What Needs to be Done after a Death in Worthing & Adur

A-Z Dealing with a death in the Worthing and Adur District Council area.

This is what you need to know when dealing with a death in this area. It can be a daunting task, but our printable list of what to do and who to contact should make it much easier and avoid the legal jungles some folk land themselves in. many people will be able to manage without professional help, but we can introduce you to tailored services should you need help – just call https://www.theprobatedepartment.co.uk/contact-us-for-probate-help or use the form at the foot of the page.  If the death is sudden and unexpected, you should contact the Police non-emergency service on 101 to be on the safe side and always the deceased’s doctor See Probate delays.   Wrong area?  Go here.

• I have tried to cover the essentials on this page for other useful information and tips, try here or use the search facility. If that fails to find what you are looking for, let me know.

 Areas covered: Lancing, Sompting, Southwick, Shoreham By Sea, Fishergate, Worthing.Please read the whole page as things may not need to be done in the precise order we have suggested, depending on the situation.To avoid confusion, we use the word Executor to include Administrator as the two are essentially the same.

1) A Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCD or Green Form)

Delaying this will delay other things, if the death was in a hospital, they may well provide it. If not, notify the deceased’s doctor and request the MCCD. If they haven’t seen the deceased with 4 weeks, or if the death was sudden they may refer it to the coroner, which may well mean the funeral is delayed.

2a) Inform Next of Kin and Other Family Members.

One of the most important steps after someone dies is to inform their next of kin. This should be done as soon as possible, and all dependants/family members should also be informed. Ideally, this should be in place long before: create a plan that outlines who you want to contact, how you want them to be contacted, what details need to be shared and when you will contact them. It may also help to create a physical list or a form with all the necessary details in case further discussions come up while informing people. The address book is the obvious place to look, though these days that might be computerised.

Grief help

2b) The executor should arrange to secure any valuables if the property is no longer occupied – we would recommend photographing everything before removing it. You MUST check with the insurance company as they will have specific requirements for empty properties, without which it is likely claims will NOT be paid, leaving the executor to pay personally. Vacant property insurance (the link is repeated below). It is prudent to have the locks changed as anyone might have keys but be sure that this is not done in a way to alienate anyone and is explained to appropriate beneficiaries, or it will upset anyone expecting access, which should ideally now be supervised.

2c) The next step is usually to appoint an undertaker to collect the deceased part 1.

Thousands of pounds can be wasted if there was a prepaid funeral plan and the wrong funeral director is used.

Find a funeral plan.

This is less urgent if they died in hospital, as they can be kept in the morgue.HOWEVER, if the Worthing Coroner in West Sussex is involved, you will need their agreement to move the deceased as they may wish to examine the body.  The West Sussex Coroner’s Officers are on 01273 404012/3 where you can speak to one of the West Sussex Coroner’s Officers should the Coroner become involved. Or email: [email protected]  Out of office hours: Phone 101 and ask for the on-call West Sussex Coroner’s Officer.  Senior/assistant coroners: [email protected]  033 022 27100.

HM Coroner, Record Office, Orchard Street, Chichester PO19 1DD

If the deceased lived in a care home, they will carry on charging fees (often over £1000 a week) until both the deceased and their possessions have been removed. Other residents do find it uncomfortable.Technically, appointing the funeral director is the job of the executor, so they should be involved if at all possible.  The person who appoints the funeral director can be held liable for the costs if the estate does not pay.Some families organise viewings of the body, but I would suggest these are restricted to adults (personal experience.)TIP: banks, if asked in advance, will usually pay out funds towards the cost of the funeral from the deceased’s accounts to the funeral director if invoiced direct to the institution.  They will NOT release funds to reimburse the executor or family if they pay the funeral director: they will have to wait until probate is granted (assuming it is needed) and claim as creditors.

Government help with bereavement.

3) Register the Death with the Worthing Registrar within 5 days:

Who can register the death      What the Registrar needs to know (PDF download).

Once it’s been established who should be notified of the death, the next step is to contact a Registrar of Births Deaths and Marriages in Worthing, or where the person has died. You can register the death elsewhere, but the death certificate will always be issued where the deceased died, so there will be an additional delay, though this is not the case if you use one of the other Registry offices in West Sussex. Registration is needed so that a certificate can be issued and used for important matters such as applying for probate and sorting out any property that was owned by the deceased. You’ll need to provide some personal details, such as their full name, date and place of birth, home address and whether they were married or not. The Registrar will also need to know where, when and how the death happened.NB – the 5 days is NOT 5 working days, but a strict 5 days. Call the Registrar if this is a problem as it is a criminal offence, unless the Coroner is delaying things.We recommend taking advantage of the Registrar’s “Tell Us Once” service which will notify many official departments of the death and save time.You must now come to the office you chose when booking your appointment to register the death. We will no longer be legally allowed to conduct the appointment over the telephone.Appointments are held in enclosed offices, so we ask that only two members of the family attend the appointment. We are also asking you to wear a face covering to protect both yourself and our staff.Please do not attend your appointment if you have COVID-19 or have recently been in close contact with someone who has.Contact details of the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages in Worthing:If the death occurred in West Sussex, you can book an appointment to register at any of the West Sussex tel: 01243 642122

