What happens after closing a deceased person’s sole HSBC bank account?

[Searchingforananswer2023]

Hello, advice needed. Bereaved at the end of 2025 and I have not yet closed a bank account - HSBC. I have read through the information online and have everything ready. It is a sole account. What happens after the account is frozen and closed? Thank you

Was there a will, and does the money in the account form part of the deceased's estate?

Yes there is a will and I am the executor and beneficiary

It depends how much money is in there and what is the bank's limit for requiring probate. Santander would transfer money to me.as there was less.than £50k in the account, NatWest had a much lower limit.

Depends on the amount in there and the bank.
I was an executor last year and the quickest to sort things out were Santander and Nationwide.

You need to contact HSBC. Ask for the bereavement team. They should be specially trained to help you through this process. I'm sorry for your loss.

NatWest were, in fact, a complete pain when it came to closing the account with only £1500 in it! Amongst other things they insisted on me filling in forms and taking photos of the death certificate on a mobile phone, despite me coming into the deceased's branch with all the documentation. A world of difference between them and Santander who had just done everything for me and sat me down with a coffee & biscuits.

Pp are right it depends on the amount of money

I closed my DHs rbs account and the bank just transferred the money to me. But there was only about 1.5k in it and that was about 10 yrs ago so rules may of changed.

DH’s Lloyds sole account money, under 50K, was transferred to my account via a bereavement team within a few weeks. Everything thing else over 50K in other accounts including premium bonds full holding I had to wait for the Grant of Probate paperwork.

Kent Reliance were the best for getting monies once probate was granted, via in branch, Nationwide bereavement team via telephone very helpful but slow, premium bonds, had to do via post were exceptionally slow, their web site said about 7-10 days and it took five weeks to get the money into my account (then a pile of 28 cheques that were the winnings after death suddenly appeared that I didn’t know were coming, a nice two grand but horrendously difficult to pay into my bank account via mobile phone app, would strongly suggest a bank with a counter service for that if possible).

Nationwide, if they want to post you things it’s worth arranging getting them from a local branch. I wasted six weeks waiting for statements they were posting me that got lost in the post and bereavement team told me I could have arranged collection from a branch.

HMRC then want their 20% slice of the general savings account interest (not isa, or pb winnings) that the stuck monies earnt after death. They told me to send them a letter stating amount of interest earns whilst money was stuck in the Period of Administration time. Phone their bereavement line for assistance.

All the banks and building societies I dealt with had bereavement departments, I found the numbers by searching thr bank name and the word bereavement online.

It took me almost a year to get the grant of probate, mainly because we had a business that needed valuing that slowed everything. Once submitted I think it was about 12 weeks with HMRC. I used an accountant that dealt with Probate for submitting the paperwork having gathered all the information they required. A solicitor doing the same job wanted 3% of the total estate, which was an eye watering sum of money, the accountants charged me £2,800 which included probate fees for paperwork.

Probably ott in what you were asking for but may be of assistance to someone else later on.

TLDR: When the account is frozen, it will neither receive nor make payments. When the account is closed, the bank will transfer the balance to the account you designate.

Sorry for your loss. Sadly, I too have had a lot of experience closing accounts and it does vary depending on the bank. Under £50k is usually straightforward but there was one with a £25k limit.

As per PPs, if your deceased had a business, you may need to have all the assets valued for probate before you start freezing/closing accounts.

When the account is frozen, it will neither receive nor make payments.

This happens almost instantly from when you notify them to freeze the account so check first if there are any standing orders you'll need to continue paying or regular payments coming into the account and contact those recipients or anyone sending payments to the account directly to change the payment details before you close the account. If you have password/user ID for the sole account, you can log on and scroll through, otherwise you might need to visit a branch (prob need appt for that) and bring all your doc's: DC, will, your ID, probate if relevant.
Then, make a note of the date and total balance. As per PPs, also note any interest accrued in this tax year in case you have to file a SA for your deceased.

The account will remain frozen until the bank/BS has reviewed all documents and is satisfied to close the account. Most places have a way you can show receipts of the funeral costs and be reimbursed if you need that.
The doc's required depend on each bank's policies about account balances and as per PPs, these are different at different banks.

When the account is closed, the bank will transfer the balance to the account you designate.
The main delay for transfering the money is the time it takes the bank to send the info and for the bank to review it.

When I went through this process, I found that most banks were very anxious about fraud so wanted to do most things in person and/or by post with actual documents which made the process slower. Also, at many banks, despite having bereavement teams, the clerks in the branches were generally clueless about the process so if you have to go in person, be prepared for a long afternoon of it.

If your spouse had ISAs, you can transfer these in to your ISAs beyond the standard £20k limit using APS.
Check with DWP whether you are eligible for bereavement payments if the deceased was your spouse. If so, you'll need to register at your local job centre.

IME the bereavement teams at the banks are very good and will gently guide you through the process.

I had to apply for probable for DH, then they paid directly to the beneficiaries as directed by the executors. We didn't need to open an a count in the name of the executors.