Bereavement help

It's always a difficult time when someone dies, and we want to do all we can to help you.

You can notify us of a death by phone. Please call 0800 085 6789 or +44 203 901 3353 if you’re calling from abroad and our Customer Care Team will freeze the account. Our lines are open 8am to 8pm, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays). They’re on hand to support and help explain the process for you.

When you’re ready to settle the account:

• Have the original or certified death certificate
• Download the bereavement form and post it to us once it’s completed, along with any supporting documents we ask for
• We’ll contact you to close the account and transfer the balance to a linked account or send a cheque

You can download a bereavement form here.

If you would like any help completing the form, please call 0800 085 6789. Our lines are open 8am to 8pm, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays). A member of our Customer Care team can help guide you through the sections.

No, you don’t need to fill in the bereavement form to get balance information.

To get the account balance, please post:

• A letter saying you need the deceased’s balance, please include their name and account details
• The orginal or certified death ceritficate
• Your contact details
  
  

To:

Marcus UK
PO Box 74787
London
EC4P 4JG

Or, you can call our Customer Care Team on 0800 085 6789 and then post the original or certified death certificate. Our lines are open 8am to 8pm, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays).

We’ll be in touch with the deceased account(s)’ information.

That’s okay. You can get the death certificate by:

• Registering the death on https://www.gov.uk/after-a-death
• We recommend you ask for at least 2 copies of the death certificate as you need to post one to close any account(s)
  
  

Whilst you’re waiting for the death certificate, you can notify us of the death to freeze the account(s). Please call our Customer Care Team on 0800 085 6789 to do this.

Once you have an original or certifed death certificate, you can settle the account(s) by:

1. Downloading and printing the bereavement form
   
2. Posting the completed form, along with any supporting documents we ask for

We’ll contact you to close the account and transfer the balance to a linked account, or send a cheque.

Not to worry. Add the details you have to the form, and we can verify and find all the Marcus and/or Saga accounts the individual held.

If you’re unsure what to write in the form, please call 0800 085 6789. A member of the Customer Care Team can help advise you. Our lines are open 8am to 8pm, Monday to Friday (excluding bank holidays).

A Grant of Probate, also known as Confirmation in Scotland, is a legal document that confirms who can deal with the estate (property, money and possessions) of the person who died.

This document can have two different names, depending on if the person left a will:

• If the person did leave a will, it’s called a Grant of Probate
• If the person didn’t leave a will, it’s called a Letter of Administration
  
  
  

Both documents do the same thing, giving the named person the authority to settle accounts, debts and property.

There’s a few scenarios where you’d need a Grant of Probate:

• If you, an executor of a will or Next of Kin are settling the account(s) and the total balance is £20,000 or more then you will need a Grant of Probate.

• If you’re managing the account(s) through a solicitor, you’ll need a Grant of Probate if the total balance is £50,000 or more.

• If the deceased passed away abroad, you will need a Grant of Probate.
  
  

We will not need to see a Grant of Probate if:

• The linked account is still open and accepting funds.
• You have a joint account and request we convert to a sole account in your name.

In most cases, if the linked account is still open and accepting funds then we will not require Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration to settle the funds.

Our Customer Care Team can help answer any questions you may have on your situation and if you need this document.

Yes, your solicitor can register a death on your behalf. Add their details to the bereavement form and tick the ‘Please direct all correspondence to this solicitor only’ option.

You, or the next of kin, will still have to sign the form. But we’ll contact them and work with them to settle the accounts how you wish.

Post your bereavement form, original or certified death certificate and any other required documents to:

Marcus UK
PO Box 74787
London
EC4P 4JG

Your documents will be returned to you.

Yes, in general interest earned after the date of death should be subject to UK Income Tax. It’s the responsibility of the executor(s) of the estate to confirm and report income that arises on the deceased person’s account to HMRC and settle any UK Income Tax that may be due.

Marcus is required to submit information about interest earned on the account to HMRC, including details of any executor(s), as part of our annual reporting obligations (i.e., through the annual Bank and Building Society Interest return).

For further information please speak to HMRC.

An Additional Permitted Subscription (APS) allows you to make contributions to an ISA on top of your annual normal allowance if your spouse or civil partner held an ISA and dies. Even if your spouse or civil partner leaves their ISA funds to someone else, you can still apply for an APS allowance and make contributions using other funds you already hold. Using an APS allowance is different to requesting an ISA transfer as it will not move any money out of your spouse or civil partner’s ISA. Your spouse or civil partner’s ISA will be settled following the usual deceased estate process.  

You will be eligible for an APS allowance if:

• your spouse or civil partner died on or after 3 December 2014, and
• if you were living together with your spouse or civil partner at the date of their death.

You cannot use an APS if you were separated from your spouse and civil partner:

• under a court order,
• under a deed of separation, or
• in circumstances where the marriage or civil partnership has broken down.

The APS allowance is available for whichever is later date of:

• 3 years after the date that your spouse or civil partner has died, or
• up to 180 days after the administration of the estate is complete.

Not all ISA providers will accept APS allowance.  We do not accept APS allowance, but we’re happy to pass the relevant APS allowance information on to another ISA provider.

Please contact your chosen ISA provider to confirm if they accept APS allowance. 

We do not accept APS allowance subscriptions. We’re happy to pass the relevant APS allowance information on to your chosen ISA provider as detailed below in the next FAQ. 

Please ask your chosen ISA provider to send us an APS Allowance Transfer Authority form to the following address:

Marcus UK
PO Box 74787
London
EC4P 4JG

We will then forward on a probate valuation letter so your chosen ISA provider can adjust your ISA subscription allowance. We will only provide this letter once to your chosen ISA provider. We won’t be able to send this to anyone else.

It is important that you tell us about the death of our customer before we can provide this information.

If you need to let us know about the death of our customer, or have any further questions please contact us on 0800 085 6789. We are open 8am to 8pm, Monday to Friday (excluding UK or Republic of Ireland bank holidays).

After the death of the ISA account holder, all ISAs held by the deceased become a ‘continuing ISA’ for a limited amount of time. Any money in the account will remain tax-free until the account ceases to be a continuing ISA which is on the earlier of the following:

• the administration of the deceased’s estate is complete; or
• the ISA is closed.

Otherwise, we will close the ISA 3 years and 1 day after the death of the ISA account holder.

Where multiple ISAs are held with one ISA provider, the APS value will be the total value of all ISAs at the date of death or the total value of all ISA(s) at the date of closure of each continuing account. The value of the APS allowance is fixed and cannot be changed.

The APS allowance equals the higher of the two values below:

• the value of the ISA(s) at the date of death; or
• the value of the ISA(s) at the date the ISA(s) cease(s) to be a continuing ISA.

You will need to wait until the ISA(s) cease to be a continuing ISA to determine the higher of the two values. 

If you’ve changed your mind, please give us a call on 0800 085 6789 as soon as possible so that we can look into this for you. We’re open 8am to 8pm, Monday to Friday (excluding UK and Republic of Ireland bank holidays).

Please note that if we’ve already sent a letter to your chosen ISA provider, we’ll be unable to cancel this request for you.