• Worthing Registrars’ office is at 11 Richmond Rd, Worthing BN11 1HS.  Click on the Link   and then add your postcode for directions.
• Shoreham Registrar is at the Health Centre, Pond Road, Shoreham-by-Sea, BN43 5US, Click on the Linkand then add your postcode for directions.

Please do use the Tell Us Once Service.

4) Arrange the Funeral in Worthing. Part 2.

Now it’s time to arrange a funeral. This is typically done by the family or (officially) the executor of the deceased, though most people will appoint a professional funeral director to take care of this for you. You’ll need to decide on the type of service and burial or cremation, any special requests and who will be invited. You may also wish to contact newspapers or websites if you’re planning a public service. It’s important to keep track of your necessary costs as they can be claimed back from the estate later.If you are not sure if the deceased left any funeral wishes, they are sometimes in the Will.

5) Find the Will, if there is one.

How to find a Will

The executor appointed in the Will is responsible for everything and should authorise anyone wishing to take anything, as it may not be allowed by the Will. If there is no Will, then the next of kin can act as Administrator (essentially the same as executor). The next of kin is NOT a common-law spouse, who is in a complex situation and should take advice. Be very careful with potentially valuable items as their value needs to be established.

If professional help is needed, please contact The Probate Department (brokers) and we will find suitable help at a sensible cost.

Be aware that it is common practice for solicitors to store Wills, on the off chance that you will use them for the probate without ever comparing their fees with anyone else’s – when you might be able to cut them by 90%, this is not sensible! Even if the solicitors are named as executors, they can normally be asked to stand down (unless they have started work) if we can find you much lower fees, or you can do it yourselves. We don’t charge you anything to save you money.Be aware that lay executors cannot charge for their time, but they can recover any money they have paid out of the estate and perhaps mileage and post costs – keep records.  One executor decided they needed a car to carry out their duties, which was considered quite unacceptable by the court, so be prudent. Professional help can be reimbursed by the estate before distribution/Some executors refuse to give copies of the Will to beneficiaries: it is my personal opinion that this makes people suspicious and may well need to quite unnecessary legal action.

Personal DANGER for executors/ administrators:

we strongly suggest contacting us to find a competent and relatively inexpensive probate professional if:

1. The person responsible does not have the necessary administrative skills.
2. Inheritance Tax may be payable OR
3. If there may be a probate dispute– I have seen so many families fall out over Wills, and it can often be prevented if they blame a probate professional!
4. If there are Trusts involved (whether in the Will or not) 0r overseas assets.
5. If there have been significant gifts made by the deceased within the last 7 years (sometimes 14). If these gifts are added back into the estate, might IHT be payable or increased?
6. If the deceased’s home has previously been transferred to anyone else but they carried on living in it.
7. If the Will is going to be unpopular, the Executor will be blamed – so no need to take the flak – let the professional be the unpopular one!

Professional services can range from just checking the forms to doing the whole thing, and we can usually save a great deal of money, often well over half. Remember that the cost of professional executors is paid by the estate, not by you personally, and any payments you do make are recoverable from the estate before beneficiaries are paid.

No Will? Then the Rules of Intestacy apply.

Then the next of kin can apply for probate if necessary, but they are called Administrators rather than Executors and who inherits is decided by the Law rather than the deceased or the family and disputes are even more likely, with dependants who are not legally family (such as common law spouses) may have to go to Court to obtain anything.

WARNING: some executors or administrators think they can do whatever they think is best with the proceeds and ignore the Will or Rules of Intestacy.. This is not so, and unless done in a legal fashion is potentially THEFT. They must do what the Will dictates, or follow the Rules of Intestacy. It is potentially possible to make changes via a Deed of Variation, but only if any beneficiary losing out is of sound mind and over 18. In that case, Court approval will be needed. We can point you to relatively inexpensive advice.

6) The Executor Should Secure the Deceased’s Property and Possessions.

After the funeral and burial or cremation is complete, it’s time for the executor/s to start dealing with the deceased’s property and possessions.

