Skip to content
Home/Tools/FORM TM01

How to fill in form TM01 — terminating a director's appointment after a death

Form TM01 tells Companies House that a director has stopped serving — including where they've died in office — and has to reach the registrar within 14 days of the date the appointment ended, under section 167G of the Companies Act 2006.

It is a short, two-page form: company details, the director's details as currently held on the register, the termination date, and a printed name authenticating the filing — no reason has to be given, and no signature is required.

This walkthrough covers who's actually entitled to sign it, the trap that catches a sole-director company, and why everything entered — including the two fields marked optional — becomes public record.

✓ Official source checked 23 August 2026 · GOV.UK last revised this form 18 November 2025TM01 on GOV.UK
Free
United KingdomInformational, not legal or financial adviceOfficial source: GOV.UK
Official form · always current

This is the same official TM01 file Companies House publishes on GOV.UK — the link below fetches the current version live from GOV.UK the moment you click it, so it can never go out of date.

Current version: November 2025 · confirmed on GOV.UK 23 August 2026

This walkthrough takes TM01 field by field, in plain English. The deceased can't sign their own termination, and the 14-day clock starts on the date of death, so this is often the first Companies House filing a bereaved family actually has to make.

The thing most people get wrong
If the person who died was the company's SOLE director, TM01 cannot be filed on its own — the company would be left with no director at all, and Companies House will not register that. A replacement normally has to be appointed alongside it, on form AP01, and for a company incorporated before 1 October 2009, or using articles without the model-articles transmission clause, that can need a court order rather than a straightforward appointment by the family — check the company's own articles before assuming the simpler route applies.

The deceased cannot sign their own termination — box 4 needs a current officer, or someone in one of the listed authorised capacities, to authenticate by printed name — and the 14-day clock runs from the date of death itself, not from probate or from whenever company admin gets its turn. Companies House's own guidance acknowledges that people have had to backdate the termination-date field to stay compliant mid-bereavement; the form only records when the appointment ended, not when TM01 itself reached Companies House.
The form, in summary
Valoren
TM012 pages8 fields guided
With Valoren10 minutes
Without Valoren10–15 minutes
to complete the form itself — much longer if the deceased was the company's sole director and a replacement has to be appointed first via AP01
Deadline
14 daysfrom the date
they died
Who Files
A surviving officer— not usually
the executor
£
Fee
Freeto file, online
or by post
Filed with Companies House
Draws from your Estate File
the records this form is built from
PersonalBusiness Interests & Directorships·Digital Access Map·Financial Accounts·Asset Inventory·Income & Outgoings·Civil Dossier·Policy Index·Legal Instruments·Medical Abstract·Property Folio·Succession Plan·Digital Legacy Registry·Funeral & Committal Wishes·Dependent Care & Handoff·Personal Record·RegistryPeople, Authority & Contacts·Master Registry·Renewal Register·Designated Places·Kinship & Succession Map·SecureAccess Controls·Recovery Routes·Custody & Contingency·EventsDeath & Estate Activation·Incapacity & Medical Proxy·Absence & Continuity Cover·Access Loss & Identity Recovery·Legal Dispute & Evidence Protocol·Theft & Asset Compromise·Property Damage & Incident Response·Relocation & Address Update Protocol·Separation & Custody Documentation·Business Interruption & Continuity·PersonalBusiness Interests & Directorships·Digital Access Map·Financial Accounts·Asset Inventory·Income & Outgoings·Civil Dossier·Policy Index·Legal Instruments·Medical Abstract·Property Folio·Succession Plan·Digital Legacy Registry·Funeral & Committal Wishes·Dependent Care & Handoff·Personal Record·RegistryPeople, Authority & Contacts·Master Registry·Renewal Register·Designated Places·Kinship & Succession Map·SecureAccess Controls·Recovery Routes·Custody & Contingency·EventsDeath & Estate Activation·Incapacity & Medical Proxy·Absence & Continuity Cover·Access Loss & Identity Recovery·Legal Dispute & Evidence Protocol·Theft & Asset Compromise·Property Damage & Incident Response·Relocation & Address Update Protocol·Separation & Custody Documentation·Business Interruption & Continuity·
Legal basisStatute

TM01 is the notice a company gives Companies House once a director has stopped serving — s.167G(1) covers a person ceasing to be a director for any reason, which includes death in office, resignation and removal alike; the form itself asks only for the fact and the date, not the reason.

