Hargreaves Lansdown After a Death: ISAs, Shares and SIPPs

Post HL the death certificate and a covering letter, and it freezes the accounts and sends you a valuation and an estates pack. You return the forms with the grant, or a certified will if HL holds under £50,000 outside pensions.¹

How to tell Hargreaves Lansdown

• Phone: 0117 906 7806, Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm; closed at weekends.²
• Online: HL has a bereavement support form on its bereavement page.²
• Post: HL Estates, Welcome Building, Avon Street, Bristol BS2 0TR.¹

HL asks for the original or a certified copy of the death certificate by post, with a covering letter confirming your full name, date of birth and current address so it can verify your identity.¹ Hargreaves Lansdown was not on the Death Notification Service's member list on 19 October 2026.³

Probate Starter Pack · Instant PDF download

Writing to Hargreaves Lansdown? The provider letters are in the pack

Editable letters for a pension provider and an investment provider asking for the value at death and the documents they need, a contact tracker for each reference, and an asset inventory to list each policy.

Get the Starter Pack — £4.99

One-off payment · no account or subscription · see what's inside

ISAs, Lifetime ISAs, Fund and Share accounts

1. You send the death certificate and covering letter.
2. HL freezes the accounts. The investments stay invested, so their value keeps moving with the market.
3. HL sends back the death certificate with a valuation and an estates application pack.
4. You return the estates release forms with an original Grant of Probate, or a certified copy of the will if the £50,000 rule applies.
5. HL carries out the sales or transfers and pays out as instructed.

Steps summarised from HL's guide.¹ The value at the date of death is the figure for the estate valuation; any later rise or fall belongs to the estate administration period.

The £50,000 rule. HL says: "If the total value of assets held with HL (excluding pensions) is below £50,000 and probate is not being applied for, we will require a certified copy of the Will."¹ If you are applying for probate anyway, for a house for example, expect HL to want the grant.

An ISA keeps its tax-free status for a limited period after death; see our ISA guide for the GOV.UK rules.⁴

SIPPs and drawdown pensions

A pension is normally outside the estate. For a SIPP or drawdown account, HL decides who receives the money, using the beneficiaries the person nominated, the will and a request-for-information form; you return the completed request form with a copy of the will and, if relevant, a marriage certificate.¹ Beneficiaries can usually take a lump sum, move the money into their own drawdown, or buy an annuity.¹ HL also notes that from 2027 some pensions may be subject to Inheritance Tax where an estate is over the threshold.¹

Common questions

What is the Hargreaves Lansdown bereavement number?

0117 906 7806, Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm, according to HL's bereavement page.

Do I need probate for Hargreaves Lansdown?

Not always. HL says that if the total held with it, excluding pensions, is below £50,000 and probate is not being applied for, it will accept a certified copy of the will instead of the grant.

Where do I send the death certificate to HL?

HL Estates, Welcome Building, Avon Street, Bristol BS2 0TR, with a covering letter giving your full name, date of birth and current address.

What happens to a Hargreaves Lansdown SIPP when someone dies?

HL decides who receives it, using the nominated beneficiaries, the will and a request-for-information form. Beneficiaries can usually take a lump sum, move it into their own drawdown or buy an annuity.

Every phone number, address, limit and document list on this page was read on hl.co.uk on 19 October 2026. Where Hargreaves Lansdown does not publish something, we say so rather than guess: ask its bereavement team.