Hargreaves Lansdown (HL) is the UK’s largest investment platform, with around 1.8 million active clients holding stocks and shares ISAs, SIPPs (self-invested personal pensions), drawdown accounts, and fund and share accounts. When a client dies, there is a formal process to notify HL, freeze the accounts, and arrange for assets to pass to the estate or named beneficiaries.
The process is more involved than notifying a bank, because different HL products are governed by different rules – an ISA forms part of the estate, a pension almost always does not, and the two are handled by separate teams with different documentation requirements. This guide explains each step clearly, so you know exactly what to expect.
Quick reference:
- Bereavement phone: 0117 906 7806 (Monday–Friday, 8am–5pm)
- Online notification: hl.co.uk – what to do when someone dies
- Postal address: HL Estates, Welcome Building, Avon Street, Bristol, BS2 0TR
- Small estate threshold: £50,000 (non-pension assets); below this, no Grant of Probate is required
How to notify Hargreaves Lansdown
There are three ways to make the initial notification. You do not need all documents before making contact – HL will log the death and explain the next steps once they have the basic details.
By phone
Call 0117 906 7806 to reach HL’s bereavement team directly. Lines are open Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm. HL’s website confirms this is a UK-based team.
When you call, have the following to hand:
- The deceased’s full name, date of birth, and address
- Their date of death
- Your own name, contact details, and your relationship to the deceased
- Any HL account or reference numbers, if you have them
You do not need account numbers to call – HL can search their records from the deceased’s name and date of birth. If the person held a SIPP as well as an ISA or fund account, tell the team at the outset so both product areas are flagged.
Online
HL provides a Notification of Death online form for those who prefer to begin the process in writing. The form allows you to supply initial details, including a scan or photograph of the death certificate, without needing to call during business hours.
By post
If you prefer to notify by post, write to:
HL Estates
Welcome Building
Avon Street
Bristol
BS2 0TR
Include a covering letter stating your full name, date of birth, and address, alongside the original or certified copy of the death certificate. HL will return the death certificate to you with a valuation of the deceased’s holdings and an application pack detailing next steps.
What happens immediately after notification
Once HL is notified, they freeze access to the deceased’s accounts. Existing investments continue to be subject to market movements – their value can rise or fall – and dividends from shares or funds, and interest on any cash held, continue to be applied. The freeze means no withdrawals or new instructions can be placed until the estates process is complete.
What documents you will need
The documents required depend on which products the deceased held and the total value of non-pension assets. Use this table as a starting point.
| Document | When required |
|---|---|
| Death certificate (original or certified copy) | Always – required for all accounts |
| Covering letter with your name, date of birth, and address | Always – submitted with the death certificate |
| Certified copy of the Will | For non-pension small estates under £50,000 (in place of Grant of Probate) |
| Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration | For non-pension assets exceeding £50,000 |
| Marriage or civil partnership certificate | For pension beneficiary claims, where a spouse or civil partner is named |
| Small Estates Declaration and Indemnity form | Supplied by HL – used to authorise early asset sales before probate |
For pension accounts (SIPPs and drawdown), a Grant of Probate is not required under any circumstances. The pension trustees at HL handle pensions separately from the estate.
If you need to sell investments early – for example, to cover funeral costs or pay an inheritance tax bill before probate is granted – HL can issue a Declaration and Indemnity form that authorises limited sales for those specific purposes. Payments for funeral costs go directly to the funeral director; payments for inheritance tax go directly to HMRC. This mechanism is specific to non-pension accounts.
Sources: HL – what to do when someone dies; HL – what happens to HL investments, verified September 2026.
What happens to HL accounts
Fund and share accounts and active savings
A fund and share account forms part of the deceased’s estate and is subject to standard probate and estate administration rules. Once the estate process is complete, the executor or administrator can choose between two options:
- Transfer assets in kind to a fund and share account in the beneficiary’s own name, or
- Liquidate and distribute as a cash lump sum
For active savings (fixed-term deposits held through HL’s savings platform), the beneficiary can either wait until the fixed term matures or request early withdrawal, though early withdrawal may carry penalties depending on the product terms.
ISAs (stocks and shares ISA, Lifetime ISA)
An HL ISA ceases to accept new subscriptions on the account holder’s death, but the investments remain sheltered from income tax and capital gains tax during the administration period, which typically runs until the estate is finalised. HMRC guidance confirms the ISA continues as a “continuing account” until the executor closes it or three years and one day pass from the date of death.
The value of ISA holdings does count toward the estate for inheritance tax purposes.
