What does an executor of a will do? A UK guide to the role, duties and liability
An executor is the person named in a will to deal with everything someone leaves behind. The legal term is personal representative. The job is to gather the estate, pay any debts and tax, and pass what's left to the people named in the will. An executor has no authority until the person dies, and being named is not the same as being obliged to act.
An executor is the person named in a will to deal with everything someone leaves behind. The legal term is personal representative. The job is to gather the estate, pay any debts and tax, and pass what's left to the people named in the will. An executor has no authority until the person dies, and being named is not the same as being obliged to act.
What an executor actually is
When someone writes a will, they name one or more people to carry out their wishes. Those people are the executors. Once the person dies, the executor becomes the legal representative of the estate, with authority to collect assets, settle debts and distribute what remains.
You can name up to four executors, and all four can be named on the grant of probate. Most wills name one or two. Only one executor needs to act, so the others can step back if they prefer. There are no qualifications required. Anyone aged 18 or over with mental capacity can do it, whether or not they are also a beneficiary. A spouse who inherits everything can still be the executor.
If there's no will, or the will names no executor who is willing and able to act, the role falls to an administrator instead. An administrator does the same job but applies for letters of administration rather than a grant of probate, and the law sets the order of who can apply.
The duties, roughly in order
The work follows the shape of the estate, but the sequence is usually similar.
Register the death and get certified copies of the death certificate. A relative often does the registering, but the executor needs the certificates to prove the death to banks and other organisations. Order several. Banks, pension providers and the Land Registry each want to see an original.
Find the will and read it carefully. It sets out who inherits what, and it's legally binding. If you can't find it, check the person's home, their solicitor, their bank, or the National Will Register.
Secure any property and check the insurance. An empty home is a risk. Most home insurance lapses or excludes cover after 30 to 60 days of a property standing empty, so tell the insurer and arrange unoccupied cover. If an uninsured property is damaged, the executor can be personally liable.
Value the estate. This means listing everything the person owned and everything they owed, at the date of death. Property, bank accounts, investments, pensions, possessions and digital assets on one side. Mortgages, loans, credit cards and outstanding bills on the other. Our guide to valuing an estate for probate covers how to do this properly.
Report to HMRC and deal with inheritance tax. You submit inheritance tax forms even if no tax is due. Where tax is owed, you normally have to pay at least some of it before the grant is issued, and it's due within six months of the end of the month in which the person died.
Apply for probate if it's needed. Whether you need a grant depends on what the estate holds and the thresholds each institution sets. Our guides on when a grant is required and how to apply step by step walk through both.
Collect in the assets, settle the debts, keep records, and distribute the estate. Everything the person owned is gathered, everyone they owed is paid, and what's left goes to the beneficiaries exactly as the will directs. You can't decide to give a beneficiary more or less than the will states. Changing the terms needs a formal deed of variation signed by everyone affected.
Do you have to say yes?
No. Being named doesn't force you to act. You have two clean routes out, and one messy one.
You can renounce. This means formally giving up the role before you've started dealing with the estate. You sign form PA15 and file it with the Probate Registry. Once you've renounced you can't change your mind, and the right to act passes to any other named executor or to the next person in priority. Renouncing doesn't affect anything you inherit under the will.
You can have power reserved. This lets the other executors act while you step back, keeping the right to step in later if you need to. It suits an executor who lives abroad, is unwell, or is happy to leave the work to someone else. No deed is required.
The messy route is trying to step back after you've already started. The moment you begin dealing with estate assets, known as intermeddling, you generally lose the right to renounce. Getting out then usually needs a court order. If you're unsure whether you want the role, decide before you touch anything.
Acting alongside other executors
Where two or more executors act, they must usually act together. Bank withdrawals, property sales, tax filings and distribution decisions all need agreement. It's a safeguard for beneficiaries and a friction point when executors don't get on.
If executors fall out, the options are for one to renounce, to use power reserved, to mediate, or as a last resort to apply to court to remove or replace an executor under section 50 of the Administration of Justice Act 1985. Court routes are slow and expensive, so it's worth preserving the relationship where you can.
Does an executor get paid?
A lay executor, meaning a friend or family member, is not paid for their time unless the will specifically says so. The default is unpaid. You can recover reasonable out-of-pocket expenses from the estate, such as postage, travel, valuation fees and court fees, so keep the receipts.
A professional executor, such as a solicitor or a specialist firm, does charge, and the fee comes out of the estate. Charges vary, commonly between 1% and 4% of the estate value, or a fixed or hourly rate. If beneficiaries think a professional's fees are unreasonable, they can ask them to renounce.
The part people underestimate: personal liability
An executor carries personal liability for the estate. If you get it wrong, you can be held responsible for the loss out of your own pocket, even when the mistake was honest.
The common traps are distributing the estate before all debts and taxes are paid, under-declaring inheritance tax to HMRC, and missing assets or liabilities. If you pay out to beneficiaries and a creditor then appears, you can be left personally covering the shortfall.
There are two protections worth knowing. The first is the executor's year, a long-standing principle that gives you 12 months from the date of death before beneficiaries can formally demand their share. It's a reasonable amount of time, not a deadline, and keeping a clear record of progress is your defence against impatient beneficiaries. The second is a Section 27 notice, placed in The Gazette and a local newspaper, which invites unknown creditors to come forward. Once the notice period of two months and a day has passed, you're protected against debts you couldn't reasonably have known about.
Digital assets have joined the list. Since the Property (Digital Assets etc) Act 2025 came into force in December 2025, cryptocurrency and similar digital holdings are recognised as property in England and Wales. An executor now has to identify them, secure access, value them at the date of death, and deal with them under the will like any other asset. That's hard to do if nobody knows the accounts exist.
How long it takes
Most straightforward estates take around 6 to 12 months to administer fully. Estates with property, business interests, an inheritance tax bill or a dispute can run to two years or more. The time probate itself takes is only one part of that, and the rest is the account-by-account work of collecting in and paying out.
If this is more than you can manage
Being an executor means dealing with dozens of separate organisations, each with its own process and its own request to explain the death again. Banks, pension providers, insurers, utilities, subscriptions and government agencies rarely talk to each other. The first problem is usually knowing which accounts existed at all, and you can't notify or close what you can't see. Legacy Trail finds the accounts the person held and notifies each provider centrally, so you can concentrate on the decisions that need your judgement, like the inheritance tax position and how the estate is distributed, rather than the chasing.
You can also share the load without stepping down. A professional can handle the administration while you keep oversight, and the cost comes from the estate. What matters is that the right people are told, in the right order, and that debts are settled before anything is paid out.
References and further reading
This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. Individual circumstances vary. If you are dealing with an estate, consider taking advice from a solicitor who specialises in probate. For other guidance specific to your circumstances, speak to a funeral director, Citizens Advice, or a regulated financial adviser.
This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal advice. Individual circumstances vary. If you are dealing with an estate, consider taking advice from a solicitor who specialises in probate. For other guidance specific to your circumstances, speak to a funeral director, Citizens Advice, or a regulated financial adviser.