When a client dies, the firm’s authority to act for them ends, including any HMRC agent authorisation. From then on the only people entitled to instruct the firm or receive confidential information are the personal representatives, meaning the executors or administrators, and only once their status has been checked. Outstanding work, fees and any money held are then dealt with for the estate, under a fresh authority.

Does your authority to act survive the client’s death?

No. HMRC’s guidance is explicit:

  • Any agent authorisation signed by the deceased ceases to be valid on the date of death, so HMRC will give no information to the former agent unless the personal representative agrees (Information Disclosure Guide, IDG30471).
  • HMRC’s complaints guidance at CHG875 lists agent authorisations, third party authorities and earlier consents as all ending automatically on death, and says anyone acting for the estate must provide new formal authority.
  • If the personal representative wants the same agent to continue, a new form 64-8 is required; any earlier 64-8 is invalid (Self Assessment Manual, SAM90010).

The personal representative can use form 64-8 to authorise an agent for the deceased’s PAYE, Self Assessment and National Insurance. They sign it with their own name and address and enter the deceased’s National Insurance number or Unique Taxpayer Reference.

The same logic applies to the engagement. The client who signed the engagement letter is gone; the people now instructing the firm are the personal representatives, acting in a different capacity. Treat them as a new client relationship: issue a fresh engagement letter to them as personal representatives, and carry out customer due diligence, which regulation 27 of the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 requires when a business relationship is established.

Who can you talk to, and what can you tell them?

Confidentiality survives death. ICAEW’s confidentiality helpsheet says the duty applies equally to former clients, and that before disclosing anything to next of kin the firm should obtain official evidence of the death, such as a certified copy of the death certificate, and verify that the person asking is the executor or administrator, for example from a certified copy of the will and identification documents.

HMRC takes the same line. Its guidance notes that next of kin have no rights to information as such, although the next of kin may also be the personal representative, so the question is always the person’s capacity. HMRC itself discloses only to the personal representative, or someone authorised by them, and only so far as needed to settle the tax and National Insurance affairs.

The UK GDPR does not prevent disclosure here: the ICO confirms it applies only to information about identifiable living individuals. Information about a surviving spouse or other living people in the same files is still personal data, and the professional duty of confidentiality to the deceased continues regardless.

Practical points on executors:

  • A will may name several executors. ICAEW’s guide for lay executors notes they must make decisions about the estate jointly unless they formally agree otherwise, so the firm should know whose instructions it is taking.
  • Where there is no will, the person entitled applies for a grant and becomes the administrator.
  • In most cases executors must not distribute assets until the grant of probate or letters of administration.

What happens to outstanding tax work and deadlines?

The personal representatives become responsible for the deceased’s outstanding returns and the return to the date of death; the mechanics are covered in tax returns for someone who has died. Points that catch agents out, all from SAM90010:

  • Paper only. Since July 2020 third parties cannot file an online return for a deceased customer; a paper return must be used for all outstanding returns.
  • Reissued returns. Where a return issued before death is reissued to the personal representative, they get 7 days and 3 months from issue to file, and HMRC may agree a later date if there is a reasonable excuse. An extended filing date does not move the payment date.
  • Penalties. Late filing penalties already imposed on the deceased for in date years are cancelled, because HMRC cannot show the deceased received the notice, but new penalties can follow if the reissued return is late.
  • Interest. If the executors cannot pay until they obtain the grant, the relevant due date for interest becomes the later of the normal due date and 30 days after the grant.
  • Partnerships. If the deceased was the nominated partner, the personal representative is not responsible for the partnership return; the surviving partners need to deal with it.

If the deceased owned or ran a company, the company continues and remains a separate client; see transmission of shares on death for who can now exercise the shareholding.

What about fees, client money and records?

  • Unpaid fees for work done before death are a debt of the estate. ICAEW’s lay executors guide lists settling debts among the executor’s duties, so send the final invoice to the personal representatives with a clear split between pre death work and new work for the estate.
  • Client money held for the deceased now belongs to the estate. Under ICAEW’s Clients’ Money Regulations it must be returned promptly once there is no longer a reason to hold it (regulation 20A), so pay it to the personal representatives once their authority is verified, and only deduct fees on one of the bases allowed by regulation 22. See client money rules.
  • Records belonging to the client should be released to the personal representatives, subject to any right to retain them; see liens over client records.

What if a family member wants to carry on as before?

It is common for a surviving spouse to phone asking the firm to “just carry on”. Be sensitive but clear. The spouse is a separate client, if a client at all, and has no authority over the deceased’s affairs unless they are a personal representative. HMRC’s guidance on telephone contact also stresses that powers of attorney and consents given by the deceased fall away on death, and that personal representatives need legal authority before dealing with the estate. HMRC runs a bereavement helpline for people without an agent, which can help family members who are not yet in a position to instruct the firm.

How might this work in practice?

Illustration only. A long standing client dies in August. The firm holds a £600 repayment for him in client account and has unbilled time of £300 for work on his previous year’s return.

  1. His daughter calls. The firm offers condolences, explains it cannot discuss his affairs until it sees the death certificate and evidence she is executor, and sends a list of what it needs.
  2. She provides a certified copy of the will naming her and her brother as executors. The firm issues an engagement letter to both as executors, completes due diligence on both, and asks them to sign a new 64-8.
  3. It sends a statement for the £300 to the executors. After they agree it, the firm transfers £300 and pays the remaining £300 to the estate account.
  4. It prepares a paper return to the date of death for the executors to sign.

What mistakes cause problems?

  • Continuing to file or discuss affairs with HMRC under the old 64-8.
  • Releasing information to next of kin without checking they are personal representatives.
  • Taking instructions from one executor where several are acting jointly.
  • Deducting fees from money held for the deceased without agreement.
  • Overlooking capital gains points such as the uplift on death when advising the estate later.

Where a partner or the firm is appointed executor, the extra issues are covered in accountants acting as executors and trustees.

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Reviewed by Christine Anderson, Broker, Solar Protect. Last reviewed 8 October 2026. Part of Accountapedia, the Solar Protect guide to UK tax and accounting. This page is general information, not personalised advice.