How to Deal With a Freetrade Account After Someone Dies in the UK

How to Deal With a Freetrade Account After Someone Dies in the UK

If someone who has died held investments with Freetrade, the process usually starts by emailing Freetrade's bereavement team with the deceased person's details and a copy of the death certificate. From there, Freetrade can provide a valuation of the account, explain what documents it needs, and guide the executor or administrator through closing or transferring the holdings.

That sounds simple on paper. In reality, it helps to understand the difference between a general investment account, an ISA and a SIPP before you start.

First: what Freetrade says to do

Freetrade says it cannot keep an account open in the name of someone who has died. If you are responsible for the estate, it asks you to contact bereavements@freetrade.io and provide:

• the person's full name
• their date of birth
• the email address linked to the account, if known

If Freetrade cannot identify the account from that information, it may ask for more details such as a National Insurance number or passport number.

Who should deal with Freetrade

Freetrade says it ideally wants to deal with:

• the executor named in the will
• the administrator of the estate if there is no will
• a solicitor acting for the executor or administrator

If you are not the executor or administrator, that does not always end the conversation, but it can limit how much Freetrade is willing to say. The platform is handling regulated investments, so it has to be careful about identity and authority.

Why the death certificate matters early

Freetrade is clear that it needs to see a copy of the death certificate before it can disclose portfolio information, valuations or discuss the wind-down of the account in detail.

That matters for two reasons:

1. You may need the valuation to help calculate the value of the estate.
2. You may be waiting on probate and assume nothing can happen until then.

In practice, the death certificate often unlocks the first useful stage: understanding what is in the account and what it was worth at the date of death.

What happens after Freetrade receives the death certificate

Freetrade says it will send a letter with a full portfolio valuation. According to its guidance, this breakdown can include each account type the customer held, including:

• GIA (General Investment Account)
• ISA
• SIPP

The valuation should also show:

• which investments were held
• how many units or shares were owned
• the value of those holdings
• any cash balance

This is especially useful for executors because it can support estate valuation work and help you understand whether inheritance tax reporting may be needed.

Documents Freetrade may ask for

After the initial notification, Freetrade may ask for more evidence before it can release assets or complete the account closure.

Document	Why it may be needed
Death certificate	To verify the death and begin the bereavement process
Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration	To prove who can legally act for the estate
ID for executor or administrator	To verify identity
Recent bank statement	To confirm the destination account for estate proceeds
Will or Letters of Administration for some SIPP cases	To help assess who should receive pension proceeds
Indemnity form or statutory declaration	To complete Freetrade's internal process

Freetrade notes that probate documents can take time. If you know there will be a delay, it is still worth telling the platform early rather than waiting in silence.

Can the investments be transferred instead of sold?

Sometimes, yes. This is one of the most useful details in Freetrade's guidance.

Freetrade says:

• shares held in a GIA can be transferred to another Freetrade GIA
• shares held in an ISA can only be transferred to a Freetrade ISA belonging to the spouse of the person who died

That is important because families often assume everything must be sold immediately. In some cases, a transfer may preserve the investment rather than forcing a disposal at an awkward time.

But do not assume that every holding can move in the same way. The account wrapper matters. A GIA, ISA and pension all follow different rules.

What about a Freetrade SIPP?

This is where things become more technical. Freetrade says a SIPP is not typically part of the estate in the same way as an ordinary investment account. It may pass to beneficiaries outside the estate and can have different tax treatment depending on the age at death.

Its published guidance says that:

• if the SIPP holder dies before age 75, withdrawals are likely to be tax free
• if the SIPP holder dies at or after 75, withdrawals are generally taxable as the recipient's income

Freetrade also says the SIPP provider ultimately decides who the proceeds are paid to, even if the holder had named beneficiaries. So nominations matter, but they are not exactly the same thing as a binding instruction in every case.

This is a good example of why investment-platform bereavement pages are not interchangeable. The useful question is not just "how do I notify them?" It is "what type of account was this, and what happens next because of that?"

If the person died abroad

Freetrade says foreign-language documents should be supplied with a certified translation. That is easy to miss, and it can create weeks of delay if you only discover it after sending the first pack.

Common delays and mistakes

Waiting too long to ask for the valuation

You may need it for estate administration, even if probate is months away.

Treating all accounts the same

A GIA, ISA and SIPP can follow very different post-death paths.

Using a personal account without checking first

Freetrade says it may ask for a bank statement for the destination account. Many executors prefer to use a dedicated estate account where possible.

Forgetting about later dividends

Freetrade notes that dividends can occasionally arrive after an account has been closed. It says it checks for this periodically and gets back in touch if needed.

Keeping the wider estate under control

An investment platform is only one thread in the bigger admin picture. You may also be waiting on banks, insurers, pension providers and HMRC at the same time. A tool like GetPassage can help you keep a clean record of what has been sent, what is outstanding, and which provider is blocking the next step.

Final thought

Dealing with a Freetrade account after a death is usually manageable once you break it into stages: notify the platform, send the death certificate, obtain the valuation, then deal with probate documents, transfer options and any SIPP-specific questions.

The key is not to rush the wrong action. Work out which account wrapper is involved before you decide whether the right next step is sale, transfer or beneficiary paperwork.