Deceased Client

When a family member, friend or someone close to you dies, its naturally a very distressing time.

As well as dealing with the emotional upset, you may also be faced with having to sort out their financial affairs. We will do our best to help you through this process.

If you need to contact us to settle the banking affairs of one of our clients who has passed away, you can do so by:

• Contacting us by Phone on + 44 20 7332 6767
• Emailing us at info@Alpha-Bank.co.uk
• Downloading and completing the Bereavement Notification form and sending it together with the documents listed below to:

Alpha Bank London
Capital House
85 King William Street
London
EC4N 7BL

 

What you’ll need to provide:
Once you have told the Bank, we will need to see various documents. The nature of those documents will depend on whether the deceased client was a resident of the UK, Greece or Cyprus. The table below sets out the respective requirements:

Acceptable identification documents for Personal Representatives:

We will need one proof of identification and proof of address for each Personal Representative.

Proof of Identification:

• Certified copy of valid passport
• Certified copy of Driving License
• Certified copy of National Identification Card

Proof of address:

• Original or certified copy of Utility bill (dated within 3 months)
• Original or certified copy of Bank statement (dated within the last 3 months (mobile phone bills and online statements are not acceptable)

Certification Standards

Documents should be clear copies and can be certified by the following third parties:

• Public notary
• Law firm/solicitor/accountant/tax advisor
• Regulated financial institution
• Representative of an Embassy, Consulate or High Commission

Certified copies must be stamped to show they are ‘true copies of the original’.

The certification must be in English and include:

• The name and address of the certifying firm/organisation together with the recognised professional registration
• The full name, signature and position of the certifying officer, and
• The date of certification.

What happens next?

We understand that some legal documents may take some time to arrange, therefore, to protect the deceased client’s accounts, the Death Certificate should be sent to the bank as possible together with the completed Bereavement Notification Form.

Upon receipt of the Death Certificate, we will start making the following changes to the deceased client’s account(s):

Sole accounts –The sole account(s) of the deceased will automatically be frozen, so no further payments will be taken from the account. All direct debits and standing orders will be cancelled.

Joint accounts – We will amend the joint account to become solely in the survivor’s name only. Please note that direct debits and standing orders will continue unless the surviving party instructs us otherwise.

Power of Attorney/Third Party mandates – Upon notification of the death, the Power of Attorney or Third-Party mandate becomes void, and the attorney is removed from the account(s) of the deceased.

If the Estate is below £25,000 in total
We may be willing to release the funds held in the account(s) of the deceased, to the Personal Representative(s) of the deceased without needing sight of Grant of Probate or Grant of Letters of Administration. To release the funds and close the account(s), an Account Closing Indemnity form will need to be completed and signed by the Personal Representative(s).

This is totally at the discretion of the Bank, and will be subject to satisfactory receipt of the requisite supporting documentation set out in the tables above.

The Account Closing Indemnity Form is a legally binding agreement signed by the Personal Representative(s) agreeing to indemnify Alpha Bank London Ltd from and against all actions, costs, damages, claims and demands made against us by any person, for having permitted the withdrawal of the funds in the deceased clients account(s).

Payments from the Estate

Certain payments can be made from the deceased clients account(s) such as:

• Funeral expenses (part or full payment of the funeral invoice) we require the original funeral invoice to make payment direct to the funeral directors.
• Claiming back funeral expenses -already paid by the Personal Representative(s) we will require receipt of payment for the funeral, original funeral invoice and a completed and signed Funeral Expenses Indemnity form.
• Inheritance Tax – Usually the ‘Executor(s)’ of the Will or the ‘Administrator(s)’ of the Estate pays Inheritance Tax using funds from the Estate.
  Funds can be taken from the sole account of the deceased to pay directly to HMRC. Further details of this can be found on the UK Government website.