It is a notification, not the act itself: the appointment ends in law on the date recorded in box 3, and TM01 simply reports that to the public register within the statutory window.

Where the person who died was the company's only director, TM01 cannot be filed on its own — the company cannot lawfully be left with no director at all, so a replacement normally has to be appointed (form AP01) alongside or before it.

Section by section

The form, section by section.

Before you start, you’ll need:
  • Who Files — In the ordinary run, not the executor. The form's own authentication box lists who may sign: director, secretary, a 'person authorised' under sections 270 or 274 of the Companies Act 2006, liquidator, administrator, administrative receiver, receiver, receiver manager, a Charity Commission receiver and manager, a CIC manager, or a judicial factor. In practice, for a death in office, any surviving director or the company secretary files it — confirming that the death happened and when, not acting as the deceased. An executor is pulled in directly only where the deceased was the company's sole director: TM01 alone cannot then be filed, because the company would be left with no director, and a replacement has to be appointed first.
  • 2 pages · 8 fields guided
  • Draws from your Estate File — Business Interests & Directorships, People, Authority & Contacts
Section 1

Before you file — the deadline, and who's actually entitled to sign

TM01 is short, but two things trip people up before they even reach the form: who the 14 days actually runs from, and who's allowed to sign it.

The 14-day clock starts on the date of death

Section 167G(3) of the Companies Act 2006 gives 14 days from the date the person ceased to be a director — in a death-in-office scenario, that's the date of death itself, not the date probate is granted or the date anyone gets around to the company's paperwork.

Companies House's own guidance acknowledges this deadline is genuinely difficult to meet mid-bereavement, and that people have backdated the termination-date field to stay compliant — a real, acknowledged practice, not a shortcut to avoid. TM01 only records when the appointment ended, not when the form itself reached Companies House.

The deceased cannot sign their own termination

Box 4 needs a printed name from someone currently entitled to sign: a director, the secretary, a 'person authorised' under section 270 or 274 of the Companies Act 2006, or — for a company already in some form of insolvency — a liquidator, administrator, administrative receiver, receiver, receiver manager, a Charity Commission receiver and manager, a CIC manager, or a judicial factor.

A family member with no other role at the company has no standing to file TM01 themselves, unless they hold one of these capacities.

File online where you can

The form itself directs most companies to file online at gov.uk/companieshouse — it's faster, and any company already enrolled in the PROOF (PROtected Online Filing) scheme is told not to use the paper form at all. The fields below are the same either way.

TM01 is short, but two things trip people up before they even reach the form: who the 14 days actually runs from, and who's allowed to sign it.

Companies House · TM01
Section 2

The form itself — company, director, date, signature

TM01 is genuinely two pages. Four numbered boxes on page 1 carry every fact the filing actually needs.

Box 1 — company details

Company number and company name in full. Both have to match the public register exactly — Companies House's own checklist warns it will reject or return forms where these don't.

Box 2 — the director's details as currently held on the register

Not new or corrected details — what's already on the public record: title, full forename(s), and surname (or, for a corporate director, the corporate name). Month and year of birth is the one genuinely optional field here — but filling it in still puts it on the public record.

Box 3 — termination date

A single date the appointment ended. Only one director's termination can be filed per TM01 — a company that lost two directors needs two separate forms, not one form listing both.

Box 4 — authentication

A printed name only — no signature required — from someone entitled to sign (see Section 1). A barcode strip runs along the bottom of page 1; the form itself asks that it not be covered.

TM01 is genuinely two pages. Four numbered boxes on page 1 carry every fact the filing actually needs.

Companies House · TM01
Section 3

The sole-director trap

This is the one situation where TM01 alone genuinely isn't enough, and where an executor is more likely to be pulled in directly.

A company can't be left with no director

If the person who died was the company's only director, TM01 cannot be filed in isolation — Companies House will not leave a company with no director on the register. A replacement normally has to be appointed, on form AP01, alongside or before TM01 is filed.

The route depends on the company's own articles

For a company incorporated on or after 1 October 2009 using the standard model articles, the deceased's personal representatives can typically use the voting rights attached to the deceased's shares to appoint a new director once they're in a position to act.

For a company incorporated earlier, or using bespoke articles without an equivalent clause, that route may not be available, and a court order can be needed instead — worth a company-law-qualified check before assuming either path applies to a specific company.

