What Does an Executor Do? Duties, Responsibilities and Risks

Reviewed 30 October 2026 · England and Wales · General information, not legal advice

An executor gathers in the estate, pays inheritance tax and debts, obtains the grant and distributes what is left under the will, keeping accounts. The role is unpaid unless the will allows it, and mistakes are a personal liability.

An executor is the person a will names to carry out its terms. In England and Wales that means finding and securing everything the person owned, valuing it, paying the inheritance tax and the debts, obtaining the grant of probate from the court, and then handing what is left to the beneficiaries with a proper set of accounts. The role carries genuine risk: an executor who pays the wrong person, overlooks a creditor or gets the tax wrong is personally liable for the loss, and the work is unpaid unless the will says otherwise. This guide sets out the duties in order, how to protect yourself, what happens when executors disagree or want to step down, and what professional executors and solicitors charge.

Who can be an executor and whether you have to act

Anyone aged 18 or over can be named, including a beneficiary, and a will often appoints two or more; up to four can take the grant at the same time under section 114 of the Senior Courts Act 1981. Being named does not oblige you to act. An executor who has done nothing with the estate can renounce by signing form PA15, and the remaining executors or, if none is left, the person entitled under the Non-Contentious Probate Rules (usually the residuary beneficiary) take over with a grant of letters of administration with the will annexed. Once you have "intermeddled", for example by closing accounts or selling assets, you lose the right to renounce. A gentler option is to have "power reserved": you step back while the others obtain the grant, keeping the right to join in later if needed.

A will sometimes names a solicitor or bank as executor alongside, or instead of, the family. A professional executor cannot be forced to stand aside, but most will renounce if the family would rather deal with the estate themselves or instruct a different firm, so it is worth asking before anyone applies for the grant.

The executor's duties step by step

1. Deal with the immediate practicalities. Register the death if nobody else has, secure the home and valuables, tell the insurers, cancel standing orders and redirect the post. Executors have the final say on the funeral and may pay for it from the estate, although wishes written in the will are not legally binding. The legal steps after a death covers this first fortnight.
2. Find the original will and any codicil, confirm it is the last one, and keep it unmarked. The Probate Registry wants the original, and a lost or altered will causes months of delay.
3. Value the estate at the date of death. Write to every bank, building society, pension provider, insurer and share registrar, have property valued professionally, list the contents and vehicles, and gather details of debts and of gifts made in the 7 years before death.
4. Deal with inheritance tax. Decide whether the estate is excepted from a full account; if not, complete form IHT400 within 12 months and pay the tax by the end of the sixth month after the month of death, normally before the grant can issue. Executors are liable for the estate's inheritance tax to the extent of the assets they receive or ought to have received, so never distribute before HMRC has confirmed the position. Inheritance tax explained covers the thresholds, reliefs and the instalment option.
5. Apply for the grant of probate online or on form PA1P, signing a statement of truth. The fee has been £526 since 13 July 2026 (nothing for an estate of £5,000 or less). How long probate takes gives current waiting times.
6. Collect in the assets using sealed copies of the grant: close accounts, sell or transfer investments, sell or transfer property and register the new owner at HM Land Registry. Keep every receipt.
7. Pay the debts in the right order. Secured debts such as a mortgage are met from the asset they are secured on; funeral and administration expenses then rank ahead of everything else. If the debts exceed the assets the estate is insolvent, a strict statutory order applies and paying the wrong creditor first is a personal liability, so take advice before paying anything.
8. Sort out the tax during administration. File the deceased's final income tax return to the date of death, then account for the estate's own income (interest, dividends, rent) and any capital gains on sales. Since 6 April 2024 an estate with income of up to £500 in a tax year pays no income tax on it and small liabilities can be settled informally with HMRC, but an estate worth over £2.5 million, with more than £10,000 of tax to pay over the whole administration or with sales of more than £500,000 in a tax year must be registered with HMRC and submit returns. The estate has its own capital gains tax allowance for the tax year of death and the two following years.
9. Prepare estate accounts and distribute. Pay specific gifts and cash legacies first, then the residue, giving each residuary beneficiary a copy of the accounts and a tax certificate (form R185) for any income paid to them, and take signed receipts.

Personal liability and how to protect yourself

An executor who causes loss by breach of duty, which lawyers call a devastavit, must make it good from their own pocket. The classic cases are paying the beneficiaries and then being pursued by a creditor nobody knew about, misreading the will and paying the wrong people, overlooking a beneficiary, selling at an undervalue, and incurring penalties or interest by missing tax deadlines. Executors are also exposed if someone brings a claim under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 after the money has gone.

The protections are well established:

• Advertise for creditors under section 27 of the Trustee Act 1925: a notice in The Gazette and, where the estate includes land, in a local newspaper, allowing at least 2 months for claims. Executors who distribute after the period expires are not personally liable to creditors or beneficiaries they did not know about, although those people can still pursue the assets in the beneficiaries' hands.
• Wait 6 months from the grant before distributing, because that is the time limit for a 1975 Act claim; many solicitors advise 10 months, since a claim issued on the last day can be served up to 4 months later.
• Obtain HMRC's clearance certificate (form IHT30) before the final distribution where inheritance tax was payable.
• Where a beneficiary cannot be traced, take out missing beneficiary indemnity insurance or apply to the court for a Benjamin order permitting distribution on the assumption that they have died.
• Carry out a bankruptcy search against each beneficiary before paying them; a bankrupt's share belongs to their trustee in bankruptcy.
• Keep full accounts and written records of advice taken. Under section 61 of the Trustee Act 1925 the court can excuse an executor who acted honestly and reasonably, and a paper trail is what proves it.

