Executor Duties in the UK: The 12-Step Checklist With Real Cost and Liability Examples
As executor of a UK estate, your core duties are to register the death, value everything the person owned, settle any Inheritance Tax, apply for the grant of probate, pay the debts, and only then distribute to the beneficiaries — in that order. The order matters because you can be held personally liable for getting it wrong. This checklist walks all 12 steps with the real costs you will face and the two protections that cap your exposure.
The job sounds administrative, and most of it is. But an executor (or "personal representative" in legal terms) sits in a position of genuine legal risk. Pay a beneficiary before you've cleared the debts, or distribute before HMRC has been settled, and the shortfall can come out of your own pocket. The good news: the law gives you two well-established tools — a statutory creditor notice and proper estate accounts — that, used correctly, protect you almost entirely. Below is the sequence I use with clients, with the numbers attached.
The 12-step executor checklist at a glance
| Step | What you do | Typical cost / time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Register the death & get death certificates | £12.50 per certified copy (order several) |
| 2 | Locate the will & confirm you're the named executor | £0–£30 (will search) |
| 3 | Secure assets & notify organisations (Tell Us Once) | Free |
| 4 | Value every asset and debt as at the date of death | £0–£600+ (surveyor, valuer) |
| 5 | Work out Inheritance Tax and complete the IHT return | Free to self-do; fees if advised |
| 6 | Pay any IHT due (by end of month 6) | 40% above the threshold |
| 7 | Apply for the grant of probate | £300 application fee (estates over £5,000) |
| 8 | Place a Section 27 deceased-estates notice | ~£70–£300 (Gazette + newspaper) |
| 9 | Collect in the assets (close accounts, sell property) | Variable |
| 10 | Pay all debts and expenses in the correct order | Variable |
| 11 | Prepare estate accounts & distribute to beneficiaries | £0 to self-do |
| 12 | Finalise tax & keep records | Keep 12+ years |
Figures above are England & Wales. Scotland (where probate is called "confirmation") and Northern Ireland have their own fees and forms. Now the detail.
Steps 1–4: Register, find the will, secure and value
1. Register the death
You must register a death within 5 days in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (8 days in Scotland). Order several certified copies of the death certificate — banks, pension providers and the probate registry each want an original, and copies ordered later cost more. At the registry the standard certified copy fee is £12.50 each. Most estates need four to six.
2. Find the will and confirm your appointment
You only have authority to act if you are named as an executor in a valid will. If there's no will, the rules of intestacy decide who can apply (as "administrator") and who inherits — see our probate process guide. A will is a public document once probate is granted, but until then keep it secure.
3. Secure the assets and notify everyone
Insure and secure empty property, redirect post, and notify banks, utilities, pension and benefit providers. The free Tell Us Once service notifies most government departments in one go.
4. Value the estate as at the date of death
This is the foundation for everything that follows. You need the open-market value of every asset (property, accounts, investments, vehicles, valuables) and every liability (mortgage, loans, funeral costs, utility arrears) as at the date of death. Property and high-value items often need a professional valuation — a RICS "Red Book" valuation for a house typically runs £300–£600 and is worth it, because HMRC can challenge an estate agent's free appraisal. See HMRC's official guidance on valuing the estate.
Steps 5–6: Inheritance Tax — and why it comes before you get probate
Most estates pay no Inheritance Tax, but you still have to check and report. The headline rules, verified against gov.uk:
| Allowance / rate | Figure |
|---|---|
| Nil-rate band (standard threshold) | £325,000 |
| Residence nil-rate band (home to children/grandchildren) | Up to £175,000 extra (so up to £500,000 total) |
| Standard IHT rate above the threshold | 40% |
| Reduced rate (10%+ of net estate left to charity) | 36% |
| Spouse / civil-partner transfers | Generally exempt; unused band can pass to survivor |
The cruel twist for executors is timing. IHT must be paid by the end of the sixth month after the person died — and you usually need to have paid at least some of it before the probate registry will issue the grant. Yet you often can't access the deceased's money to pay it until you have the grant. That chicken-and-egg problem is why so many executors borrow, use the Direct Payment Scheme (banks pay HMRC directly from the deceased's accounts), or pay IHT on property and certain businesses in yearly instalments over 10 years.
The cost of missing the deadline. Margaret, a widow in Leeds, dies leaving an estate of £700,000 — a £450,000 house, £200,000 in savings, and £50,000 in shares. She left everything to her two adult children. Her own £325,000 nil-rate band plus her late husband's unused £325,000 (transferable), plus £175,000 of residence nil-rate band, comfortably shelters the estate — wait, let's run it properly:
- Available bands: £325,000 (Margaret) + £325,000 (transferred from her husband) = £650,000, plus residence nil-rate band of £175,000 + £175,000 transferred = up to £1,000,000 against a £700,000 estate.
- IHT due: £0. The estate is fully covered.
Now change one fact: Margaret never married and had no transferable band. Her allowances are £325,000 + £175,000 (residence) = £500,000. Taxable estate = £700,000 − £500,000 = £200,000. IHT at 40% = £80,000.