This is a timing issue, not just a paperwork one

A court-order route takes materially longer, and costs more, than simply appointing a replacement director. If a sole-director company needs to keep trading, or even just keep filing its own confirmation statements and accounts, working out which route applies is worth doing as early as possible — not once the 14-day TM01 deadline is already close.

This is the one situation where TM01 alone genuinely isn't enough, and where an executor is more likely to be pulled in directly.

Companies House · TM01
Section 4

After you file

The last page is checklist and admin — worth reading, since two of its fields quietly become public if filled in.

No reason has to be given

There is no 'reason for termination' field anywhere on TM01, and Companies House's own guidance confirms none is needed — the form only records the fact of the termination and its date.

Two optional fields still go on the public record

Month and year of birth in box 2, and the entire presenter information block on page 2 (contact name, company, address, phone), are both optional — and both appear on the public record if completed. The form repeats this warning against each field; it's worth taking it at face value before defaulting to 'more information is more helpful.'

The page-2 checklist

Company name and number match the register; the director's name is entered correctly; the termination date is included; and the form is authenticated. Companies House's own checklist names exactly these four as the common causes of a rejected filing.

Where it goes

Online upload is the faster alternative to post; anyone posting the paper form needs the correct regional Companies House address (gov.uk/companies-house/offices). The form is free of charge, whichever route is used.

The last page is checklist and admin — worth reading, since two of its fields quietly become public if filled in.

Companies House · TM01

Many people file TM01 themselves — that is what this walkthrough is for. If the situation behind it has stopped being simple — beyond what a careful person can safely do alone — Signum, Valoren’s own specialist desk, can take it on, and we say so plainly: it starts with a free intake, and if you do not need us, we will tell you. Prefer an independent adviser? STEP and the Chartered Institute of Taxation both keep public member directories, and neither pays Valoren a referral fee.

FAQ

TM01 questions, answered.

TM01 notifies Companies House that a director has stopped serving — including where they've died in office. It records the fact and the date; it doesn't ask for a reason.
14 days from the date the person ceased to be a director. In a death-in-office scenario, that's the date of death itself, not the date probate is granted or whenever the family gets to the company's paperwork.
Only if you also hold one of the roles the form lists as entitled to sign — director, secretary, a person authorised under sections 270 or 274 of the Companies Act 2006, or an insolvency office-holder. Being the deceased's executor, on its own, isn't one of them; in practice a surviving director or the company secretary usually files it.
TM01 cannot be filed on its own — the company can't lawfully be left with no director. A replacement has to be appointed, on form AP01, alongside or before it. For companies incorporated on or after 1 October 2009 using the model articles, the deceased's personal representatives can typically use the voting rights attached to the deceased's shares to appoint a new director; for older or bespoke articles, a court order may be needed instead — check the company's own articles, or take advice, before assuming either route.
It ends their appointment as of the date entered in box 3, and Companies House updates the public register once the form is processed — but the register isn't instant, so don't expect the change to appear the same day it's filed.
No. Only one director's termination can be filed per TM01 — a household that lost two directors (co-director spouses, for example) needs two separate forms, not one form listing both.
No — and this catches people out, because two fields are marked optional. The director's month and year of birth in box 2, and the entire presenter information block on page 2, both appear on the public record if you fill them in. Leave them blank if you don't want that information published.

Library

Free guides behind this form

These free institutional briefs cover the records and context that make this form easier — what to gather before you start.

All guides are available free from the Valoren library — no account required.

The monthly note

Keep this walkthrough — and get the monthly note.

Leave your email and we'll send you a link to this guide, plus the Valoren monthly note: one practical household-records briefing, one law or form update, and one worked example each month.

You can unsubscribe with one click.

Valoren is a trading name of Standard Index Group — in formation.
We never sell your data. We never spam. The unsubscribe link is in every email.

Where this fits

TM01 is one form. The file behind it is the rest.

TM01 needs the director's details exactly as Companies House already holds them, plus the date of death — not new information to gather.

The Business Interests & Directorships record confirms the company and the deceased's role in it; People, Authority & Contacts holds the date and identity detail the filing needs to match.

Companies House8 fieldsFree to file, whether online or by post.10 minutes with Valoren
Part of a working library79form walkthroughs90+free guidesevery calculator & checker

We use first-party analytics only — no third parties, no ad tracking — to see which pages actually help people. You can keep that off. Privacy