• Get the medical certificate of cause of death

  Task · Due 1 day after your date of death (or the date you were notified)

  Issued by the doctor or hospital — you'll need it before you can register the death.

• Register the death

  Task · Due 5 days after your date of death (or the date you were notified)

  Within 5 days in England & Wales (8 days in Scotland), including weekends and bank holidays. Book the register office; they'll explain the Tell Us Once service.

  Register a death (GOV.UK)

• Order several certified copies of the death certificate

  Task · Due 5 days after your date of death (or the date you were notified)

  Banks, insurers and probate each want an original — ordering a few extra now saves repeat trips later.

• Use the "Tell Us Once" service

  Task · Due 12 days after your date of death (or the date you were notified)

  One notification tells HMRC, DWP, DVLA, the Passport Office and the council. Use it within 28 days of getting your reference number from the registrar.

  What to do after a death: Tell Us Once (GOV.UK)

• Check for a will, funeral plan or expressed wishes

  Task · Due 3 days after your date of death (or the date you were notified)

  There may be a prepaid plan or written instructions to find before you arrange anything.

• Arrange the funeral

  Task · Due 1 week after your date of death (or the date you were notified)

  At your pace — a funeral director can guide the steps. There's no partner link and nothing to buy here; this is not a sales moment.

• Notify banks, pensions, insurers and utilities

  Task · Due 2 weeks after your date of death (or the date you were notified)

  Tell Us Once covers the government side; these are the rest. Work through them slowly.

• Apply for probate (if it's needed)

  Task · Due 3 weeks after your date of death (or the date you were notified)

  Needed to access many estates — but not always required for small or jointly-held ones.

• Check whether Inheritance Tax applies

  Task · Due 1 month after your date of death (or the date you were notified)

  Inheritance Tax has its own deadlines if it applies — check early so you're not caught out.

• Close or transfer accounts & subscriptions

  Task · Due 2 months after your date of death (or the date you were notified)

Also included

• Support is available

  Guidance

  If it helps, bereavement support is there whenever you want it — Cruse Bereavement Support runs a free helpline. This isn't a task and there's nothing to tick off.

• About this setup

  Guidance

  We've laid the steps out in order, but only registering the death and using Tell Us Once have deadlines. Everything else can wait until you're ready. This note creates nothing.