Council tax when someone dies

Unoccupied properties

If the property is unoccupied due to the resident passing away, a Class F exemption may be applied.

This could mean no council tax needs to be paid until grant of probate or letters of administration have been issued.

Once issued, the exemption lasts for another 6 months. After that, a 100% council tax charge applies if the property remains unfurnished.

This applies to other properties the deceased owned too - so long as the property was empty when they died and the liability for council tax was solely on them.

The exemption ends if:

• the property is occupied by someone
• it is rented by someone
• the property is sold
• someone inherits or is gifted the property
• the property hasn't been disposed of six months after the date of grant of probate or letters of administration

Report

You can tell us someone has died online. Once you submit this form, we will also let our Electoral team know so the electoral register can be updated.

If you confirm they rented a council property, we'll automatically advise our Housing team so they can reach out to you.

Credit

You usually need probate or letters of administration to deal with an estate, but it may not be required if the estate is small.

Where a council tax account is left in credit by the deceased, and nobody has been granted probate, then the next of kin can request either a refund or a transfer to another council tax account.

You will need to confirm that no one else has a better claim to the monies than you.

Last updated 13 August 2026