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Paying for the funeral and expenses

If the person who died had money in their account, you can use that money to help cover funeral costs and expenses. Find out how to request money and what you can use it for.

What's on this page

What can you use their money for?

Only the personal representative can request money. We may release available money for urgent expenses like:

  • the person’s funeral
  • court fees for the grant of probate, letters of administration or confirmation
  • Inheritance Tax

We can’t release money to pay:

  • care home fees
  • utility bills

Information:

For funeral and court fees, we can make a cheque payable to the service and relevant courts. If the personal representative already has an existing Nationwide account, we can transfer money to their account.

How to request money for the funeral and expenses

To request money, you must fill in our IF21 Personal representative’s request for funds form. Download it here and print it out.

Please also include proof of your expenses. For example, an estimate from the funeral provider or a receipt.

Return your form and proof of expenses

You can return the form and proof of your expenses at one of our branches, or by post.

If you can’t download and print out our form, you can collect it at one of our branches, or call us and ask us to send it to you.

In branch

Hand in your form and proof of expenses in person at one of our branches.

We can make the payment by cheque directly to the funeral provider or for any court fees during your visit.

We can also reimburse you if you paid for it yourself and have a receipt.

Post

Send us your form and proof of expenses to:

Bereavement Services
Specialist Customer Support
Nationwide Building Society
Swindon
Wiltshire
SN38 3FN

Call us

Our bereavement team can send you a request form in the post.

Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.
Saturday, 9am to 12pm.

Closed Sundays and bank holidays.

0800 464 30 18

Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.
Saturday, 9am to 12pm.

Closed Sundays and bank holidays.

Arranging and paying for the funeral

We can release money from the person’s sole account to cover funeral expenses. We will send the payment to the funeral service provider directly. If there isn’t enough money in the account to pay for all the costs, we’ll release what is there.

Paying Inheritance Tax

The personal representative is responsible for valuing the person’s estate and paying any Inheritance Tax. The tax is paid using money from the person’s account.

To find out how to value the estate and how to pay Inheritance Tax, go to the Government website for step-by-step guidance.

www.gov.uk/valuing-estate-of-someone-who-died (opens in new window)

When the personal representative is ready to pay the Inheritance Tax, they'll need to download and print an IHT form and send it to us.

 gov.uk IHT423 form (opens in a new window)

They can then either bring it into one of our branches or post it to us at:

Bereavement Services
Specialist Customer Support
Nationwide Building Society
Swindon
Wiltshire
SN38 3FN

Once we receive the tax form, we’ll send an electronic payment to HM Revenue & Customs using the money held in the person's Nationwide account(s).

Jargon explained

There are many legal terms used when someone dies. Here are some of the most common ones you’re likely to come across.

The legal terms and phrases explained

Contact us if you need support

Our bereavement team are here for you if you have questions or need help.

Call us

Call our bereavement helpdesk:

Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.
Saturday, 9am to 12pm.

Closed Sundays and bank holidays.

0800 464 30 18

In branch

You can come into branch at any stage in the process. Our specially trained staff are here to support you every step of the way.

Please use our branch finder to check opening hours before you come and see us.

Branch finder

Post

Write to us at:

Bereavement Services
Specialist Customer Support
Nationwide Building Society
Swindon
Wiltshire
SN38 3FN

Emotional and financial support

Living with bereavement can be a challenging time. There are several charities and support organisations that can help you.

Find out about support organisations

Go back to our pages: Bereavement support, Dealing with the estate, wills and probate

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