The Savings Certificates Regulations 1991

PAYMENT IN CASE OF DEATH

Payment under grant of representation

14.—(1) In the event of the death of the holder of a certificate, theproduction of probate or letters of administration granted, or havingeffect as if granted, in respectof personal estate including thecertificate, by a court in the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man or theChannel Islands, or of a certified copy thereof, shall, subject to theprovisions of these Regulations, be sufficient authority to the Directorof Savings to pay the amount repayable in respect of the certificate, orto transfer the certificate, to the person to whom the grant was made,or as directed by that person.

(2) Where any sum repayable in respect of a certificate is paid, or acertificate is transferred, in purported pursuance of this regulation,the payment or transfer shall, notwithstanding the invalidity of, or anydefect in, the probate or letters of administration, be deemed for thepurposes of these Regulations to have been duly made.

Payment without a grant of representation

15.—(1) Where, on the death of any person, being the sole holder ofcertificates, the amount repayable in respect of which does not, at thetime of his death, exceed in the aggregate £5,000, probate ofhis will or letters of administration to his estate is not or are notproduced to the Director of Savings within such time as he thinksreasonable in the circumstances of the case, the Director of Savings, ifhe thinks fit, may, without requiring probate or letters ofadministration, pay the amount repayable in respect of thosecertificates, or any part of that amount—

(a) to a person appearing to the Director of Savings to be entitledto take out probate of the will of the deceased or letters ofadministration to his estate;

(b) where the deceased has left a will (being a will with respect towhich the Director of Savings is satisfied that probate or letters ofadministration with the will annexed would be granted), to any person towhom the amount repayable or any part thereof would, in the opinion ofthe Director of Savings, be payable under such will, if probate thereofor letters of administration with the will annexed were granted;

(c) to any person who satisfies the Director of Savings that he isentitled to receive the amount repayable or any part thereof in right ofhis being—

(i) a person who has paid the funeral expenses of the deceased; or

(ii) a creditor of the deceased; or

(iii) a person who has a beneficial interest in the estate of the deceased;

(d) if the deceased was a British citizen and his next of kin appearsto the Director of Savings to reside outside the United Kingdom, theIsle of Man and the Channel Islands, to any officer or authority who, inthe opinion of the Director of Savings, may properly be entrusted withthe duty of distributing the amount repayable;

(e) if the deceased was a seaman of a foreign country, being a countrywith which a treaty has been made in respect of the payment of moneysdue to seamen, to the consular authority of that country;

(f) if the deceased was a foreign subject, not being a seaman towhom the provisions of the last preceding sub-paragraph apply, to theconsular authority of the country to which the deceased belonged, or tosuch other authority as appears to the Director of Savings to beappropriate, subject in either case to the Director of Savings beingsatisfied that the amount repayable will be duly distributed;

(g) in a case where the estate of the deceased appears to the Directorof Savings to have devolved upon the Crown, the Duchy of Lancaster orthe Duchy of Cornwall, to the Treasury Solicitor, the Solicitor for theAffairs of the Duchy of Lancaster or the Solicitor for the Affairs ofthe Duchy of Cornwall, as the case requires:

• Provided that, where a person to whom any sum may be paid undersub-paragraph (b) or (c) of this paragraph has died before payment hasbeen made to him, that sum or any part thereof may be paid to any personto whom it might have been paid if the first mentioned person had,immediately before his death, been the sole holder of the certificatesin question.

(2) Notwithstanding any rule of law to the contrary, any person to whoma payment may be made under sub-paragraph (b) or (c) of paragraph (1) ofthis regulation or under the proviso to that paragraph may sign areceipt therefor if he has attained the age of sixteen years, and thereceipt shall be a valid receipt without the signature of any otherperson, and where any person to whom a payment may be so made is unable,by reason of his age or for any other reason whatsoever, to give adischarge therefor under these Regulations, the Director of Savings maymake the payment to any person who satisfies him that he will apply itfor the maintenance or otherwise for the benefit of the first mentionedperson.

