Registered number: 10816512.
Registered office: Squiggle Consult Ltd, Suite 2069, Letraset Building, Wotton Road, Ashford, Kent, TN23 6LN
Squiggle Consult Ltd. is a limited company registered in England and Wales.
A professional executor is appointed in a Will to administer the estate in place of (or alongside) family members. Their role is to make sure the estate is dealt with exactly as the person wished, in full compliance with the law, and to lift that burden from grieving family. Squiggle can be appointed in your Will to take on this role.
A professional executor has a "fiduciary duty" (a legal obligation to act solely in the interests of the estate and its beneficiaries). That means managing assets prudently, transparently and fairly, with no personal gain beyond the agreed fee. Every decision must be capable of standing up to scrutiny from beneficiaries, from HMRC and, if it ever came to it, from a court.
Asset collection and management. Identifying and gathering every asset: bank accounts, property, investments, pensions and personal belongings, and safeguarding them throughout the administration. That includes practical matters families often overlook, such as insuring an empty property and securing valuables.
Debt settlement. Identifying and paying the person's debts, taxes and other liabilities before anything is distributed, including placing statutory notices so unknown creditors come forward at the right time.
Legal and tax compliance. All the formal paperwork: reporting the estate to HMRC, dealing with Inheritance Tax and income tax, and arranging the Grant of Probate.
Distribution. Passing the estate to beneficiaries precisely as the Will instructs (or under the intestacy rules if there is no valid Will), with proper estate accounts and signed receipts at the end.
Where beneficiaries disagree, or someone challenges the Will, a professional executor remains impartial, keeps communication clear, and acts to the standards the court expects of anyone in the role. An independent professional often defuses family tension precisely because they have no personal stake in the outcome. If a dispute becomes a legal claim, the professional executor's job is to make sure specialist contentious probate solicitors are instructed promptly and the estate's interests are properly protected.
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.
Regular updates are built into how Squiggle works: beneficiaries are kept informed about progress, realistic timescales, and anything that could affect their distribution. Most frustrations with family-run estates come down to silence. Our aim is that you always know where things stand.
Estates increasingly involve complexity: businesses, trusts, multiple properties, digital assets, and pensions (which fall within Inheritance Tax for deaths from 6 April 2027). A professional executor is trained to anticipate and navigate these issues, which can overwhelm family members at the worst possible time.
Imagine Brian, a widower with two adult children who do not get on. His estate includes his home, a buy-to-let flat, an investment portfolio and a small consultancy business. Brian worries that asking one child to be executor would inflame the relationship with the other, and that neither has the time or knowledge to deal with the business and the tax position.
Brian appoints a professional executor in his Will. On his death, the estate is administered by people who do it every day: the business is valued and wound down in good order, the tax reporting is handled correctly, both children receive the same clear updates at the same time, and neither has to take on legal responsibility, or the blame, for any of it.
This is a hypothetical example for illustration only.
Unlike family executors, professional executors are paid for their work. Because every estate is different and values change over time, the fee is assessed on the size and complexity of the estate at the time it is administered. Our fees are agreed transparently and set out in writing; ask us and we will explain exactly how it would work for you. (Squiggle Consult is an estate planning consultancy, not a firm of solicitors.)
Appointing a sole elderly executor. Naming only a spouse or a contemporary risks your executor being unable to act when the time comes. A professional appointment never ages.
Appointing children jointly "to be fair". If they disagree, the administration can stall completely. Fairness in the Will does not require sharing the executor role.
Assuming the bank or a large institution is the cheapest professional option. Institutional executors can charge significant percentages. Always compare how fees are calculated before deciding.
Not telling anyone. Whoever you appoint, make sure your family knows who the executor is and where the Will is kept.
Consider one if your estate involves a business, multiple properties or trusts; if family relationships are strained; if your chosen executors live abroad or are elderly; or simply if you would rather your loved ones grieve without paperwork. Appointing a professional executor is a simple clause in your Will: we can include it when we prepare your Will, or update an existing one.
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This factsheet is general information for England and Wales, not legal, tax or financial advice. Last reviewed: June 2026.
Registered number: 10816512.
Registered office: Squiggle Consult Ltd, Suite 2069, Letraset Building, Wotton Road, Ashford, Kent, TN23 6LN
Squiggle Consult Ltd. is a limited company registered in England and Wales.
