BEREAVEMENT &
MORTGAGES

Mortgage accounts: What you will need to do

Download the guide

You can download our handy Bereavement PDF document here.

Mortgages: What to do

At this time, the most important thing to be aware of with a mortgage account is that the mortgage payments must still be made, even when a borrower has passed away.

If you think you may have difficulty making the mortgage payments, you can call our Bereavement Team on 0345 166 9229. They’ll put through to a colleague who will be able to help you work out a payment plan. They’ll also be able to provide specific advice relating to the type of products held.

1

Register the death.

You’ll need to register the death at any local registry office (within 5 days in England and Wales and 8 days in Scotland). Once you’ve registered the death you will be given a death certificate.

2

Provide us with an original/certified copy of the Death certificate.

An original or click here copy of the death certificate
Post them to our Bereavement Team (their contact details are listed to the right).

Talk to us

Online
If you need to advise us of a bereavement, please complete the form below. In order to start the process we will need the death certificate, but in the meantime the account will be frozen.
 

Call us

If you would like to talk with a member of our dedicated Bereavement Team, you can call us between 9am and 5pm Monday to Friday.

0345 166 9229

Write to us at the Address below:

Bereavement Team
Customer Service Centre
Yorkshire Building Society
Yorkshire House
Yorkshire Drive
Bradford
BD5 8LJ

What happens after the death has been registered?

This depends on whether the mortgage is joint or solely held. Please select from below for more information:

Sole borrowers

What happens after the death has been registered?

Once the death has been registered we will need to see the original Grant of Probate so that we can note the Executor(s) names on our records. If the deceased passed away without leaving a Will, we will need to see the original Grant of Letters of Administration. The account will then need to be repaid, either from:

The sale proceeds of the property
The proceeds of a life insurance policy.

However, in some circumstances and with our consent, the property and the responsibility for the mortgage may be transferred to another person. This requires the completion of a transfer of equity application form. Interest will be charged on the account until it has been repaid in full.

What address will you write to?

We will write to the Personal Representative(s) of the deceased at the borrowers property address. Please note we will only be able to send information about the mortgage to the Personal Representative(s) once they have provided evidence that they are authorised to deal with the administration of the estate.

Joint Borrowers

What happens after the death has been registered

For joint mortgages, we will need to see the original Death Certificate. We will then remove the deceased borrower’s name from the mortgage. This means that the surviving borrower is then solely responsible for repaying the mortgage.

Property Ownership

Property ownership depends on whether the property was held as joint tenants or as tenants in common.

Joint Tenants: The deceased’s interest in the property will automatically transfer to the survivor(s).

Tenants in Common: When borrowers hold a property as ‘Tenants in Common’ (where each borrower has a specific share in the property) the deceased’s share will not pass automatically to the other borrower. Once the death has been registered, you will need to seek the help of a solicitor to deal with the deceased borrower’s share of the estate.

Life Policies: If there are any life insurance policies in place, you’ll need to contact the policy provider to put a claim in place.