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The Final Balance / The documents
Paperwork is the whole of the process from the inside

The documents an operator asks for, and why

The forms an operator sends after a death are the part of the process that people remember, because they arrive while everything else is still hard. Most of what is asked for is not the operator being difficult: each document proves one of a small number of facts, and the list is short once it is read that way.

Desk spec
claims
600
per claim
4.22
certificate
600
bank details
498
the authorityThe document that lets an operator deal with an estate. Of 600 sampled claims, 372 were made on a grant of probate, 148 on letters of administration after an intestacy, 54 under a small-estate exemption, and 26 were refused for producing none of them.
the balance layersWhat the number on the statement is made of. The mean sample balance is 412.60: 318.40 of real money, 61.90 of a bonus whose wagering was never met, and 32.30 of stakes sitting in open bets. Only the real money and the settled bets reach the estate.
the clockThe time the claim takes. A median 9 days from the death to notification, 61 days from notification to a grant being proved and 23 days from there to release, so 84 days from notification and 93 from the death; nine claims in ten close within 310 days.
Direct answer

An operator normally asks for the death certificate, the grant or letters of administration, proof of the executor's identity, the bank details of the estate and, sometimes, proof of the executor's address. Across 600 sampled claims the mean was 4.22 documents, with the death certificate asked for every time and the estate's bank details in 498 of the 600.

Each document proves one fact

The death certificate proves the death. The grant proves who may act for the estate. The identity document proves the person in front of the operator is the person the grant names. The bank details belong to the estate rather than to any individual, which is why an operator asks for them separately even where the estate is being handled by a person it already knows. The address check is the weakest of the four and is the one most often waived.

The samples show how the list falls. Across 600 claims the mean was 4.22 documents. The death certificate was asked for in all 600, the grant in 520 (the 54 small-estate claims and the 26 refused claims did not need one), the executor's identity in 512, the estate's bank details in 498, and a proof of address in 402. A claim that arrived complete was resolved in a median of 84 days; a claim that had to be sent back for a missing document took a median of 139.

What the samples show

Sample C - what was asked for across 600 sampled claims
DocumentClaims askedShareWhat it proves
Death certificate600100.0%That the death occurred
Grant or letters of administration52086.7%Who may act for the estate
Identity of the executor51285.3%That the claimant is that person
Bank details of the estate49883.0%Where the balance is to be paid
Proof of the executor's address40267.0%A second identity link, usually the weakest
Mean documents per claim4.22of five possibleTwo thirds supply at least four
sample C - the list, and what it costs in time claims = 600 documents requested in total = 600 + 520 + 512 + 498 + 402 = 2,532 mean per claim = 2,532 / 600 = 4.22 claims that arrived complete = 388 = 64.7% median 84 days to release claims sent back for a document = 212 = 35.3% median 139 days the difference = 139 - 84 = 55 days spent waiting for a piece of paper that the claimant often already had, filed somewhere, without knowing it was needed.
sample C - the two documents that do the work of the five, two decide the claim: the certificate proves the death 600 of 600 100.0% the grant proves the authority 520 of 600 86.7% the other three: identity of the executor 512 of 600 85.3% estate bank details 498 of 600 83.0% address 402 of 600 67.0% an operator that asked only for the first two would still be unable to pay: without the bank details it cannot send the money, and without the identity it cannot know the grant's named executor is the person asking. The list is short because the process needs all four facts and the fifth is a spare.
Five things to gather before you write
  • Several certified copies of the death certificate, because more than one party will keep one.
  • The original or a certified copy of the grant, and a note of who issued it.
  • Photographic identification in the name of the executor the grant names.
  • Bank details in the name of the estate rather than in anyone's personal name.
  • A statement of the account as at the date of death, which fixes the balance the estate is claiming.

Read next

The balanceWhat the documents releaseThe authorityThe grant the operator needsThe dataAccess to the account recordThe deadlineThe time the claim takes