Individual

For people managing their own savings and investments.

Intermediary

For wealth managers and financial advisers managing savings and/or investments on behalf of someone else.

Institutional

For DC, DB and LGPS schemes, insurers, charities, universities, family offices and treasurers.

abrdn plc

For shareholders, careers and company information.

Change country site
Login
HomeAdviser help centreBereavement process for Wrap
HelpClient servicing

Wrap bereavement process

Read our step-by-step guide to handling the death of a client.

How to let us know

Anyone can inform us of a bereavement by letter, email or telephone. Call charges may vary.

The person notifying us can also nominate someone else for us to share information with, if required.

When you do contact us, we will need the following information:

About the deceased

  • Account number/s
  • Full name
  • Full address (last known)

  • Date of birth

  • Date of death
  • If there is a surviving spouse or civil partner
  • If a Will was left (we will require the original or a certified copy)
  • If Probate will be applied for

About you (or the executor if there is one): 

  • Full name
  • Full address
  • Best daytime contact phone number
  • Email address
  • Relationship to account holder
  • Preferred method of contact (phone, email, post)
  • Contact details for the personal representative / solicitor (if known)

Once we are notified

  • We will stop all withdrawals and contributions on all products in the account
  • We will halt all trading. Any funds that cannot be held on Platform are sold into cash (such as portfolios managed by discretionary managers)
  • For Wrap cash, Personal Portfolio, ISA, Offshore Bond, Onshore Bond: We will stop charges (including adviser charges) from the date of death. These products may remain invested until we receive instructions from the executor. If the bond has surviving members, then the charges will continue (as the product will continue). For single Person Assured or Life Assured, bonds are terminated on notification and the monies held
  • For SIPP: The scheme administrator will sell all viable funds into cash and stop charges (including adviser charges) from date of death. Some charges can continue (such as property charges)
  • We will inform the adviser of the death (if they are not the party who notified us)

Legal documents we’ll need to complete processing

In all cases, we will require a Registrar’s copy of the Death Certificate or an Interim Death Certificate. In addition, we will need the following:

If death in England / Wales / Ireland:
  • Grant of Probate (or)
  • Letters of Administration (or)
  • Form of Indemnity and Certified copy of Will (if account value at date of death is less than £75k, or for Onshore Bonds, less than £15k)
If death in Scotland:
  • Certificate of Confirmation (or)
  • Letters of Administration (or)
  • Form of Indemnity and Certified copy of Will (if account value at date of death is less than £75k, or for Onshore Bonds, less than £15k)

This table summarises what is required for each product.

  Wrap Cash Personal Portfolio ISA SIPP Offshore Bond   Onshore Bond
Death Certificate  Y Y  Y  Y  Y  Y 
Grant of Probate (or) Letters of Administration  £75k+  £75k+  £75k+  -  Y  £15k+
Indemnity Form (and) Certified Copy of Will  Under £75k  Under £75k  Under £75k  -  -  Under £15k

*In Scotland, Grant of Probate is replaced with Certificate of Confirmation.

When sending documents, please include a return address so we can return any original documents and Registrar’s copies to you in the post by recorded delivery as quickly as possible. Other copies of documents are not returned, unless requested. If you face any issues when trying to access documents or send them to us, you should contact us for more support.

Once we have received all required legal documentation, we will issue the following information within ten working days:

  • The valuation of the deceased’s account at the date of death
  • The Requirements Letter, detailing the options available
  • The forms for the executor to instruct us how to settle the account
Please note that these will only be issued to the person/s dealing with the administration of the estate (or their representatives).

Let us know your preferred option and we’ll carry out your instructions

For products within the deceased’s estate, instructions are given to us using the Settlement Form (which must be signed by all executors). Because of this, the value of the account at date of death may be different to the value of the account at date of settlement. The exception to this is with the SIPP (which is not included in the estate). Generally, products can be processed in three ways:
  • Encashment: Investments are sold down into cash and then paid either to a verified bank account, a different abrdn account or to the account of an external provider. This option has an avg. ten working day turnaround time.
  • In-specie Transfer: Investments are moved (re-registered) from the deceased account to a different abrdn account or to the account of a third party. This option has an avg. 30 working day turnaround time.
  • Combinations of the above are also possible.
For ISAs there may also be an option for an Additional Permitted Subscription (APS). This extra allowance will be the same as the amount in the deceased’s ISA on date of death or the value of the ISA when it ceases to be a Continuing ISA. This results in an increased contribution limit for a surviving spouse. If the recipient qualifies, this can be applied for using the Additional Permitted Subscription application form. If this is part of a transfer to an external provider, abrdn will contact the provider on the recipient’s behalf.

Download the Additional Permitted Subscription application form

Once settlement has completed, we will issue the Confirmation Letter, detailing what has been done and commence monitoring of the deceased’s account for residual monies for 13 months. These monies are incidental payments that may be made into the accounts from various sources (such as outstanding dividend payments). We will process these payments as per the instructions in the Settlement Form.

