Being an Executor

Someone has asked you to be their executor, or you have opened a Will and found your own name in it. Either way, you probably want to know what you have agreed to before you agree to any more of it. This factsheet explains the role plainly: what an executor actually does, what you are personally on the hook for, and what your choices are if it turns out to be more than you want to take on. It is a real responsibility, but almost nobody does it alone, and nobody expects you to do it from memory. If you would rather talk it through, call us on 01233 659 796.

This guide is about the role itself. For what to do and when, read The Executor's First 30 Days.

"I've been asked to be an executor. What is that?"

When someone makes a Will, they name at least one executor: the person legally responsible for carrying out the instructions in the Will and dealing with everything the person owned, their money, property and possessions (their "estate").

Being named as an executor means someone trusted you with their final wishes. That trust is real and worth taking seriously. But it also means taking on duties that can be time-consuming, technically demanding and emotionally exhausting, particularly at the very moment you are grieving. This factsheet explains what the role involves, what can go wrong and how to make it as manageable as possible.

Can I be an executor?

Yes, if you are over 18 and have mental capacity. A person under 18 can be named as an executor in a Will, but cannot take out a Grant until their eighteenth birthday. Executors are often family members, and an executor can also be a beneficiary of the same Will. It is a genuine responsibility, so it is worth understanding what is involved before you accept.

You do not have to act alone. Most Wills name two or more executors, and executors can instruct professionals to handle specific tasks, or the whole administration, on their behalf. If you decide you do not want to act, you can formally decline the role (this is called "renouncing probate"), but timing matters: once you have started acting as executor, renouncing becomes more complicated.

What would I have to do?

An executor's job, in broad strokes:

• Find and secure everything the person owned, and work out what it is worth at the date of death
• Find out what they owed
• Report the estate to HMRC and pay any Inheritance Tax
• Apply for the Grant of Probate, if one is needed
• Collect in the money, sell or transfer the property, close the accounts
• Pay the debts, then the specific gifts in the Will
• Prepare estate accounts and pass the remainder to the people entitled to it

Each of these steps is explained in more detail in our Estate Administration factsheet. Taken individually, none is impossible, but together, for an estate of any complexity, they represent a considerable commitment of time and care.

You do not have to do all of this yourself

Squiggle can take on as much or as little of the estate administration as you wish, from arranging the Grant of Probate to handling everything end to end, while you focus on your family. Book a call with a consultant or call 01233 659 796.

The part people don't tell you

Executors are personally liable for mistakes, paying the wrong people, missing a debt, getting a tax return wrong, or distributing too early and leaving nothing to meet a valid claim. There are sensible protections (such as placing statutory notices for creditors and waiting six months after the Grant before distributing), but the responsibility is real, and it lands at what is often the hardest possible time emotionally.

There is no obligation to act alone, or at all. An executor can instruct professionals to do the heavy lifting, or step back entirely.

What catches most executors by surprise is not any single task, but the sheer volume of correspondence and administration involved. Letters to banks, to HMRC, to pension providers, to insurers. Chasing responses. Keeping beneficiaries informed. Managing a property. All of this while handling your own grief, your family and your work.

What the job looks like, from start to finish

The work falls into three phases, and they are not equally demanding.

• The first days are about the death itself, not the estate: registering it, ordering certificates, finding the Will and arranging the funeral. Very little of the executor's job proper happens yet.
• The first month is when you take stock: notify the banks and pension providers, redirect the post, sort out the insurance on an empty property, and build a list of everything owned and owed. Nothing is paid out to anyone.
• The following months are the administration: reporting to HMRC, applying for the Grant, collecting in the assets, selling or transferring the property, paying the debts, preparing accounts and finally distributing. On a straightforward estate this is a matter of months. On a complex one it can be a year or more.

Three factsheets take this in detail. What to Do When Someone Dies covers the first days up to the funeral. The Executor's First 30 Days covers the first month week by week. Estate Administration covers everything after that, including how long each stage tends to take.

A worked example: David acts as executor

Imagine David, whose father passed away leaving a semi-detached house, a current account, a savings account and a modest pension (paid outside the estate). His father's Will named David as sole executor, leaving everything to David and his sister equally.

David felt confident about the basics, but had not expected how long it would take to get responses from banks, or how much correspondence would be involved with HMRC. He also discovered a credit card debt he had not known about.

David called Squiggle early in the process. We prepared the estate accounts, handled the HMRC correspondence, arranged the Grant and guided David through the property sale. David remained the named executor, with all the authority that carries, while we handled the day-to-day administration. It meant he could focus on supporting his sister and managing the property, while we dealt with the banks, HMRC and the conveyancer.

Your duty to beneficiaries

As executor, you have a legal duty to the beneficiaries: to act in good faith, to keep accurate records, to communicate clearly and to distribute the estate as quickly as reasonably possible. Beneficiaries are entitled to ask questions and to see the estate accounts. You do not have to share every detail of the administration with them, but you must not mislead them.

Where beneficiaries are also family members, the emotional dynamics can be complicated. Disputes over specific items, frustration at delays and disagreements about how a property should be dealt with are all common. Keeping communication clear and regular, even when there is nothing new to report, helps to manage expectations and reduce tension.

Protecting yourself as executor

Several practical steps reduce your personal risk:

• Place statutory notices for creditors. A notice in The Gazette and in a local newspaper, under section 27 of the Trustee Act 1925, gives creditors two months to come forward. If you have done this and waited, you are protected against debts you genuinely did not know about. It is not compulsory, and it is the single most useful protection available to you.
• Wait six months from the Grant before distributing the residue. That is the window for claims under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975.
• Do a bankruptcy search against each beneficiary before you pay them.
• Keep estate money in a separate account, never your own, and keep every receipt.
• Write down your reasoning for any judgment call: valuations, whether to sell or transfer, how you divided chattels.
• Get valuations from someone qualified where anything is worth arguing about, rather than estimating.
• Tell the beneficiaries what is happening, in writing, even when nothing has changed.
• Ask for help before you need it, not after. You can hand the administration to a professional and remain the executor throughout.

Appointing a professional executor

If you feel the role is too much, or if you are writing your Will and want to spare your family the burden, you can appoint a professional executor. The responsibility for getting everything right then sits with the professional, and the estate is administered by people who do this every day.

Squiggle can be appointed as professional executor, or support you in your role as executor, with as much or as little help as you want. See our Professional Executors factsheet for full details, or call us on 01233 659 796.

One more thought: the kindest thing you can do for your own future executors is leave everything organised. Ask us about Squiggle LegacyVault, our digital storage for the documents and details they will need.

Common mistakes to avoid

Acting before you have confirmed the Will is valid. Make sure you have the original, signed and witnessed Will before taking any significant steps.

Paying out too quickly. The most common cause of executor liability is distributing the estate before all debts are settled, or before six months have passed from the date of the Grant of Probate. That six-month period is the window in which certain family members and dependants can bring a claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975. It runs from the Grant, not from the date of death.

Not telling beneficiaries what is happening. Silence breeds frustration and suspicion. Even a brief update when there is nothing new to report helps.

Ignoring a Will clause you think is unfair. You must carry out the Will as written. If you believe a clause is invalid or unlawful, seek specialist advice rather than acting on your own judgment.

Failing to check for digital assets. Email accounts, social media profiles, digital photo collections, online investment accounts and cryptocurrency wallets may all need to be considered. See our Digital Assets After Death factsheet.

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This factsheet is general information for England and Wales, not legal, tax or financial advice. Worked examples are hypothetical and for illustration only. Last reviewed: August 2026.