Retrieving a Deceased Relatives Bank Statements

Supertee

Hi roddydogs, yes that is exactly what I said to my Mum. I have been thinking about walking into every bank in our local town and just ask if he had any association with each one, thing is I am a bit wary of what to expect. What do others think? Would you do the same?
dzug1, not sure what you mean by 'advertise for creditors'?
and yes fully agree about not being in a hurry in winding up the estate.
I never realised there is so much to deal with on someone's death.
Here is another issue with this. Amongst what little paperwork that was found was a Prudential document from when everyone had the option to opt out of SERPS(199?). When we enquired about this we have had a letter from them saying a lump sum equal to the fund value of the contributions received from the DWP will be payable of £31,889.70 to his estate.
Now, his last (and only) payslip shows 2 lots of NIC's being taken.
Any ideas?
If the last paragraph is off topic and needs moving, I apologise.

Errata

My condolences. Don't expect to be able to settle the estate in a few short weeks, it often takes time and effort to sort it all out if documentation appears to be missing.
In defence of the bank official, it's none of their business what kind of person the uncle was and how he lived his life so they were right to be dismissive of information they don't need.
There is little point in traipsing into every bank in town asking if the uncle was known to them, however if the executor does want to go down this route then appointments should be made with each bank so an appropriate bank official can speak to the executor and examine the grant of probate and the executor's ID and then release any information they have about the uncle's accounts with them - if any.

dzug1

Advertising for creditors - you put an advert in your local paper (and the London Gazette - I think this is still necessary but could be out of date) saying you have probate and will distribute the estate after a certain date on the basis of claims you have received by then.

There's a set legal wording you'd have to google for - or may be able to copy if you can find such an ad. My local paper has them most weeks. Solicitors will nearly always do it if they are executors, and will nearly always wait 6 months before distributing as well.

This gets you personally off the hook if late claims turn up. They may still be valid claims - but they have to pursue the beneficiaries for them, not the executors.

Andy7856

dzug1 wrote: »

Which is really stupid as you need the information to get that grant of probate in the first place...

I think it's (as it is so often) a question of finding someone in the bank who actually understands what is going on

Sorry not quite correct, the court grants the probate upon reciept of the death cert. But i do agree forget call centre staff, and go into branch to find some who actually understands what is going on

dzug1

Andy7856 wrote: »

Sorry not quite correct, the court grants the probate upon reciept of the death cert. But i do agree forget call centre staff, and go into branch to find some who actually understands what is going on

???? The court grants probate on receipt of the will, the death certificate AND an account of what's in the estate

sueeve

Presuming that he was a tax payer he must have declared the interest received from any investments, unless they were ISA's So that might be another area to investigate.
You can also put a search for lost bank accounts. I can't remember how but I'm sure it is somewhere on MSE.But that won't help with equities. However, end of year statements should be on the way very soon

getmore4less

Andy7856 wrote: »

Sorry not quite correct, the court grants the probate upon reciept of the death cert. But i do agree forget call centre staff, and go into branch to find some who actually understands what is going on

AIUI they(HMCS) also need the IHT forms to be filled in

With an IHT205 they can deal with issuing probate immediately
With an IHT400 they need HMRC to do their bit first


You can't do these without the relevent financial information.

Also AIUI as the executor named in the will the sister has the legal right to ask for information before probate.


I think I would write the relevent office at Barclay asking for all the relevent information on the account and any other accounts that he held with them including investments(mabe via a branch first).

Also a request for the bank statements, you need to check if anything special is needed for a subject access request for a deceased person, ID and the will should be enough.

SEJC

Hi there,

I am currently dealing with my father's estate and have to say that I've found my father's bank (Lloydstsb) have been really helpful. I did have to go in and complete a bereavement form and they took a copy of the Will and death certificate before sending the documents to their Estates Settlement Unit - a central department which deal with all deceased person accounts. I would be surprised if Barclays do not have a similar department. Once they had these details they have been happy to share any information I've asked about my father's account. It appears it is merely the release of the money until I have secure the Grant of Probate they are not prepared to share.

Whenever I have telephoned they have been excellent. I asked for a copy of all my father's bank statements for this financial year and they suggested that I have his statements for the last 7 years to assist with collating his financial details to completing the IHT205, prior to applying for probate - and duly supplied them.


They have even advised that I will need signed certificates of tax paid to complete his tax return for this year and offered to order before I knew I needed them!

Banks are continually dealing with deceased persons accounts - you are not seeking anything out of the ordinary asking for his statements/copy cheques.

I would have thought that the executor(s) should have been relatively confident that they have accounted for his whole estate prior to applying for probate though and not be looking for considerable sums of money after obtaining probate.

Supertee

Here is an update to my first post. Last Friday(25th) I spent most of the afternoon on the phone to various departments of Barclays to see if we could be sent my Uncle's previous bank statements. It was during one of these calls I was informed that there is a Barclays Bereavement Centre. The staff here were fantastic, really helpful and yes we can have access to his previous statements all at no cost. We should receive them this week.
This all begs the question, why did'nt the staff at the local branch tell us about the Bereavement Centre?
What is even more annoying is that the same local branch staff will have had to inform the Bereavement Centre as part of procedure at the time of my Uncle's death.
Anyway, a big thank you from my mum to all who posted replies.
Will update again if and when we find anything.

datostar

If the Barclays Bereavement Centre happens to mention ITC or their own probate service it would be a good idea to do a forum search on this site for ITC!