An executor who instructs a solicitor still carries the legal responsibility, but the firm's professional indemnity insurance stands behind the work it does, which is one of the main reasons executors of larger estates hand the work over.

Disputes between executors and removing an executor

Joint executors must act together on most decisions: all those who have proved the will must sign to sell land, and banks generally need every executor's signature unless they have agreed otherwise. Deadlock over whether to sell the family home or accept an offer is common, and mediation resolves most of it more cheaply than court. Beneficiaries frustrated by delay can demand accounts and, if necessary, apply to the court for an order that the executor produce an inventory and account.

Removal is possible but not automatic. Before the grant the court can pass over a named executor under section 116 of the Senior Courts Act 1981 where it is necessary or expedient. After the grant, section 50 of the Administration of Justice Act 1985 allows the court to remove or replace an executor; the test is whether the proper administration of the estate and the interests of the beneficiaries require it, so hostility between the parties is not enough, while dishonesty, serious delay, a conflict of interest or a refusal to provide accounts usually is. The costs of a reasonable application generally come out of the estate, but an executor whose conduct prompted it can be ordered to pay personally. How to contest a will explains the related claims, and the dispute resolution guide explains how civil proceedings run.

Can executors be paid? Professional executors and their fees

A lay executor is entitled to recover reasonable out-of-pocket expenses from the estate: travel, postage, the probate fee, valuation and Gazette fees, and the cost of professional help. They are not entitled to be paid for their time unless the will contains a charging clause or every adult beneficiary agrees, and the court authorises payment only in exceptional cases. An executor who is also a beneficiary is, of course, rewarded by their inheritance.

Professional executors, usually solicitors or trust corporations, are paid under the will's charging clause, which section 28 of the Trustee Act 2000 treats as remuneration rather than a gift. They charge by the hour, by a fixed fee or, less commonly now, by a percentage of the estate (often quoted at 1 to 5 per cent plus VAT), and the firm must publish its probate prices online under the Solicitors Regulation Authority's transparency rules. A family executor can instead instruct a solicitor to do as much or as little as they like, from a fixed-fee grant-only service to full administration, and pay the fee from the estate. How much probate costs gives typical figures.

Doing it yourself or using a solicitor

Executors manage perfectly well alone where the will is simple and uncontested, the estate is excepted from inheritance tax, the assets are a few UK accounts and perhaps a home passing to a spouse, and the beneficiaries are adults who get on. A solicitor is worth the fee where inheritance tax is payable, where there is a business or farm (the agricultural and business reliefs have had a £2.5 million allowance per person since 6 April 2026), where the will sets up a trust or leaves money to children, where assets are abroad, where the estate may be insolvent, where a beneficiary is missing or a claim is threatened, or where the executors live far apart. Before instructing anyone, ask whether the fee is fixed or hourly, who will actually do the work, what disbursements to expect and how long they estimate the estate will take.

You can compare wills and probate solicitors by area, for example probate solicitors in Manchester or solicitors in Sheffield. In Scotland executors obtain "confirmation" from the sheriff court rather than probate, and Northern Ireland has its own Probate Office and rules, so the procedure above applies to England and Wales only.

Frequently asked questions

How long does an executor have to settle an estate?

There is no fixed deadline, but the law gives executors a year from the death, the executor's year, before anyone can insist on payment, and most estates are finished within 6 to 18 months. The inheritance tax deadlines are stricter: the account within 12 months and the tax by the end of the sixth month after the month of death. Beneficiaries can ask the court to intervene where an executor delays without good reason.

Can an executor also be a beneficiary?

Yes, and it is very common: spouses and adult children are usually both. The one trap is witnessing. Under section 15 of the Wills Act 1837 a beneficiary who witnesses the will, or whose spouse does, loses their gift, although the will and their appointment as executor remain valid. An executor who is also a beneficiary must still treat the other beneficiaries even-handedly and account to them.

Can an executor sell the house without the beneficiaries agreeing?

Usually yes. Executors have a power of sale over estate property and do not need the beneficiaries' consent, provided they obtain a proper price and act in the estate's interests. The exceptions are where the will leaves the house to a named person, who is entitled to receive it unless it has to be sold to pay debts or tax, and where a beneficiary asks for the property to be transferred to them in place of their cash share.

What if an executor refuses to act or does nothing?

A beneficiary can ask the Probate Registry to issue a citation requiring the executor either to apply for the grant or to renounce. If they ignore it, the court can pass them over and appoint someone else. After the grant has issued, the remedy is an application under section 50 of the Administration of Justice Act 1985 to remove or replace them, or an order for accounts. Writing first to set out the concern and a deadline is cheaper and often enough.

Do executors have to show beneficiaries the accounts?

Residuary beneficiaries are entitled to see the estate accounts, because their share depends on every figure in them, and the court can order an executor to produce them. People left a fixed sum or a specific item are entitled only to their gift and to know when it will be paid. Once the grant has issued, the will itself becomes a public document and anyone can obtain a copy from the Probate Registry for a small fee.

Is an executor liable for the deceased's debts?

Not from their own money, as long as they administer the estate properly: debts are paid from the estate and anything that cannot be covered is written off, because debts do not pass to relatives. The liability arises when an executor distributes the estate and a creditor later appears, or pays creditors in the wrong order in an insolvent estate. Advertising for creditors and paying nothing out until the full picture is known avoids both.

Related guides

• How Long Does Probate Take?
• What to Do When Someone Dies: The Legal Steps Explained
• Inheritance Tax Explained: Thresholds, Exemptions and How to Reduce It
• How much does probate cost?

This guide describes the law in England and Wales as at 30 October 2026. It is general information, not legal advice about your situation; the law and the figures it quotes change, so check the position with a solicitor before acting. LawFirms.co.uk is a directory and does not provide legal services.