How to notify British Heart Foundation when someone dies

Last updated 15 July 2026

Reviewed by the After Loss Guide editorial team · updated 15 July 2026

Researched from primary sources. See our editorial policy.

If someone close to you supported the British Heart Foundation (BHF) – through a regular monthly gift, a lottery subscription, or as a volunteer – nothing about that relationship stops automatically when they die. Someone needs to tell BHF directly, both to stop any regular donation being collected and to bring an end to the mailings, calls, and appeals sent to the deceased’s name.

This guide covers how to notify BHF of a death, what details to have ready, what happens to a regular donation and Gift Aid declaration, and how to give in memory of the person or deal with a legacy gift left in their Will.

For a full list of organisations to notify after a death, see what to do when someone dies.

How to notify British Heart Foundation

BHF handles bereavement-related contact through its Customer Services team, the same team that manages donations, membership-style supporter records, and general enquiries.

To stop a regular donation, cancel mailings, or update a supporter’s record, contact Customer Services:

  • Phone: 0300 330 3322 (Monday to Friday, 9am–5pm; calls cost the same as a landline call)
  • Post: British Heart Foundation, Compton House, 2300 The Crescent, Birmingham Business Park, Birmingham, B37 7YE
  • Online: the BHF contact page lists current phone and postal routes for supporter enquiries

If the deceased left a gift to BHF in their Will, this is handled separately by the dedicated Legacies team rather than Customer Services – see the section below on legacy gifts.

If the family wants to make a donation in the person’s memory, this is also a separate route, run through BHF’s in-memory giving service rather than Customer Services.

When you call or write to Customer Services, explain that the supporter has died and give their full name and address – a supporter or donor reference number, if you have one, speeds things up but is not essential. It appears on any recent donation confirmation, lottery renewal, or mailing label from BHF.

Source: BHF – Contact us, verified July 2026.

What documents you’ll need

BHF’s requirements for stopping a regular donation or supporter mailings are lighter than a bank or pension provider, because a regular gift is a charitable subscription rather than a financial account holding the deceased’s own money.

DocumentNotes
Deceased's full name and addressThe minimum needed to locate and close the supporter record
Supporter or donor reference numberSpeeds up the call but not essential – found on donation confirmations or mailing labels
Your relationship to the deceasedNeeded so Customer Services can update the record appropriately
Death certificateNot published as a requirement for stopping a regular donation or mailings – BHF's Customer Services process is phone- and post-based rather than document-led

The picture is different if you’re dealing with a legacy gift left to BHF in the Will – that process, run by the Legacies team, does require specific documentation, covered below.

What happens to the regular donation and mailings

Once Customer Services has been notified, any regular donation set up by direct debit or standing order is cancelled and no further payments are collected. If a payment is taken after you’ve notified BHF, or after the direct debit has been cancelled at the bank, you’re entitled to an immediate refund under the Direct Debit Guarantee. As a backstop, it’s worth also cancelling the instruction directly with the deceased’s bank – see our guide to what happens to direct debits when someone dies for the full process.

Any Gift Aid declaration linked to the supporter’s record ends automatically once the regular donation stops – there is nothing separate for the family to action with HMRC.

Mailings and appeals. Notifying Customer Services should stop future post, email, and phone contact addressed to the deceased. As with most large fundraising organisations, it can take one or two mailing cycles for this to filter through fully across every list, so it’s worth flagging again if post continues to arrive some weeks later.

Furniture and House Clearance collections. BHF also runs charity shops and a furniture collection service. If the deceased had booked a collection, or if the family wants to donate belongings, this is arranged through the same Customer Services number rather than a separate team.

BHF does not typically refund donations already taken before the date of death or notification – regular giving is treated as a completed gift for each payment made, in the same way as most UK charities.

Legacy gifts and giving in memory

These are two distinct routes, separate from closing the deceased’s own supporter record.

If the deceased left a gift to BHF in their Will, executors and solicitors deal with BHF’s Legacies team, which is set up specifically to support this process:

  • Phone: 0300 330 3322 (Monday to Friday, 9am–5pm)
  • Post: British Heart Foundation, Greater London House, 180 Hampstead Road, London, NW1 7AW
  • Charity numbers to quote: 225971 (England and Wales), SC039426 (Scotland)

To register a legacy gift, the Legacies team needs: the deceased’s full name and title, their last address, date of death, the executor’s name and contact details, a copy of the Will, information about the gift itself, and – if the gift is a share of the residuary estate – the Estate Accounts. Once this is submitted, BHF issues a unique payment reference for the executor to use when transferring the funds. BHF states that an executor’s own details are not added to any mailing list as a result of a legacy enquiry.