• If their property is no longer occupied, the insurance of both buildings and contents needs review, contact the insurers as claims on empty properties may not be paid. More on insurance for empty properties.
• You should also consider changing the locks as no one knows who has keys. If it is rented, with the landlords’ permission or arrange for it to be valued and cleared quickly to reduce the rent payable..
• Secure any valuables if not already done – we would recommend photographing everything before removing it.
• Tracking down any assets that have been left in a will, administering or arrange to be set up any trusts set up before death,
• You’ll need to contact banks, insurers, mortgage lenders and other companies if applicable.  You will need to establish date of death values for both assets and liabilities. HMRC must be informed of the death to ensure they deal with any relevant tax issues, but if the Tell Us Once Service was used, they will be aware..
• If Inheritance Tax is a possibility, we would strongly recommend that you contact us so we can find you a suitable adviser as things can get very complex. For example, and gifts made within the last 7 years may be pulled back into the estate before tax is calculated.
• Where there may be debts, it would be prudent to advertise the death in the approved fashion in the local paper and Gazette to avoid creditors suing the executor.  If there is a business too, you may need to advertise in Trade papers as well.
• Unclaimed assets – many people have privatisation shares and other accounts which they have forgotten about so it is wise to check for unclaimed assets.
• BE VERY CAREFUL ABOUT WHAT YOU THROW AWAY!

7) Organise Financial Affairs with Banks, Insurance Companies and HMRC.

It is important to contact banks, insurance companies and HMRC as soon as possible after a person has passed away. For all assets or liabilities you will need a date of death balance, including any interest accrued but not yet added, so the executor might as well ask for it immediately. This means organising financial affairs and dealing with any debts that may be outstanding. Obtaining probate (a legal document often required when administering an estate) can also help gain access to certain accounts. If inheritance tax is owed, it must be paid BEFORE probate is granted either from the estate or from the beneficiary’s own resources before inheriting or by way of a probate loan. It is worth considering asset searches.

Paying IHT

8) Applying for Probate or Letters of Administration.

Probate is not always required, but the executor should keep careful notes of all assets and liabilities, partly as they have to account to the residuary beneficiaries (the ones who get shares of the estate rather than specific amounts or items), and partly as one item may turn up later which cannot be released without a Grant of Probate/ Letters of Administration and if you have not kept the notes, you may have to do everything again!Forms to apply for probate can be obtained by calling 0300 123 1072 (not us). Whilst our site helps with DIY Probate, there are three circumstances where we recommend you contact us to be introduced to a suitable probate adviser who can provide the level of help you need, from just checking the forms to doing everything. Note warning above! These steps could well be of benefit to both Executors and Beneficiaries:

• If not already done, at this stage it is wise to open an executors account with a bank, as allegations of all sorts can arise if you pay any funds into your own bank account.
• Putting a notice in The Gazette to ensure that there is protection against unknown creditors.
• Searching for unknown assets such as privatisation shares, paid-up insurance policies (some insurance policies require no further payments after a certain age, so there may be no evidence of them on banks statements) etc.

9) Estate Administration

Once you have the Grant or Letters of administration, and you will need more copies than you expect. then you can gather in the assets, pay any outstanding debts, pay out the specific legacies such as £1000 or the mantle clock, get the estate accounts agreed by the residuary beneficiaries (they are the ones who get a proportion of the estate) and right at the end, once they have all agreed the accounts, you can pay them.All paperwork should be kept for six years.Should you need professional support, give The Probate Department (brokers) a call on https://www.theprobatedepartment.co.uk/contact-us-for-probate-help – leave a message after hours or if we are already engaged.There is a list of local crematoria and cemeteries below this form.10) Information / Enquiry Form:[contact-form to=”[email protected]” subject=”[email protected]”][contact-field label=”Name” type=”name” required=”1″][contact-field label=”Email” type=”email” required=”1″][contact-field label=”Phone/s” type=”url”][contact-field label=”How can we help?” type=”checkbox-multiple” options=”Please email Probate Guide,I would like to discuss the sensible cost of professional help with probate,I can do the legwork: The Assisted Probate Service might suit me”][contact-field label=”Message” type=”textarea”][/contact-form] 

11) Cemeteries and Crematoria local to Worthing:

• H G King Funeral Directors 24 North Rd, Lancing BN15 9AB.
• Coop Funeralcare 34 South St, Lancing BN15 8AG.
• Dignity 143 South St, Lancing BN15 8BD.

Property to sell?

Avoid chains and disappointments: market value in the bank within 3-5 weeks of grant, click to learn how, as preparation is needed.

Cash Buyer as an alternative.Estate Agent: Locksmith: