When someone close to you dies, the money is rarely the first thing on your mind, and it should not have to be. The most important thing to know is that the financial decisions can wait. Almost nothing should be rushed. When you are ready, we help you make sense of it — gently, and without pressure.
When someone close to you dies, the money is rarely the first thing on your mind, and it should not have to be. The most important thing to know is that the financial decisions can wait. Almost nothing should be rushed. When you are ready, we help you make sense of it — gently, and without pressure.
Illustration only — not based on a real client.
Whether you are a husband, wife or partner trying to understand your own changed circumstances, or an adult child suddenly named as executor and unsure where to begin, the feeling is often the same: there is a lot to sort out, and no clear sense of who to ask. Bereavement financial advice is something we do gently and without pressure. Very little has to be done immediately, and almost nothing should be rushed. When you are ready, we are here to help you make sense of it.
£325,000
Nil-rate band (2026/27)
£175,000
Residence nil-rate band, where it applies (2026/27)
40%
IHT rate above the available allowances
Bereavement financial advice is help with the financial decisions that follow a death, from a regulated financial planner whose job is to act in the family’s interests. It is not probate, and it is not legal work. It does not replace the solicitor who applies for the grant or the registrar who records the death.
What it adds is a clear, unhurried look at the money itself, so the family understands what there is, what it means, and what can sensibly be done with it — the part that comes after the forms.
What it is
What it is not
The financial decisions can wait. In the early weeks the legal, administrative and financial threads tangle together. Registering the death, applying for probate and dealing with the estate’s paperwork are process tasks, and the official sources explain them well. Claiming bereavement benefits is a separate matter, handled through the Department for Work and Pensions. We map the whole picture for you, then concentrate on the part where a financial adviser genuinely helps.
When a person dies, their money and possessions form what is called the estate, and the job of dealing with it falls to a personal representative: an executor if there is a will, or an administrator if there is not. Sorting the estate means finding out what the person owned and owed, valuing it, settling any tax and debts, and passing on what remains to the beneficiaries.
Bank and building society accounts in the person's sole name are usually frozen until there is authority to release them, while joint accounts most often pass straight to the surviving holder.
Pensions can carry valuable death benefits, sometimes a lump sum and sometimes an income for a spouse or partner, and the rules vary considerably from one scheme to another.
Life insurance may pay out a lump sum, either into the estate or, if it was written in trust, directly to the people named.
There may be property, and debts the estate has to settle before anything is shared out. If there is no will, the rules of intestacy decide who inherits — not always who the family expects — and a larger estate may face inheritance tax.
The official process is set out clearly and freely on GOV.UK. Registering the death, the step-by-step guide for what to do when someone dies, Tell Us Once for notifying government in a single step, and applying for probate. We will not repeat it here. Those are the right sources, and we point families to them. Our work begins where theirs leaves off.
Honesty about what we do and do not do is part of how we work. H&D does not apply for probate, write wills or carry out the legal administration of an estate — that work belongs with a solicitor or a probate practitioner. What a financial adviser adds is judgement on the money. The estate’s legal administration and the family’s financial decisions are two different jobs, done best by two different people working together.
Handles the legal administration
Handles the money decisions
Where a family does not already have a solicitor, we are glad to work alongside your solicitor and the accountant rather than try to be everything at once. These are the choices where an independent adviser earns their place, because the answer depends on the family’s circumstances rather than on any single product. You can read more about how we work and who would be alongside you.
For someone who has lost a husband, wife or partner, the financial worry is often quieter and more personal than the estate paperwork. Income changes, sometimes sharply. A pension that supported two people may reduce, or a salary may stop altogether, while some outgoings carry on unchanged. Working out what the household income looks like now, what a surviving spouse’s pension actually provides, and whether there is enough to live the way you intend is the heart of what we help with here.
There is no need to make big moves quickly, and we would gently discourage it. Selling investments, moving house or committing a lump sum in the first raw months is rarely wise, and decisions taken under pressure are the ones people most often regret. When the time feels right, we look at the whole picture together and help rebuild a plan for one where there used to be a plan for two, at whatever pace suits you.
The value of investments and any income from them can fall as well as rise, and you may get back less than was invested. A pension is a long-term investment whose value can go down as well as up, and the benefits available will depend on the scheme, future interest rates and tax rules.
People often ask how this fits with estate planning, and the difference is mostly one of timing and direction. Inheritance tax and estate planning is something a person arranges while they are alive, looking forward, to put their affairs in order and reduce a future tax bill for the people they leave behind. Bereavement financial advice is the opposite end of the same story: it begins after a death and helps the family deal with what the estate actually contains.
For most estates there is no inheritance tax to pay at all: it only applies where the estate is worth more than the available allowances, and is charged at 40% on the value above them. Allowances are often transferable between spouses and civil partners, which is why many estates pass with no tax due.
| Bereavement financial advice | IHT & estate planning | |
|---|---|---|
| When it happens | After a death | While you are alive |
| Who it’s for | The bereaved family or the personal representative | The person arranging their own affairs |
| Main purpose | Make sense of the estate’s finances and rebuild the survivor’s plan | Put affairs in order and reduce a future tax bill |
| Typical topics | Inherited assets, pensions and lump sums, tax during administration, income for a survivor | Wills, trusts, lifetime gifting, the nil-rate bands, life cover in trust |
The current thresholds are published on GOV.UK. Inheritance tax planning involves trade-offs and sometimes irreversible decisions, so it should always be talked through with a financial adviser and, where wills or trusts are involved, a solicitor, before anything is acted on.