Further reading on Techzone:

Dealing with investments after death (such as cash, shares, unit trusts, OEICs, bonds and ISAs)

DC scheme death benefits (Defined Contribution pensions)

DB scheme death benefits (Defined Benefit pensions) 

Bypass trusts

Introductory guide to IHT

Frequently Asked Questions

We will usually need a Grant of Representation (Probate) or Letter of Administration if the estate:

  • Was held by the deceased only (not held in joint names)
  • Includes land, property, or shares (investments)

Where you are not applying for Probate, we are able to settle accounts using small claims on values up to £75,000 for the Wrap Cash, Personal Portfolio, or ISA products. For Onshore Bonds, Probate is required for values over £15k.
What is required to pay Inheritance Tax and what we need from you to process IHT payments.

  • Letter requesting us to pay IHT.
  • Copy of IHT423 form-this will include the IHT amount and the IHT reference number. Click here
  • We will use any available cash on the account towards IHT, but we should be instructed which other funds are to be sold to make up the proceeds.
  • Once cash is available, we will make the payment directly to HMRC (HM Revenue and Customs) using the IHT reference number provided.

Please note there is no timely execution on how quickly we need to make an IHT payment, we will try to get it done as soon as possible but cannot guarantee it will be done in a certain timescale. Please allow our normal turnaround times for completion
The documents which we can accept a certified copy of are listed below:

  • Death certificate
  • Will
  • Coroner’s Certificate

Documents should be posted to us. Alternatively, if the deceased’s financial adviser is dealing with the account on your behalf, they can upload the documents to the Platform and contact us to let us know they are available.
As per Government guidance, to certify a document you can ask a professional person or someone well-respected in your community ('of good standing') such as a:

  • Financial adviser (regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority)
  • Chartered Accountant
  • Bank or Building Society official (e.g., counter staff, manager etc.) certified at a branch of a bank or building society
  • Barrister Civil Servant (permanent)
  • Commissioner of Oaths Councillor (Local or County)
  • General Practitioner (GP), Consultant or Medical Professional
  • Justice of the Peace Member of Parliament
  • Minister of a recognised religion
  • Nurse (NHS)
  • Notary Officer of the Armed Services (active)
  • Police or Customs Officer
  • Postmaster or Sub Postmaster
  • Social worker
  • Solicitor
  • Teacher or lecturer
We require the certifier to have seen the original and to write the following phrase and information below on each page of the document they are certifying:

  • 'I certify this to be a true copy of the original'
  • Signature of certifier
  • Full name of certifier (must be readable)
  • Position / job title
  • Employer’s name and address (must be readable)
  • Date
We cannot accept certified copies (e.g., a Will) by anyone who is:

  • Related to you
  • Living at the same address
  • In a relationship with you.
Yes, but only the executors can instruct us to make an ad-hoc payment (adviser charge) to the financial adviser.
We will arrange to stop further transactions taking place including regular payments in/out of the account.
Ownership of the account will automatically pass to the remaining joint account holder. Due to the way the account was originally created, the deceased’s name will continue to appear on any statements or other correspondence sent from the Wrap account. If you want the assets transferred to an individual account, your financial adviser can action this.
We'll pay the money by bank transfer (electronic payment) into a verified bank account, nominated by the executor/personal representative.
A Power of Attorney is no longer valid if the account holder has passed away. If you were appointed as an attorney by the deceased, you can no longer rely on the Power of Attorney to access the deceased’s accounts or conduct any other transactions on their behalf.
Normally we will only ask for a UK Grant of Probate to pay out the proceeds of a bond on a client’s death. In some cases, we may ask for an Irish Grant of Probate, for example:

  • If we believe that an Irish will is in existence; or
  • If the bond owner was resident in Ireland at the time of death.
Upon death:

  • If Life Assured: The bond must end following the death of the last life assured.
  • If Capital Redemption: There are no lives assured so the bond continues after death by passing to the surviving bond owner(s) or personal representatives of the deceased.

Offshore Bonds are managed by Standard Life International dac.

Further reading: Dealing with investments after the death of an investor.
The SIPP is not included in the deceased’s estate and as such, authority is transferred to the scheme administrator. They choose to sell into cash to protect the current value of the SIPP while they commence their own process for determining how the product should be settled (and to whom). If you wish to provide information to the scheme administrator (Standard Life Assurance Ltd) on how the SIPP should be inherited, please follow the links below.

Importance of death benefit nominations

Death Benefit Nomination Form

Related help

FATCA and CRS

Guidance on FATCA and the Common Reporting Standard (CRS)

Signatures and scanned documents

Using e-signatures, wet signatures and scanned documents on Wrap

Elevate bereavement process

Read our step-by-step guide to handling the death of a client.

How to use the Capital Gains Tax tool on Elevate

Bank details verification

For Wrap and Fundzone clients

Help using the client portal

Configuration tips and guides for both advisers and clients.

Managing tax on Wrap

Move money from PP to ISA