Death Of A Claimant Action On Priority 1 Team (Info)

All cases that involve the death of a claimant will only be dealt with by the Tax Credit Office (TCO) Priority 1 Team.

On the Priority 1 Team, follow the guidance in Death of A Claimant Referred To Priority 1 Team to deal with any aspects that involve Child Benefit

You may be notified of the claimant’s death from a number of sources. For more information about these sources, follow the guidance in Notifying A Change

If a claimant dies, the original claim must be finalised. And a fresh claim must be made if any of the following are present and eligibility to tax credits remains

• Surviving partner
   
• Guardian

Or

• Executor, if the executor is taking responsibility of any children who are included on the claim

An executor will manage the claimant’s estate following the claimant’s death where

• There is no surviving partner

And

• A Last Will and Testament has been made

In these circumstances the executor will be treated as an appointee.

Note: The deceased's next of kin or personal representative can also be treated as an appointee

In all cases where the claimant dies, payment will be suspended and computer output inhibited. A manual letter must be written and checked by the supervisor prior to it being issued.

If a notification of death is received, but no date of death is given, an entry will be created on the ‘Unprocessed Change of Circs’ Work List

If you first become aware of the death of the claimant on the ‘Unprocessed Change of Circs’ Work List, these Date Of Death work list items will be transferred to the 'DOD Indicator' MU . See the MU Table for the correct MU number