Executor (personal representative)

An executor is the person named in a will to carry out its wishes and settle the estate: gathering in money and property, paying debts and any tax, and passing on what remains to the beneficiaries. An executor is one kind of personal representative; where there is no will, the personal representative is called an administrator. A named executor can decline the role.

Who can be one

The person making the will chooses. A will can name up to 4 executors, and it needs at least 2 if any beneficiary is under 18 or the will sets up a trust. Naming an executor costs nothing, and the legal or administration fees that come up later can be paid from the estate. Being named in a will does not oblige anyone to act.

What an executor does

The first tasks are freezing the bank accounts and estimating what the estate is worth. If the estate needs it, the executor then applies for a grant of probate, which is the proof banks and buyers ask for. Any Inheritance Tax due has to be paid by the end of the sixth month after the death, and the estate’s details reported to HMRC within 1 year. After the debts and the tax, the executor shares out what remains as the will directs, keeping accounts as they go.

An executor who is arranging the funeral can also register the death, and whoever pays for the funeral is entitled to be repaid from the estate before the debts.

If there is no will

Without a will there is no executor. The closest relative applies for letters of administration and becomes the administrator, which gives them the authority an executor would have. The work that follows is the same.