Additional Permitted Subscription (APS) for surviving spouses and civil partners
A surviving spouse or civil partner who was living with the deceased at the time of death is entitled to an Additional Permitted Subscription (APS) allowance on top of their standard annual ISA allowance (£20,000 for 2025/26). The APS equals the higher of the deceased’s ISA value at the date of death or the date the ISA is closed.
This means the surviving spouse can invest the equivalent of the deceased’s ISA into their own ISA without it counting against their annual allowance. The APS must be used within three years of death, or within 180 days of the completion of estate administration, whichever is later.
HL offers an APS ISA Application Form on its website. The contribution does not have to be made to HL – the surviving spouse can transfer to any ISA provider – but if they wish to transfer investments in specie (rather than cash), both the origin and destination accounts must be with HL.
Source: HL – Additional Permitted Subscription (APS); GOV.UK – manage additional permitted subscriptions, verified May 2026.
SIPP and drawdown pension
This is the most significant area for many HL clients, and the rules are different in several important ways from other account types.
Who receives the pension
A SIPP held with HL does not automatically form part of the estate. Hargreaves Lansdown Pensions Trustees Limited (HLPT) – the corporate trustee of the HL SIPP – reviews the deceased’s nominated beneficiaries (set up during the account holder’s lifetime via online account settings or a nomination of beneficiaries form) alongside the terms of any Will. HLPT is not legally obligated to follow the Will – it uses its discretion to distribute the pension in a way it considers appropriate, though in practice it weighs nominations heavily.
Nominated beneficiaries have three options:
- Receive the pension as a cash lump sum
- Transfer into a drawdown pension in their own name (inherited drawdown), keeping the funds invested
- Exchange the value for an annuity
Tax treatment
The tax rules depend on the age of the deceased at the time of death.
| Age at death | Tax on lump sum | Tax on inherited drawdown withdrawals |
|---|---|---|
| Under 75 | Normally tax-free | Normally tax-free |
| 75 or over | Taxed as income at beneficiary’s marginal rate | Taxed as income at beneficiary’s marginal rate |
Sources: HL – what happens to your SIPP when you die; HL Service Terms and Conditions (confirms Hargreaves Lansdown Pensions Trustees Limited as trustee of the SIPP, acting on the instructions of the Scheme Administrator), verified July 2026.
Inheritance tax – current rules and upcoming changes
Under current rules, pension assets are generally excluded from the estate for inheritance tax purposes. This is one reason pension pots are often used as an inheritance planning tool.
However, the UK government has announced that from 6 April 2027, most unspent pension funds will be included in the estate for inheritance tax calculations. This is a significant change that is not yet in force but may affect estate planning decisions for HL clients. HMRC published a consultation response on this proposal in late 2024.
Source: GOV.UK – Inheritance Tax on pensions: liability, reporting and payment – summary of responses, published 2024.
Tax rules can and do change. If the estate includes a large pension, seek advice from a solicitor or independent financial adviser who can review the current rules that apply at the date of death.
Probate and thresholds
Whether you need a Grant of Probate depends on the value of non-pension assets held with HL, not the total value of the pension.
Non-pension assets under £50,000 – small estate declaration
If the total non-pension HL holdings are below £50,000 and there is no ongoing application for a Grant of Probate, HL will accept a Small Estates Declaration and Indemnity form instead. This form, which HL supplies, also requires a certified copy of the Will.
If the deceased died without a Will (intestate) and non-pension assets total under £500, HL may be able to release funds without formal legal authority. Above £500, Letters of Administration will normally be required.
Non-pension assets over £50,000 – Grant of Probate required
Where HL non-pension holdings exceed £50,000, HL requires the original Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration before it will take instructions from the executor or administrator.
Pension accounts – no probate required
HL does not require a Grant of Probate to distribute any assets held in an HL pension. The pension is handled directly by HLPT, the SIPP’s corporate trustee, and sits outside the formal probate process.
If you are applying for probate, our guide to how to apply for probate and how long probate takes covers the full process.
Sources: HL – what happens to HL investments, verified May 2026.
How long it takes
HL’s process typically runs in three phases:
Phase 1 – initial notification and estates application pack (allow up to 30 working days)
HL logs the death, flags the accounts, returns any original death certificate, and then sends you an account valuation together with the Estates Application Pack containing the forms needed to settle the accounts.