(3) Subject to the provisions of the last preceding paragraph, theDirector of Savings, in making any payment under sub-paragraph (b) or(c) of paragraph (1) of this regulation or under the proviso to thatparagraph, shall, unless he is of the opinion that hardship orinconvenience would be thereby caused, have regard to the rules of lawrelating to the distribution of the estates of deceased persons, but, ifhe is of that opinion, may depart from those rules in such manner and tosuch extent as he considers just.

(4) In this regulation the expression“will” includes a codicil.

Law applicable on holder’s death

16.  Where, in the event of the death of the holder of a certificate, anypayment in respect of the certificate made under these Regulations ismade in accordance with the law of the place where the holder of thecertificate resided at the date of his death, that payment shall, unlessnotice in writing to the effect that the holder was, at that date,domiciled in some other place has been received by the Director ofSavings before the payment was made, be deemed for the purposes of theseRegulations to have been duly made.

Inheritance tax chargeable on holder’s death

17.—(1) Where, on the death of the holder of any certificate (not being acertificate in respect of which it is shown to the satisfaction of theDirector of Savings that the deceased holder had no interest thereinotherwise than as a trustee), the aggregate value of the specifiedassets (hereinafter defined) exceeds £25,000, the Director ofSavings shall, before making any payment in respect of, or transferring,the certificate, require the production of a statement from theCommissioners of Inland Revenue to the effect either that no inheritanceor capital transfer tax, being inheritance or capital transfer taxchargeable on the death of such holder, is payable in respect of thecertificate or that any inheritance or capital transfer tax, beinginheritance or capital transfer tax chargeable on the death of suchholder, so payable has been paid:

• Provided that the production of such a statement shall not berequired—

  (a)

  where the payment or transfer is made to or as directed by:

  (i)

  the deceased holder’s legal personal representative acting underprobate or letters of administration granted by any court in the UnitedKingdom, or

  (ii)

  the Public Trustee, the Official Receiver, or the trustee inbankruptcy of the estate of the deceased holder; or

  (b)

  where the deceased holder was at the time of his death domiciled inthe Isle of Man or the Channel Islands; or

  (c)

  where the beneficial interest in the certificate in question haspassed to the spouse of the deceased holder in circumstances in whichinheritance or capital transfer tax is not chargeable.

(2) In this regulation the expression“the specified assets” means the following assets (not being assets in respect of which itis shown to the satisfaction of the Director of Savings that thedeceased holder had no interest otherwise than as atrustee)—

(a) the total amount which would have been repayable (if repaymenthad been demanded) at the date of the death of the holder in respect ofall certificates recorded in his name alone or in his name jointly withany other person;

(b) the total amount (including interest) which, at the date of thedeath of the holder, stands to the credit of all accounts in his namealone, or in his name jointly with any other person, in the NationalSavings Bank;

(c) all stock and securities registered on the National Savings StockRegister at the date of the death of the holder in his name alone or inhis name jointly with any other person;

(d) any amount repayable and any other sum payable in respect of allpremium savings bonds recorded in the holder’s name;

(e) the total amount (including any bonus or interest) which would havebeen repayable (if repayment had been demanded) at the date of the deathof the holder in respect of all savings contracts entered into by himand registered by the Director of Savings under a contractual savingsscheme certified by the Treasury in accordance with section 326(2) ofthe Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988(1);

(f) the total amount (including interest) which would have beenrepayable (if repayment had been demanded) at the date of the death ofthe holder in respect of all agreements entered into or certificatesheld by the holder in accordance with the Savings Certificates (YearlyPlan) Regulations 1984(2).

(3) For the purposes of this regulation, the value of the stock andsecurities referred to in paragraph (2)(c) of this regulation shallbe—

(a) in the case of stock which is of a description corresponding tostock or securities transferable in the books of the Bank of England,the market value thereof at the date of the death of the holder; and

(b) in all other cases, the total amount (including interest and anyother sum payable) which would have been repayable (if repayment hadbeen demanded) at the date of the death of the holder.

(1)

1988 c. 1, amended by section 29 of the Finance Act 1990(c.29).

(2)

S.I. 1984/779, amended by S.I. 1985/1035, 1986/2001,1988/1357 and 1989/1521.