Source: BHF – Information for solicitors and executors of Wills, verified July 2026.

If the family wants to give in memory of the person, rather than dealing with a Will gift, BHF offers several routes entirely separate from the Legacies process:

  • A one-off or monthly donation in their memory, made online or by phone (0300 330 3322)
  • A funeral or memorial collection, either as an online tribute page through tributefunds.bhf.org.uk or in person at the service using envelopes or a collection box – funeral directors can often help set this up
  • A tribute fund, a personal webpage to share memories, photos, and collect donations
  • Having a name engraved on BHF’s Heart of Steel memorial sculpture in Yorkshire

None of these require the deceased’s own supporter record to be closed first, and they can be set up at any time.

Source: BHF – Donate in memory, verified July 2026.

Probate and thresholds

Stopping a regular donation or closing a supporter record does not require probate – it’s a straightforward account closure, not an estate asset with a balance to release.

A legacy gift named in the Will is different: it’s dealt with as part of the wider probate and estate administration process, in the same way as any other named beneficiary. The executor registers the gift with BHF’s Legacies team as outlined above, and payment follows once the estate is in a position to distribute it – typically once the Grant of Probate has been obtained and the estate’s debts and other liabilities are settled.

For general guidance on the probate process itself, see do I need probate and how long does probate take.

How long it takes

Notifying Customer Services stops a regular donation within a few working days, though it can take one or two mailing cycles for post and appeals to fully stop across every list BHF holds.

A legacy gift runs on a different, longer timeline, governed by the wider probate process rather than the notification itself. Once the required documents are submitted to the Legacies team and a payment reference issued, the transfer can happen as soon as the estate is ready to make it – but this may be many months after the date of death if probate is still being administered.

Tips and things to watch out for

Three different purposes, one main phone number. Regular donations, general supporter enquiries, and furniture collections all go through the same Customer Services line (0300 330 3322) – but legacy gifts go to a different postal address and are handled by a dedicated team, so mention up front if you’re calling about a Will gift.

No death certificate required to stop a donation. Unlike banks and utility companies, BHF’s Customer Services process for stopping a regular gift or mailings doesn’t ask for one – don’t delay notifying them while you wait for certified copies you need elsewhere.

Expect mailings to take a little time to stop fully. Large fundraising charities often run several mailing lists in parallel. If post keeps arriving after you’ve notified BHF, contact Customer Services again with the reference number from the mailing itself.

In-memory giving is entirely optional. There’s no obligation to set up a tribute fund or memorial donation when you close the account – many families simply want the donation stopped, and that’s a complete outcome in itself.

Keep legacy paperwork together. If you’re an executor dealing with a Will gift, gather the death certificate, a copy of the Will, and the Estate Accounts (if relevant) before contacting the Legacies team – having everything ready in one submission avoids delays waiting on follow-up requests.

Summary

To stop a regular donation or supporter mailings from the British Heart Foundation, call Customer Services on 0300 330 3322 (Monday to Friday, 9am–5pm) or write to Compton House, 2300 The Crescent, Birmingham Business Park, Birmingham, B37 7YE. No death certificate is required for this. A legacy gift named in the Will is handled separately by BHF’s Legacies team, who need a copy of the Will, the date of death, and – for residuary gifts – the Estate Accounts, before issuing a payment reference. Giving in memory, through a tribute fund, funeral collection, or one-off donation, is optional and entirely separate from either process.

For everything else involved in settling an estate, the what to do after a death hub covers each organisation and service you may need to notify. If the deceased also supported Cancer Research UK, Macmillan Cancer Support, the RSPB, the National Trust, English Heritage, or the Woodland Trust, see our guides to notifying Cancer Research UK when someone dies, notifying Macmillan Cancer Support when someone dies, notifying the RSPB when someone dies, notifying the National Trust when someone dies, and notifying the Woodland Trust when someone dies.

Sources

For a full checklist of organisations to notify after a death, see what to do when someone dies.