If you’ve been named in a will, your executor duties begin on the day the person dies, often while you’re still grieving. For around 15 years as a mortgage and finance adviser, I helped families put wills, powers of attorney and funeral plans in place, and the same worry came up time and again: “Will I have to hand everything to a solicitor?” Usually, you won’t.
My advice here at Honest Pensioner hasn’t changed: do what you can yourself, and only pay for the parts that really need a solicitor. This guide covers executor duties in England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland are covered below.
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What Are Executor Duties?
An executor is the person named in a will to carry out its instructions. Put simply, your job is to find out everything the person owned and owed, pay what’s due, and pass what’s left to the right people.
The main responsibilities of an executor are to:
- collect in money, property and possessions
- pay debts, taxes and funeral costs from the estate
- keep clear records of every penny in and out
- share out what’s left exactly as the will says
You don’t have to accept the role. If you haven’t started handling the estate, you can step aside by signing a renunciation form. Once you’ve begun handling the money, it’s much harder to back out.
Your 10-Job Checklist, in Order
Most estates follow the same pattern. Here’s the executor duties checklist I’d work through, roughly in this order.
- Register the death. In England and Wales this must be done within five days at a register office. Buy several certified copies of the death certificate, as banks, pension providers and insurers will each want to see one.
- Find the latest will. Check home paperwork, the bank and any solicitor the person used. Make sure you have the original and that no newer version exists.
- Use Tell Us Once. This free Tell Us Once service informs most government departments, including the DWP, HMRC, DVLA and the local council, in one go.
- Secure the home and valuables. Lock up, redirect the post and tell the home insurer straight away. Many policies restrict cover once a property is left empty.
- Arrange the funeral. Most banks will pay a funeral director’s invoice directly from the dead person’s account. Our guide to funeral costs .
- Value the estate. List every asset and debt at the date of death. GOV.UK explains how to value the estate. For deaths from 6 April 2027, most unused pension pots will count towards the estate for inheritance tax, and executors will be responsible for reporting and paying any tax due on them.
- Sort out inheritance tax. Most estates pay none. The tax-free inheritance tax allowance is £325,000, plus up to £175,000 more if the home passes to children or grandchildren. Where tax is due, it must be paid by the end of the sixth month after death, and usually before probate is granted.
- Apply for the grant of probate. You can apply online yourself at GOV.UK’s applying for probate page. Since July 2026 the fee is £526 for estates over £5,000. Order extra copies of the grant at the same time: they cost £2 each then, but £16 each later.
- Collect assets, pay debts and protect yourself. Open an executor bank account, close the person’s accounts and pay any bills. Place a deceased estates notice in The Gazette and a local paper, which gives unknown creditors two months and one day to come forward.
- Keep accounts and distribute. Prepare simple estate accounts showing everything in and out, share them with the main beneficiaries, then pay out and get a signed receipt from each person.
Key Deadlines to Know
Dealing with the estate isn’t a race, but a few dates shape your executor duties:
- 5 days: register the death (England and Wales)
- 6 months after death: inheritance tax is due, with interest charged after that
- 2 months and 1 day after your Gazette notice: the creditor claim period ends
- 6 months after the grant of probate: family members and dependants can no longer bring a claim against the estate without court permission
- 12 months after death: the “executor’s year”. Nobody can force you to distribute before then
A straightforward estate typically takes nine to twelve months to wrap up. Administering the estate with property to sell, or tax to pay, can take longer.
Scotland and Northern Ireland: Key Differences
In Scotland, executors apply to the sheriff court for “confirmation” instead of probate, and the death must be registered within eight days. In Northern Ireland, probate goes through the High Court’s Probate Office, which has its own forms and fees. Most other steps are the same.
What Should an Executor Not Do?
These are the mistakes I’ve seen families make most often when carrying out executor duties:
- Paying out too early. Wait until the Gazette notice has expired and six months have passed since the grant.
- Mixing money. Never run estate money through your own account. Use an executor account.
- Selling to yourself cheaply. Buying estate property yourself, or selling to family below market value, needs everyone’s agreement and a proper valuation.
- Paying debts in the wrong order. If the debts exceed the assets, there’s a legal order of payment. Get advice before paying anyone.
- Leaving the house uninsured. An empty, uninsured home is a serious risk to the estate and to you.
How Much Power Do Executors Have?
Quite a lot. Your authority comes from the will and starts from the date of death. Once you hold the grant of probate, you can deal with banks, sell property and sign on behalf of the estate. But your executor duties also mean you must follow the will and act in the beneficiaries’ best interests. You can’t change who inherits, and beneficiaries can ask a court to remove an executor who isn’t doing the job.
Who has more power, next of kin or executor? Where there’s a valid will, the executor. “Next of kin” has no special legal standing over the estate. Legally, the executor even has the final say on funeral arrangements, though most families decide together. If there’s no will, the closest relatives under the intestacy rules apply to act instead. It’s another reason making a will .
When to Pay a Solicitor (and Only for That Part)
Most executor duties are phone calls, letters and forms. As I always told clients, you don’t need to hand over the whole estate. Pay a professional only for the parts that need one, such as:
- selling the house (conveyancing)
- complicated inheritance tax, such as a business, farm, trust or large gifts
- an estate where the debts are bigger than the assets
- a dispute or challenge to the will
- property or money abroad
Paying a fixed fee for one task, rather than a percentage of the whole estate, could save your family thousands in solicitor’s fees.
Your Questions Answered
Here are answers to the frequently asked questions I hear about probate as an executor.
Can an executor also be a beneficiary?
Yes. It’s very common for a husband, wife or adult child to be both.
Do executors get paid?
Not usually, even though the role can take months, unless they’re a professional or the will allows it. You can, however, reclaim reasonable out-of-pocket expenses from the estate.
Can an executor be personally liable?
Yes, if they pay out carelessly and a creditor or beneficiary loses out. A Gazette notice and good records are your best protection.
Get Organised Before You Start
When I first sat with families after a death, the hardest part was rarely the law. It was not knowing where anything was. That’s why I created the Honest Pensioner Executor Workbook. It walks you through each step, covers all four UK nations and includes a section on when to pay a professional, and for what. Like any guide, it covers the basics and the most common situations, so take proper advice on anything unusual. If you also hold a lasting power of attorney or need a bereavement checklist, those guides will help too.
This article is general information about executor duties in the UK, not legal or tax advice. Rules and fees change, so check GOV.UK, mygov.scot or nidirect before acting.