Alongside the estate, there is some immediate support a bereaved family may be entitled to, and it is worth knowing it exists. The DWP Bereavement Service handles claims, and Tell Us Once can start much of the process for you. Bereavement Support Payment may be available to a husband, wife or partner below State Pension age when their spouse or partner dies, usually as an initial lump sum followed by monthly payments for a period. There is also help with funeral costs for families on certain benefits. The amounts and the eligibility rules change from time to time, so rather than quote figures that may date, we point you to the GOV.UK pages, which are kept current, and we are happy to help you work out what might apply.
Planning ahead to put your own affairs in order and reduce a future tax bill for those you leave behind.
A pension death benefit or a changed household income reshapes retirement; we re-model it on the new footing.
Revisiting protection, beneficiaries and cover so they reflect your new circumstances.
Our role is to take some of the weight off the family and bring the financial pieces into one clear picture, at a pace that suits you. We are independent and not tied or restricted to any one provider; our recommendations are based on a fair review of the market and shaped by your situation and nothing else.
Getting the full picture before anything is recommended.
We start by understanding the position fully — what the estate holds, what income the surviving family has, and what matters most to the people involved. Nothing is recommended until that picture is clear.
Plain-language options, then putting the agreed plan in place.
We explain the options in plain language and, when you are ready, help put the agreed plan into place — coordinating with your solicitor and accountant so the legal, tax and financial sides line up.
Staying alongside you as things settle.
Because circumstances keep moving, especially in the first year, we stay alongside you and review the plan as things settle. There is no rush and no obligation.
Behind that process sits a firm with unusual continuity. The H&D name traces back to Harris & Dixon, a City of London house whose roots reach toward 1797 — a name that has moved through different trades and several centuries. What endured was never the ledger but the instinct behind it: knowing your client, holding their interests above the transaction. The advice business that carries the name today has looked after individuals and families since 1987. Read more about our heritage, or meet the team behind H&D.
H&D Financial Planning is independent. We are not tied or restricted to any product provider, and our recommendations are based on a comprehensive and fair review of the market, made in your best interests. When the decisions follow a bereavement, that independence matters — what we suggest is shaped by your family’s circumstances and nothing else. You can check the firm’s status on the Financial Services Register.
A restricted adviser chooses from a single provider or an agreed panel; we consider every suitable option and recommend what fits you.
To implement advice we use a carefully selected range of investment managers and platforms, kept under regular review.
We are part of the Loyal North Group; where a group firm is among the options we consider, we say so clearly, and any recommendation is made on its merits.
“
The financial decisions can wait — when you are ready, we help you make sense of them.”
They do different jobs, and for many families both are useful. A solicitor handles the legal side: applying for the grant of probate, the estate administration and any will or trust work. A financial adviser helps with the decisions about the money itself, such as what to do with inherited investments, pensions and lump sums, and how an inheritance fits into the surviving family's own plans. The two work well together. We are happy to work alongside your existing solicitor and accountant, or to suggest one if you do not have them.
Accounts in the person's sole name are usually frozen by the bank once the death is reported, and the money is released to the personal representative once they have the authority to deal with the estate, which often means a grant of probate. Joint accounts most commonly pass automatically to the surviving account holder, who can continue to use the account. The exact treatment depends on the bank and how the account was held, so it is worth checking with each provider directly.
There is almost never a rush, and that is the most useful thing to know. Money that is sitting safely can stay where it is while you take stock. Decisions made quickly after a bereavement, such as selling investments, moving house or committing a lump sum, are the ones people most often regret, because the full picture is rarely clear in the early months. When you feel ready, it is worth looking at how an inheritance fits with your own circumstances and longer-term plans before acting, which is exactly the kind of decision we help with.
Sometimes, but often not. Most estates pay no inheritance tax, because it only applies where the estate is worth more than the available allowances. For 2026/27 that means a nil-rate band of £325,000 and, where it applies, a residence nil-rate band of a further £175,000, with allowances frequently transferable between spouses and civil partners. Above the available allowances, inheritance tax is charged at 40%. Separately, income tax or capital gains tax can arise on the estate during the period it is being administered. This is general information rather than advice on your situation; the current figures are on GOV.UK, and it is worth taking advice where a larger estate is involved.
Start by giving yourself time; very little needs to happen immediately. When you are ready, the useful first step is to understand what your income and outgoings look like now, what your own and any inherited pension provides, and what has changed. From there it becomes possible to rebuild a plan for one where there was a plan for two. We do this gently and at your pace, with no pressure to make big decisions before you want to.
When you’re ready, we’re here to help you make sense of it. There is no rush and no obligation, just an unhurried conversation whenever the time is right for you, with no pressure.
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