How to Fill Out and Submit the Barclays Bereavement Closure Form

You report a death to Barclays through their online bereavement notification form, which you can start at any time on the Barclays website without calling or visiting a branch.¹ You upload a death certificate and proof of your own identity, save your progress if you need to come back later, and once Barclays processes the notification they freeze the person’s sole accounts within 24 hours. A second form, the Settlement Details form, follows afterwards and tells Barclays where to send the money.

What You Need Before You Start

Two documents do most of the work: a death certificate and photo ID for you.

Barclays accepts the standard death certificate from the registrar, an interim death certificate, a coroner’s certificate, or a non-UK death certificate translated into English. An original or a photocopy is fine.¹

For your own ID, any one of the following is enough:

A valid full or provisional driving licence (UK or international)
A valid UK or international passport
A UK residence permit
An HM Armed Forces Veteran Card
A Blue Badge parking permit showing a serial number
A child tax credit or working tax credit letter
A benefit entitlement letter dated within the last 12 months

These confirm who you are. They don’t need to prove your relationship to the person who died; Barclays checks your legal authority to deal with the estate separately.¹

Whether You Need Probate

If the person held more than £50,000 across their sole accounts with Barclays, you’ll need a Grant of Probate before Barclays can release those funds. In Scotland this is a Grant of Confirmation, and if there’s no will it’s Letters of Administration instead.² You don’t need probate for joint accounts, and you don’t need it to start the notification. If sole balances are £50,000 or less, Barclays can release the money without a grant and will tell you during the process whether yours is the kind of case that needs one.

A probate application through GOV.UK (online or on paper form PA1P with a will, PA1A without one) usually takes around 12 weeks.³

Power of Attorney Doesn’t Carry Over

If you held a lasting power of attorney for the person while they were alive, that authority ended at the moment of death.⁴ You can’t use it to notify Barclays or access accounts. To act on the estate you need to be the executor named in the will, or appointed as administrator by the probate registry.

Filling In the Notification Form

The form is split between information about the person who died and information about you. You don’t need every detail to hand before you begin. Progress saves, and you can return to add documents or account numbers later.¹

Details About the Person Who Died

You enter their first and last name, date of birth, last known address, and date of death. Add any account numbers and sort codes you can find on debit cards or statements. Listing every product you know of (current accounts, savings, ISAs, credit cards, mortgages) helps Barclays pull up the full picture so nothing is missed.

Barclays Partner Finance accounts work differently. For those, you need the 16-digit account number rather than a sort code and account number.⁵ If you aren’t sure whether the person had one, basic identifying details are enough for Barclays to search.

Your Details

You give your full name, contact information, and relationship to the deceased. You also indicate the capacity in which you’re notifying: executor named in the will, administrator appointed by the court, or legal next of kin.⁶ If a solicitor is handling the estate, their details go in this section instead of yours.

How to Submit the Form

You have three routes:

Online, through the notification form on the Barclays website. Upload scans or clear photos of the death certificate and your ID. This is the quickest option because there’s no appointment to book.
In person, by taking original documents to any Barclays branch. Staff will photocopy them and hand the originals back.¹
By post, to the bereavement team. If you’re sending originals, use a tracked service so you have proof of receipt. Barclays will copy them and return them.

A Barclaycard is handled by a separate team. You can notify them through their own online form or by calling the Central Bereavement Team on 0800 068 2238, open 8am to 5pm Monday to Friday and 9am to 2pm Saturday.⁷

What Barclays Does Once They Receive It

Processing is quick, and different account types are handled in different ways.

Sole current and savings accounts are frozen within 24 hours. Standing orders, direct debits, and linked cards are cancelled. Interest and fees stop. Payments arriving after notification are returned to the sender.¹
Joint accounts stay open in the surviving holder’s name and can be used as normal. Barclays updates chequebooks and similar stationery.
A Barclaycard is closed and interest stops on any outstanding balance.⁷
Cash ISAs can be kept open for up to three years from the date of death while the estate is settled. They continue to earn interest but no new money can go in. After three years Barclays closes the account.⁶
Fixed-rate savings bonds can stay open to maturity without penalty and then pay out to the personal representative, or close early once the estate is settled with no loss of interest.¹
Investments trigger a separate letter listing the accounts and an Expression of Wishes form so you can give instructions on each one. Joint investment accounts stay frozen until a Grant of Probate is produced.
A sole mortgage stays open and continues to accrue interest. Personal representatives have 12 months from the date of death to repay the balance or contact Barclays about next steps.¹

Barclays also stops post addressed to the deceased as quickly as it can, though letters already in transit may still arrive.

The Settlement Details Form That Comes Next

After the initial notification, Barclays sends a Settlement Details form. This is where you tell them what to do with the money in sole current accounts, savings accounts, sole trader accounts, and Barclaycards.⁶

It has three sections. The first covers bonds and ISAs: for each one you say whether to keep it open or close it, with the three-year window for cash ISAs and the maturity option for fixed-rate bonds. The second is payment details: all sterling balances from closed accounts go to a single nominated account (you supply the account name, sort code, and account number), foreign currency balances can go to a different account if you want, and children’s savings accounts pay out separately by cheque in the child’s name. The third is the signature section. Every executor or administrator has to sign the same copy before it goes back, either electronically through DocuSign or on paper.

You can return the completed form online (DocuSign is instant), in person at a branch, or by post to the Barclays Bereavement Team.⁶

How Long It Takes

Sole accounts freeze within 24 hours of Barclays processing the notification, and initial correspondence follows shortly after. A straightforward estate with balances under £50,000 and no probate requirement can often be wrapped up within a few weeks of the Settlement Details form going back.

Larger estates take longer because the Grant of Probate itself typically takes around 12 weeks to come through, and Barclays can’t release funds above the £50,000 threshold until they’ve seen it.³ Investments, foreign currency accounts, and ongoing mortgages each have their own resolution process and stretch the timeline further.

The quickest way through is accurate paperwork the first time. The common causes of delay are missing account numbers, unsigned forms, and death certificates that haven’t been translated into English.

1
Barclays. What to Do When Someone Dies
2
Barclays. What’s a Grant of Probate
3
GOV.UK. Applying for Probate
4
GOV.UK. When a Lasting Power of Attorney Ends
5
Barclays. Bereavement Notification
6
Barclays. Barclays Settlement Details Form
7
Barclaycard. Supporting You With Bereavement