone who is entitled to receive a specific gift, sum of money or share of the estate.

This is either the medical document issued by a qualified doctor, certifying the death of a person and stating the cause if known, or more commonly the legal document you get afterwards from a registrar, confirming the date, location and cause of the person’s death.

A person’s estate includes everything they own and everything that’s registered in their name.

The person or persons named in a will to deal with the estate following a person’s death.

This is the official document that confirms to the executors that they have authority to on behalf of the deceased and which validates the will. Where there’s a will, this will be a ‘Grant of Probate’. Where there’s no will, it will be ‘Letters of Administration’. In Scotland, this is known as ‘Certificate of Confirmation’.

A tax on the estate that generally applies when someone dies and when the value of their estate is above a specific threshold. The tax is paid before the estate can be distributed to the beneficiaries.

When someone dies without leaving a valid will in place.

This is the official document that appoints people to handle a person’s estate, where there is no will, no executors appointed in the will, no executors still living, or no executors willing to carry out the executor’s duties.

This is the executor or administrator managing the deceased’s estate. The personal representative is responsible for administering the estate, which means they need to collect all the assets and pay any bills and debts that need to be paid. Depending on how much money and assets the person who died had, the personal representative may need to apply for a Grant of Probate.

Probate is the legal process of dealing with someone’s estate after they’ve died. It involves collecting all the person’s assets; their money, property and belongings – as well as settling debts and paying any taxes due, then sharing out what’s left as directed in the will. It’s usually the executor of the will who administers the estate, shares out its assets and clears its debts. To get authority to do that, they usually need to get Grant of Probate’.

When someone dies, there are a number of government departments you’ll need to inform. To help, the government offers a Tell Us Once service which lets you contact several departments in one go, such as:

• The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)
• HM Passport Office
• HM Revenue & Customs
• Your local authority
• The Driver & Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA)

This service is offered by most local authorities but isn’t available in Northern Ireland or if the person was living permanently abroad.

You can access this service online or by phone when you register the death. You’ll need a unique reference number from the registrar to do this.

The government provides more guidance on their website – which is a good place to find everything you need to know including who can register the death and what they’ll need to do.

A legal document which indicates who should benefit from the estate and how. It also appoints an executor to administer and distribute the estate.