What does an executor of a will do? A UK guide to the role, duties and liability

What is an executor of a will?

An executor of a will is the person named in the will to deal with everything someone leaves behind. The legal term is personal representative. Once the person dies, the executor becomes the legal representative of the deceased's estate, with authority to collect assets, settle debts and distribute what remains. An executor has no authority until the person dies, and being named is not the same as being obliged to act.

There are no qualifications required. Anyone aged 18 or over with mental capacity can be an executor, whether or not they are also a beneficiary. Most wills name one or two executors, and only one executor needs to act.

If there is 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.

What are the duties of an executor of a will?

The duties of an executor are to register the death, secure and value the estate, report to HMRC, apply for probate where needed, pay the debts and tax, and distribute the estate. 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. A certified copy of a death certificate costs £12.50 in England and Wales. Order several, because banks, pension providers and the Land Registry each want to see an original. Our guide on how many death certificates you need covers how many to order.

Find the will and read it carefully. The will sets out who inherits what, and it is legally binding. If you cannot find it, check the person's home, their solicitor, their bank, or the National Will Register. A photocopy is not enough to apply for probate, so find the original. The will may include a letter of wishes, which is not legally binding but explains what the person wanted.

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. Make sure vehicles are covered and valuables are safe.

Value the estate. This means listing everything the person owned and everything they owed, at the date of death. Property, bank accounts, savings, pensions, ISAs, Premium Bonds, shareholdings, vehicles, possessions and digital assets on one side. Mortgages, loans, credit cards and outstanding bills on the other. Property is usually valued with two or three estate agent valuations, or a formal RICS valuation for larger estates. This valuation decides whether the estate owes inheritance tax and whether you need probate at all. Our guide on how to value 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 inheritance tax is owed, the executor normally has to pay at least some of it before the grant is issued. Inheritance tax is due within six months of the end of the month in which the person died (GOV.UK).

Apply for probate if it is needed. Whether you need a grant depends on what the estate holds and the thresholds each institution sets. Our guide on how to apply for probate walks through the thresholds and the application itself.

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 is left goes to the beneficiaries exactly as the will directs. You cannot 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. Prepare estate accounts showing every sum in and out.

What does being an executor cost?

• Certified copy of a death certificate (England and Wales): £12.50 each.

• Probate application fee (England and Wales, from 13 July 2026): £526 (GOV.UK).

• Probate application fee for estates valued at £5,000 or less: £0.

• Extra sealed copies of the grant of probate: £2 each if ordered with the application, or £16 each if ordered afterwards (GOV.UK).

• Professional executor fees: Commonly 1% to 4% of the estate value.

Ordering several sealed copies of the grant when you apply saves time later, because you can send them to different institutions at once.

How long does an executor have to settle an estate?

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 grant itself is only one part of that, and how long does probate take covers that stage; the rest is the account-by-account work of collecting in and paying out.

There is no legal deadline for finishing, but the sequence is predictable. The list below shows the typical tasks at each stage.

• The first two weeks: Register the death, arrange the funeral, locate the will and any letter of wishes, and use Tell Us Once to notify government departments. Tell Us Once does not cover banks, pensions or private companies.

• The first two months: Write to every bank, pension provider and creditor for date-of-death balances. Value the property. Trace forgotten accounts and pensions.

• Months two to six: Report to HMRC and pay any inheritance tax. Apply for the grant of probate. Once the grant arrives, close accounts, sell or transfer property, and cash in investments.

• Months six to twelve: Settle final bills, prepare estate accounts, and distribute the estate to the beneficiaries.

Most executors distribute after the six-month point to allow time for any claims against the estate.

The executor's year is a long-standing principle that gives the executor 12 months from the date of death before beneficiaries can formally demand their share. A beneficiary cannot force a distribution or charge the executor interest for late payment inside the first twelve months. The executor's year is a reasonable amount of time, not a deadline, and keeping a clear record of progress is your defence against impatient beneficiaries.

Can you refuse to be an executor?

Yes, being named in a will does not force you to act. You have three clean routes out, and one messy one.

You can renounce. Renouncing means formally giving up the role before you have started dealing with the estate. You complete form PA15, which GOV.UK calls a renunciation, and give it to the executor who is applying for probate so they can submit it with the application (GOV.UK). Once you have renounced you cannot change your mind, and the right to act passes to any other named executor or to the next person in priority. Renouncing does not affect anything you inherit under the will.

You can have power reserved. Power reserved 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.

You can appoint an attorney to act on your behalf, or instruct a solicitor to do the work while you remain the executor of record.

The messy route is trying to step back after you have 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 are unsure whether you want the role, decide before you touch anything.

How many executors of a will can there be?

A will can name any number of executors, but a maximum of four can apply for the grant of probate and be named on it. Where a will names more than four, the first four to apply act, and the others can have power reserved. Where the estate includes property held in trust or minor beneficiaries, at least two executors are usually needed.

Where two or more executors of a will act, they must usually act together. Bank withdrawals, property sales, tax filings and distribution decisions all need agreement. Joint decision-making is a safeguard for beneficiaries and a friction point when executors do not 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 is worth preserving the relationship where you can.

Do executors 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, property insurance and court fees, so keep the receipts.

A professional executor, such as a solicitor, a bank 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 the professional to renounce, though a bank named as executor can be difficult to remove. Check who the will names before you assume the job is yours alone.

What is an executor personally liable for?

An executor is personally liable for mistakes in administering the estate, even honest ones, and that liability can mean paying money out of your own pocket. This is the part most people do not expect.

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 with a valid debt, you can be left personally covering the shortfall. If you pay the wrong beneficiary or undervalue an asset for inheritance tax, HMRC or the correct beneficiary can come to you.

Two protections are worth knowing. The first is the executor's year, described above. 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, the executor is protected against debts they could not 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 digital assets, secure access, value them at the date of death, and deal with them under the will like any other asset. That is hard to do if nobody knows the accounts exist.

Keep every receipt, valuation and bank statement. The estate accounts are your evidence that you administered the estate correctly.

What can an executor delegate?

An executor can delegate the legal work, the valuations and the notification admin, but not the responsibility itself. Knowing what to hand over is the difference between an estate that takes six months and one that swallows your evenings for a year.

The grant application and legal work can go to a probate solicitor or a specialist probate service, particularly where inheritance tax is due, the estate includes a business or foreign assets, or the will is being contested. The estate pays for this, not you personally.

Property and asset valuations can go to an estate agent or an RICS surveyor for property, and to a specialist valuer for antiques, jewellery or shares. A formal valuation also protects you if HMRC later questions the figures.

The account discovery and notification work, which is the most time-consuming part and the least skilled, can be handled centrally rather than provider by provider. Writing to twenty or thirty banks, pension providers, utilities and subscription services, each with its own bereavement form and its own call queue, is where weeks disappear.

What you cannot delegate is the responsibility. You sign the estate accounts, you make the final decisions, and you carry the liability. Delegation reduces the workload. It does not remove your name from the role.