how do I trace my late wife's help to buy ISA ?

Ollie01

My wife passed away in July last year the day after we were married of cancer . I know she had a help to buy ISA but cant find any trace of paperwork etc for it . does anyone know of a way I can trace it please ?

eskbanker

Can you locate monthly payments of £200 from her bank statements?

Ollie01

eskbanker said:

Can you locate monthly payments of £200 from her bank statements?

no I can only find the total lump sum she paid out unfortunately 

eskbanker

Ollie01 said:

eskbanker said:

Can you locate monthly payments of £200 from her bank statements?

no I can only find the total lump sum she paid out unfortunately 

I don't understand what that means in this context - do you believe the HTB ISA was still open or had she used its contents towards a property?

I'm not sure what other avenues there may be - if she didn't retain any useful paperwork, are there any clues on devices she'd have used for online banking perhaps, e.g. apps or historical URLs?

HMRC ought to have records of which institutions she had ISAs with but I'm unsure if they're obliged to disclose this information to executors in the way they would be to living individuals.

Ollie01

eskbanker said:

Ollie01 said:

eskbanker said:

Can you locate monthly payments of £200 from her bank statements?

no I can only find the total lump sum she paid out unfortunately 

I don't understand what that means in this context - do you believe the HTB ISA was still open or had she used its contents towards a property?

I'm not sure what other avenues there may be - if she didn't retain any useful paperwork, are there any clues on devices she'd have used for online banking perhaps, e.g. apps or historical URLs?

HMRC ought to have records of which institutions she had ISAs with but I'm unsure if they're obliged to disclose this information to executors in the way they would be to living individuals.

I still believe the ISA is open as I haven't seen any paperwork regarding it whilst going through my wife's estate so far . The only record I have seen so far is the amount going out of her account but don't know to where sadly .
I tried to message HMRC to see if they can help but as of yet I have not had a reply .

eskbanker

Ollie01 said:

eskbanker said:

Ollie01 said:

eskbanker said:

Can you locate monthly payments of £200 from her bank statements?

no I can only find the total lump sum she paid out unfortunately 

I don't understand what that means in this context - do you believe the HTB ISA was still open or had she used its contents towards a property?

I'm not sure what other avenues there may be - if she didn't retain any useful paperwork, are there any clues on devices she'd have used for online banking perhaps, e.g. apps or historical URLs?

HMRC ought to have records of which institutions she had ISAs with but I'm unsure if they're obliged to disclose this information to executors in the way they would be to living individuals.

I still believe the ISA is open as I haven't seen any paperwork regarding it whilst going through my wife's estate so far . The only record I have seen so far is the amount going out of her account but don't know to where sadly .
I tried to message HMRC to see if they can help but as of yet I have not had a reply .

Sorry, I still don't follow - do you believe this total lump sum leaving her (current?) account had anything to do with her HTB ISA?  Those accounts could only be funded with no more than £200 per month, other than in the first month (which would have been quite a few years ago now that the scheme is no longer open to new applicants) when up to £1,000 could also be paid in.  If the payment was to her HTB ISA then her current account provider should be able to clarify its destination, even if that's not visible on a statement.

born_again

Don't know if this would help

https://www.mylostaccount.org.uk/

eskbanker

born_again said:

Don't know if this would help

https://www.mylostaccount.org.uk/

That thought crossed my mind too, until I saw this:

This service only traces lost accounts (generally untouched for 15 years) and so cannot be used to trace active accounts.

https://www.mylostaccount.org.uk/faqs

Ollie01

eskbanker said:

Ollie01 said:

eskbanker said:

Ollie01 said:

eskbanker said:

Can you locate monthly payments of £200 from her bank statements?

no I can only find the total lump sum she paid out unfortunately 

I don't understand what that means in this context - do you believe the HTB ISA was still open or had she used its contents towards a property?

I'm not sure what other avenues there may be - if she didn't retain any useful paperwork, are there any clues on devices she'd have used for online banking perhaps, e.g. apps or historical URLs?

HMRC ought to have records of which institutions she had ISAs with but I'm unsure if they're obliged to disclose this information to executors in the way they would be to living individuals.

I still believe the ISA is open as I haven't seen any paperwork regarding it whilst going through my wife's estate so far . The only record I have seen so far is the amount going out of her account but don't know to where sadly .
I tried to message HMRC to see if they can help but as of yet I have not had a reply .

Sorry, I still don't follow - do you believe this total lump sum leaving her (current?) account had anything to do with her HTB ISA?  Those accounts could only be funded with no more than £200 per month, other than in the first month (which would have been quite a few years ago now that the scheme is no longer open to new applicants) when up to £1,000 could also be paid in.  If the payment was to her HTB ISA then her current account provider should be able to clarify its destination, even if that's not visible on a statement.

I will try to see if my late wife's bank/building society can help with it but it has been closed since her passing . Thanks for your help though much appreciated 

eskbanker

Ollie01 said:

I will try to see if my late wife's bank/building society can help with it but it has been closed since her passing . Thanks for your help though much appreciated 

If you haven't already, make sure you're dealing with their dedicated bereavement team, who should be more sensitive and better informed as to the issues that arise in these circumstances - if your anonymised reference to her hybrid "bank/building society" perhaps signifies that it's Nationwide then their contact details are shown at https://www.nationwide.co.uk/help/challenging-times/bereavement/tell-us/

Ollie01

eskbanker said:

Ollie01 said:

I will try to see if my late wife's bank/building society can help with it but it has been closed since her passing . Thanks for your help though much appreciated 

If you haven't already, make sure you're dealing with their dedicated bereavement team, who should be more sensitive and better informed as to the issues that arise in these circumstances - if your anonymised reference to her hybrid "bank/building society" perhaps signifies that it's Nationwide then their contact details are shown at https://www.nationwide.co.uk/help/challenging-times/bereavement/tell-us/

it wasn't Nationwide but a smaller building society but that's very good advice about speaking to the bereavement team and thanks again for your help with this matter