Bereavement support

If the person who’s passed away had a will, locating this as soon as possible will help when dealing with their estate.

You'll need to find the last known signed and witnessed version of the will. If you cannot find a will at their home, their lawyer, bank or financial adviser may have a copy.

A will usually names one or more executors, also known as Personal Representatives. They are the people who will be responsible for dealing with the estate of the deceased.

What happens if there isn’t a will?

Once the death has been registered, you can arrange a funeral. You may already know what sort of funeral the deceased wanted, or there may be instructions in the will or other papers.

One important decision is how much to spend. Funerals can be expensive and may need to be paid for immediately, unless a funeral plan exists. In order for us to pay funeral expenses from the deceased estate, before executors have formally been appointed by the courts, written authority will be required from all executors of the estate and a copy of the invoice that is to be paid.

Once we're notified of a death, our team will get in touch to explain the next steps and timescales.

We'll freeze any sole accounts to stop withdrawals, but we'll still allow money to be paid in.

We'll stop any marketing messages from being sent. However, you may still receive some because these are prepared several weeks in advance. We try to prevent this happening, but if you do receive anything, please accept our sincere apologies.

Once we're notified of a death, our team will contact you to explain the next steps.

Any Current Accounts or Savings accounts held in the sole name of the deceased will be frozen. This includes the use of any cards linked to the account(s) and being able to transact via telephone or online banking.

No restrictions will be placed on joint accounts as joint accounts will transfer automatically to the surviving account holders. Due to technical reasons, in instances where only one surviving party remains, we'll need to change the account numbers on our systems and issue new accounts. If two or more surviving customers are present, the joint account number will remain the same and the deceased customer will be removed. If any previous USD or GBP debit cards were linked to any USD or GBP joint current accounts, we won't issue a new debit card for these accounts. This is because we've decided to withdraw USD and GBP debit cards from our HSBC Expat offering, following a recent review.

We'll also stop any marketing correspondence from being sent out. Please note, because these are prepared several weeks in advance, you may still receive some correspondence. We try to avoid this from happening, but if you do receive anything, please accept our sincere apologies.

The Personal Representative, is the individual who is responsible for dealing with the deceased customer’s estate. They may also be known as the executor or administrator of the estate. 

To protect you and the deceased customer’s estate from fraud and financial crime, we’ll need to verify your identity and address. Photographic identification, such as a passport or driving licence and confirmation of the residential address of at least one of the estate executors, certified in accordance with our requirements.

Please note, if the executor(s) hold(s) an account with any branch of HSBC plc or HSBC Expat, identification and verification of address is not required. However, we'll need the sort code and account number.

The certifier must state the below on all required documents:

‘I confirm that this is a true and accurate copy of the original document’.

If the document contains a photograph, the certifier must also add:

‘and that the photograph bears a true likeness to the individual requesting the certification’.

The certifier must sign and date the document and add their full name, address, and professional position in block capitals.

If the deceased's funds and assets held with HSBC Expat in Jersey have a value greater than £30,000, we'll need to see a Jersey Grant of Probate before we can release them.

Please note, the value of the assets could still increase after death. For example, if the value of an investment goes up. This might mean assets originally worth £30,000 or less could become worth more than £30,000. If this happens, we'll need to see a Jersey Grant of Probate before we can release them.

Generally, a Jersey Grant of Probate will not be required in cases where the value of the Jersey assets is (and remains) £30,000 or less, but we may still require one in some circumstances. We'll tell you if we do.

We may need to see the will to make sure we’re dealing with the correct Personal Representative(s) of the deceased customer.

We may close the deceased customer’s accounts without seeing the will; however, we reserve the right to ask to see the will if needed.

If someone dies without making a will they are said to have died ‘intestate’.

In this case, the deceased’s assets will be dealt with according to the law of the country the deceased was domiciled in. In cases of intestacy, Personal Representatives will be appointed following a court procedure. We'll be dealing with the appointed Representative. If nobody has been appointed and the deceased’s next of kin require urgent assistance with funeral costs, we may be able to discuss this.

If you are unsure what should be happen when there's no will, it's best to seek independent legal advice.