Archives: FAQ - Savings

Let us know and we will advise what documentation we need. You can then advise who you want the funds to be paid to.

We will make the process as easy as possible for you. Once you have told us of the death, we will freeze the account. This means there will be no payments in or withdrawals out of the account (although interest will still be earnt). We’ll let you know what documents we need and aim to sort everything out as quickly as possible. We will tell you how long we expect the process to take, what to expect and when, and what you will need for the next steps.

If the deceased is your spouse or civil partner you can inherit an additional ISA allowance under the Additional Permitted Subscription (APS) allowance. The APS doesn’t count towards any current year ISA subscriptions that you have.

The APS has to be done within three years of the date of the death or 180 days after the administration of the estate is complete (if this is later). Please note, we currently cannot accept Additional Permitted Subscriptions into an Ecology ISA account.

An ISA stays tax free until:

• The deceased’s estate is completed
• The account is closed
• The third anniversary of the account holder’s death

We can withdraw money from the account to pay for funeral expenses and Inheritance Tax. We will need an invoice from the funeral directors to pay for the funeral costs. The payment will be made directly to them.
If you need to pay an Inheritance Tax bill, we will need a completed HMRC form IHT423.

Once we have received all the required documents, it usually takes 14 days to get all the paperwork completed to close the account. We would aim to release the payment for the funds to a UK bank account within 14 days.

A statutory declaration must be signed in front of a solicitor and confirms that you are entitled to the funds. It usually costs in the region of £10 – £20. Any solicitor can complete this for you.

If the combined savings balances held with Ecology are above £15,000, we will also need either:

• The original grant of probate, or solicitor certified copy;

or

• The original letters of administration, or a solicitor certified copy

If the combined balances are below £15,000, then you need to follow the standard process for closing an account. We will provide you with a statutory declaration to sign.

 

Joint Accounts

If the account is in joint names with you, you can still use the account but need to send us a copy of the original or certified death certificate.

Once we have the death certificate we will update our records and remove the deceased’s name from the account.

Once the account is in your name only, you can close it if you want to.