Allow up to 30 working days – roughly six weeks – for the pack to arrive. HL’s standard acknowledgement letter tells executors: “Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have not received these documents within 30 working days of receipt of this letter.” That wording is quoted verbatim in a Financial Ombudsman Service decision on an HL estates complaint. The 30 working days is the outer limit HL sets for itself, not an average – in the case the Ombudsman examined, the pack arrived in about 22 working days, and only after the executor chased. HL does not publish a timescale for this step anywhere on its own bereavement pages, so treat 30 working days as the figure to plan around and chase if it passes.
Phase 2 – document submission and review (2–4 weeks)
You complete and return the forms, along with any required legal documents (probate, Letters of Administration, or small estate declaration). For pension accounts, HLPT reviews the nomination and determines distribution – this adds time and cannot be rushed.
Phase 3 – asset distribution (1–4 weeks)
Once HL accepts the paperwork, they process any required trades and transfer assets or cash to executors or beneficiaries.
Where probate is not required, budget for around two to four months in total from first notification to final distribution, with the wait for the application pack accounting for a large share of it. Where probate is in progress, the timeline is largely governed by how long probate takes – national average waiting times at the Probate Registry have varied between four and twelve months in recent years, depending on case volume and complexity.
Sources: Financial Ombudsman Service – decision DRN-3972818 (quotes HL’s estates acknowledgement letter, including the 30-working-day timescale for issuing the Estates Application Pack); HL – Estate Application Pack, verified August 2026.
See our guide to how long probate takes for current waiting times.
Tips and things to watch out for
Notify as early as possible. HL freezes accounts immediately on notification, which protects against any unauthorised withdrawals. There is no benefit in waiting – call even before you have all the documents.
Freezing the account does not freeze the value – and the pack can take 30 working days. HL freezes online access, but holdings stay invested and keep moving with the market throughout. Because the Declaration and Indemnity form that authorises a sale arrives inside the Estates Application Pack, and HL allows itself up to 30 working days to send that pack, an estate can be exposed to market falls for six weeks or more before the executor has the paperwork to act. This exact sequence cost one estate nearly £35,000 in a case the Financial Ombudsman ruled on, and the Ombudsman did not uphold the complaint because HL had issued the pack inside its stated timescale. If the estate holds volatile assets, ask HL to send the Declaration and Indemnity form separately and immediately rather than waiting for the full pack, and chase if 30 working days pass. Source: Financial Ombudsman Service – decision DRN-3972818.
Separate processes for pensions and non-pension accounts. The teams at HL handling ISAs and fund accounts operate differently from the pension trustees. If the deceased held both types, expect to receive separate correspondence and potentially separate timelines for each.
SIPP nominations matter enormously. If the deceased never completed a nomination of beneficiaries form, HLPT exercises greater discretion over who receives the pension – which may not reflect the deceased’s wishes. The Will does not control the pension. If you are dealing with an estate and cannot find a nomination form, contact HL directly; they will confirm what is on record.
The pension IHT change is coming. From April 2027, unspent pension funds are expected to be pulled into estates for IHT calculation purposes. This does not affect the current estates of people who have already died, but it is relevant context if the deceased’s pension was deliberately left unspent as an inheritance vehicle.
APS deadline. A surviving spouse has three years from the date of death (or 180 days after estate administration is complete, whichever is later) to use the Additional Permitted Subscription allowance. Missing this deadline permanently loses the extra ISA allowance – worth acting on promptly.
Early sales of investments. If inheritance tax is due before probate is granted, HL can authorise sales of non-pension investments via a Declaration and Indemnity form to release funds specifically for the HMRC payment. This is a specific provision and payments must go directly to HMRC – they cannot be diverted to the estate’s bank account.
See also: what happens to pensions when someone dies and what happens to ISAs for broader context on these account types.
Summary
Contact Hargreaves Lansdown’s bereavement team on 0117 906 7806 (Monday–Friday, 8am–5pm) or use the online notification form. Have the deceased’s name, date of birth, date of death, and address ready. The original or certified copy of the death certificate is needed before HL can process anything.
Expect separate processes for pension and non-pension accounts. Non-pension assets under £50,000 do not require a Grant of Probate. Pensions never require probate. Allow up to 30 working days for the Estates Application Pack to arrive after you notify HL, and budget for around two to four months in total from notification to distribution where probate is not needed.
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 held investments, a SIPP, or an ISA with Fidelity International, see our guide to notifying Fidelity International when someone dies. If they held accounts with Interactive Investor, see our guide to notifying Interactive Investor when someone dies. If they held an AJ Bell account, see our guide to notifying AJ Bell when someone dies. If they held a Vanguard account, see our guide to notifying Vanguard when someone dies.