Bank bereavement thresholds › NatWest

NatWest · bereavement threshold

No published figure— decided case-by-case

NatWest does not publish a threshold; its bereavement team decides case-by-case.

Checked against NatWest — "What to do when someone dies" (official Bereavement guide, natwest.com), including its embedded glossary and FAQ sections on 30 Aug 2026

§1What it means

No published threshold — decided case-by-case.

NatWest does not publish a threshold; its bereavement team decides case-by-case. NatWest does not publish a general/blanket balance figure below which they will release a deceased customer's funds without a Grant of Probate/Letters of Administration — for typical small-estate cases this is handled case-by-case through their internal "(Indemnity) Agreement" process (a signed, witnessed document; witness must be 18+ and not a family member), and NatWest's own page does not state an upper balance limit for when that route is offered. The one exact figure NatWest DOES publish is much narrower: in their own glossary they define an "Indemnifying Letter" as a document that lets them release funds to an executor/next of kin "when the total balances held are under £50, and grant of probate/letters of admin are not being applied for" — i.e. a separate, lighter-weight instrument for trivial balances, not the general small-estate threshold that third-party sites (which quote figures like £25,000) claim. Do not treat that £25,000 figure as NatWest's own published number — it appears only on third-party guide sites (withfarra.co.uk, afterloss.uk, settleprobate.co.uk, legacytrail.co.uk), none of which are NatWest, and NatWest's own pages do not state it.

What you'll need

Death certificate (or the death certificate number if the physical certificate isn't yet available, at notification stage)

Will/Codicil

Grant of Representation (England & Wales) or Certificate of Confirmation (Scotland) — 'We'll let you know if we need to see a Grant of Probate/Certificate of Confirmation in the condolence letter'

Completed Account Closure Form, signed by next of kin or executor(s)

Photo ID and proof of address, if the person notifying/dealing with the estate is not themselves a NatWest customer

Identity verification (photo ID upload / selfie match) for online notification

For an Executor Account: a Grant of Probate, Letters of Administration, or Grant of Confirmation (collectively 'Grant of Representation') before NatWest will open the account or discuss the estate in detail

How to notify NatWest

Online form (natwest.com bereavement guide — 'Complete online form now', with document/ID upload, 'it's ok if you don't have them right now'); phone on 0800 161 5903, lines open 9am–5pm Monday to Friday excluding bank holidays (international: +44 1204 684658; Relay UK: 18001 0800 161 5903); webchat (Mon–Fri 8am–5pm per the page); in branch. NatWest also accepts notification via the industry Death Notification Service (DNS) — the page asks 'Already used the Death Notification Service (DNS) to let us know about this death?' — described as 'notification only', letting one form notify multiple participating banks/building societies at once. Note: this is the DNS run by the banking industry (via Experian), not the government's 'Tell Us Once' service — NatWest's page does not describe accepting Tell Us Once directly; it's DNS that's explicitly referenced.

What they'll pay before probate

Funeral invoice: 'We can pay the funeral company directly from the deceased's account' — paid directly to the funeral director (not to the family), typically taking about 3–5 working days, in full or in part depending on funds available in the account(s) — before probate is granted

UK Grant of Probate application fee, paid directly from the deceased's account

Inheritance tax payable to HMRC via a completed IHT423 form, paid directly from the deceased's account before the grant is issued

Worth knowing

Two distinct 'no-grant' release instruments exist in NatWest's own glossary, sized very differently: an unwitnessed 'Indemnifying Letter' capped at balances under £50, and a signed-and-witnessed '(Indemnity) Agreement' used for larger small-estate cases with no published upper limit (case-by-case). NatWest offers a paid full Estate Administration Service delivered via a named external solicitor firm, Hugh James, rather than an in-house legal team. Text alerts can misfire briefly after death is reported — the guide warns you may get an automated 'change of address' text a few days after notifying them, because address-related system messages weren't fully suppressed. Any NatWest Rewards/MyRewards balance must be claimed within 90 days of the account closing or it's lost. Safe custody items (documents held in a branch) require a separate dedicated collection form rather than being handled through the main bereavement process.

§2Common questions

NatWest, answered.

NatWest does not publish a threshold; its bereavement team decides case-by-case.

Yes. NatWest will typically pay: Funeral invoice: 'We can pay the funeral company directly from the deceased's account' — paid directly to the funeral director (not to the family), typically taking about 3–5 working days, in full or in part depending on funds available in the account(s) — before probate is granted; UK Grant of Probate application fee, paid directly from the deceased's account; Inheritance tax payable to HMRC via a completed IHT423 form, paid directly from the deceased's account before the grant is issued.

§3Related next steps

Informational, not advice — NatWest may change its policy at any time. Confirm against NatWest — "What to do when someone dies" (official Bereavement guide, natwest.com), including its embedded glossary and FAQ sections before acting. Checked 30 Aug 2026.

Cite this figure: Valoren, “NatWest — Bereavement Release Threshold,” https://valoren.uk/figures/bank-bereavement-thresholds/natwest (checked 30 Aug 2026).