Dealing with a death in Crawley
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 03 300 102 300 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.
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.
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1) A Medical Certificate of Cause of Death (MCCD or Green Form)
Delaying this will delay other things, if the death was in hospital, they may well provide it. If not, notify the deceased’s doctor and request the MCCD. If they haven’t seen the deceased within 4 weeks, or if the death was sudden they may refer it to the coroner, which may well mean the funeral is delayed. This is needed before you can register a death in Crawley.
2a) Inform Next of Kin and Other Family Members of the death in Crawley.
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.The executor should arrange to secure any valuables if the property is no longer occupied – we would recommend photographing everything before removing it.
2b) The next step is usually to appoint funeral directors in Crawley 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.
HOWEVER if the Coroner in Crawley 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: ws********@***************ce.uk” href=”mailto:ws********@***************ce.uk” data-original-string=”LeH8+6EqbpJb/MGE3/TfJg==510R68z3R9iAtZU/GxXqeX3aXtOxkhMiDAjIlD2/F0kots=” title=”This contact has been encoded by Anti-Spam by CleanTalk. Click to decode. To finish the decoding make sure that JavaScript is enabled in your browser.”>ws********@***************ce.uk Out of office hours: Phone 101 and ask for the on-call West Sussex Coroner’s Officer. You won’t be able to register a death in Crawley where the Coroner is involved without their agreement.
Senior/assistant coroners: hm********@************ov.uk” href=”mailto:hm********@************ov.uk” data-original-string=”8O2TlemUmIwVMrUr0ZCxGw==510cDJ6y72FoAMwD0rwpBYoibDLniWROCg8NWzNUshVi8s=” title=”This contact has been encoded by Anti-Spam by CleanTalk. Click to decode. To finish the decoding make sure that JavaScript is enabled in your browser.”>hm********@************ov.uk 033 022 27100
HM Coroner, Record Office, Orchard Street, Chichester PO19 1DD.2c) 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.2d) 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. They will NOT release funds to reimburse the executor or family if they pay direct: they will have to wait until probate is granted (assuming it is needed) and claim as creditors.
Government help with bereavement.
3) Register a Death in Crawley Registrar of Births Deaths and Marraiges within 5 days:
Who can register the death what the Registrar needs to know
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 West Sussex 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. 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.Contact details of the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages in West Sussex:
If it is more convenient, you can register a death in Crawley at any of the West Sussex Register Offices below without causing delays:
- Arundel
- Chichester Registration Office
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East Grinstead Registration Office (Temporarily closed)
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Littlehampton Registration Office (Temporarily closed)
Do use the Tell Us Once Service when registering a death in Crawley.
4) Arrange the Funeral in Crawley. Part 2.
After you register a death in Crawley, 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.
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5) Find the Will, if there is one.
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 anything to see if we can 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:
- The person responsible does not have the necessary administrative skills.
- Inheritance Tax may be payable OR
- 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!
- If there are Trusts involved (whether in the Will or not) 0r overseas assets.
- 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?
- If the deceased’s home has previously been transferred to anyone else but they carried on living in it.
- 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 at 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.
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, 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. 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. See concerns 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 03 300 102 300 – leave a message after hours or if we are already engaged.There is a list of local crematoria and cemeteries below this form.
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10) Crawley Funeral Directors:
11) Local Cemeteries and Crematoria Crawley
Crematoriums
There are three crematoriums within West Sussex, but no crematorium in Crawley:
Cemeteries in Crawley (both Council run).
12) Bereavement Support
Cruse 0808 808 1677Marie Curie 0800 090 2309Mind 0300 123 3393
13) Other Relevant Professionals
Estate Planning: making, reviewing or updating Wills and Powers of Attorney (CLICK) – and ongoing service as Tax, the Law and your Personal Circumstances change.Financial Advice: it is also probable that you would benefit from the services of a genuinely Independent Financial Adviser local to you (CLICK), both personally or during the course of the probate and estate administration.Celebrants: please add your name and address and phone number ONLY as a comment at the foot of the page.
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 Agents & Valuers: please add your name and address and phone number ONLY as a comment at the foot of the page.Locksmiths: always change locks on empty buildings and check the buildings insurance remains valid.Property relevant pages indexed.
Areas covered.
Crawley, Peas Pottage, Copthorne, Horley, Salfords, Charlwood, Turners Hill, Balcombe, Lower Beeding but please ring the funeral directors above to check as they will all organise funerals in slightly different areas.Crawley Probate help once you have registered the death in Crawley, you may need some help with the probate work, and we are well-placed to help in just the way you want. Crawley probate help can be half an hour helping out, the whole probate job or anything in between.And you will be shocked when you compare our rates with those of Crawley solicitors and banks. Here are some of the other areas locally where we can offer a first-rate Probate service. Do check with the Registrar of Births Marriages and Deaths that the Crawley Registrar is the correct one, as it may not be for all the areas below.Ardingley and Balcombe. Blindley Heath is about ten miles northeast of Crawley. Burstow is a few miles east of Crawley. Capel is a small village about eight miles northwest of Crawley whereas Charlwood is three miles northwest of Crawley, Coleman’s Hatch is midway between Crawley and Tunbridge Wells.Colgate is next alphabetically whereas Copthorne is only just in Sussex by a whisker.Crowhurst lies about 12 miles northeast of Crawley.Cuckfield (pronounced Cookfield) is about about midway between Crawley and Brighton.Danehill is about ten miles south of Crawley but Dormansland is about ten miles east of Crawley. Faygate is next followed by Felbridge about 7 miles east of Crawley. Forest Row is in the Ashdown Forest and is followed by Handcross.Horne is about 7 miles northeast of Crawley.Horsted Keynes is about ten miles southeast of Crawley. Ifield is now part of Crawley. Leigh is 8 miles north of Crawley, near Reigate. Lindfield is situated about ten miles south of Crawley. Lingfield is where the horse racing takes place.Lower Beeding is four and half miles south east of Horsham. Lowfield Heath, Manning’s Heath, Monks Gate, Newchapel and Newdigate which is 7 miles northwest of Crawley. Also to the northwest if Crawley is North & South Holmwood.Nutley, Outwood, Pease Pottage, Plummers Plain, Roffey, Rusper and 6 miles north of Crawley is Salfords. Sheffield Park, Slaugham are also near Crawley and Smallfield is around 5 miles northeast of Crawley. ch, Three Bridges then Tilgate which is just south of Crawley, whereas Tinsley Green lies just north of Crawley in the shadow of the giant Gatwick Airport. West Hoathly about 8 miles southeast of Crawley but the village of Worth lies just to the east of Crawley.