Her son, the executor, is grieving and slow. He pays the £80,000 four months late. HMRC charges interest from the end of month 6 until the day it's paid — the rate is set by reference to the Bank of England base rate and changes regularly, so check the current figure on the official HMRC interest-rate page. On £80,000, even a few months of interest typically runs into four figures — money that comes out of the estate (and, if he distributed too early, potentially out of his own pocket). The lesson: diarise the month-6 date the moment you're appointed.
Step 7: Apply for the grant of probate — and the £300 fee
The grant of probate is the court document that proves your authority to deal with the estate. You apply online or by post once any IHT account is submitted. The fee, confirmed on gov.uk:
- £300 application fee if the estate is worth more than £5,000.
- No fee if the estate is £5,000 or less.
- £16 for each extra certified copy of the grant — order one per major asset holder so you can deal with banks and the Land Registry in parallel rather than posting a single copy round in sequence.
The £300 is a fixed fee regardless of estate size — a welcome simplification from the percentage-based fee that was once proposed. You pay it from estate funds (or reclaim it later), not personally.
Step 8: The Section 27 notice — your single most important protection
This is the step DIY executors most often skip, and it's the one that exposes them to the worst risk. Once you distribute the estate, an unknown creditor — an old loan, an unpaid care-home bill, a tradesman's invoice — can still come after the money. If the beneficiaries have spent it, the creditor can pursue you, the executor, personally.
Section 27 of the Trustee Act 1925 gives you a clean defence. You place a formal "deceased estates notice" in The Gazette (the official public record) and in a newspaper local to where the deceased held property, inviting anyone with a claim to come forward within a stated period of not less than two months. If you then wait out the full period and distribute "having regard only to" the claims you knew about, the statute says you "shall not... be liable to any person of whose claim [you] have not had notice."
How the £70 notice saved an executor from a £14,000 bill. David is executor for his late uncle's £180,000 estate. There's no IHT to pay. He places a Section 27 notice in The Gazette (around £70–£100) plus a notice in the local paper (often £150–£250 depending on the title), waits the two months, hears nothing, and distributes equally to four cousins.
Three months later a finance company surfaces with a £14,000 personal-loan balance the uncle never mentioned. Because David followed Section 27, he is not personally liable. The creditor's remedy is to chase the beneficiaries who received the money (who can be required to give it back up to what they received) — but David's own assets are protected.
Had he skipped the notice and distributed, that £14,000 could have landed on him personally if the cousins had already spent their shares. A spend of under £300 capped a £14,000 exposure. That is why I treat the Section 27 notice as non-negotiable on any estate I'm not 100% certain is debt-free.
Note one limit: Section 27 protects you against unknown creditors only. It does not protect you from claims you knew or ought to have known about, from HMRC, or from family-provision claims under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975 (for which you should generally wait at least six months from the grant before distributing).
Steps 9–11: Collect, pay debts in order, then distribute
9. Collect in the assets
With the grant and your extra copies, close accounts, cash in investments, and sell or transfer property. Keep every penny in a dedicated executor's account — never mix estate money with your own.
10. Pay debts in the correct order — before any beneficiary
This is the hard rule. Creditors are paid before beneficiaries, full stop. Pay secured debts, funeral costs, tax, and other liabilities first. Where an estate is insolvent (debts exceed assets), there is a strict statutory order of priority, and paying the wrong creditor first — or a beneficiary at all — makes you personally liable for the shortfall to the creditors who should have been paid. If you suspect insolvency, take advice before paying anyone.
11. Prepare estate accounts, then distribute
Only once debts and tax are settled, the Section 27 period has expired, and you're past the 1975 Act window do you distribute to beneficiaries. Each residuary beneficiary should receive and approve a set of estate accounts before signing off — see the next section.
Keeping estate accounts — and when an executor can charge for their time
You have a duty to keep accurate accounts and to be ready to produce them to the beneficiaries. A complete set shows: a capital account (assets in, at date-of-death value), an income account (interest/dividends during administration), a list of debts and expenses paid, and a distribution account showing each beneficiary's share. Beneficiaries of the residue are entitled to see and approve these before they sign the estate off and release you.
On charging for your time: the default position is that a lay (non-professional) executor cannot charge for their time — only reimburse genuine out-of-pocket expenses (travel, postage, the probate fee, valuation fees, the Section 27 notice). You can charge professional fees for your time only if (a) the will contains an express charging clause permitting it — common where a solicitor or accountant is named — or (b) all the beneficiaries are adults with capacity and agree in writing. A professional trustee can also rely on statutory charging provisions in the Trustee Act 2000. If in doubt, recover expenses, not "time."
- Order is everything: register → value → pay IHT → get probate → pay debts → then distribute. Skip ahead and you risk personal liability.
- IHT deadline is month 6. £325,000 nil-rate band, up to £175,000 residence band, 40% above. Interest runs from the end of month 6 — check the current HMRC rate.
- Probate costs £300 for estates over £5,000 (nil below), plus £16 per extra copy of the grant.
- Always place a Section 27 notice (Gazette + local paper, 2-month wait) before distributing — it caps your liability to unknown creditors for under £300.
- Creditors before beneficiaries, always. Pay a beneficiary too early and an unpaid creditor can come after you personally.
- Keep estate accounts and get residuary beneficiaries to approve them. Lay executors recover expenses, not time, unless the will allows charging.
Frequently asked questions
Can an executor be held personally liable?
Yes. If you distribute the estate before settling Inheritance Tax or before paying the debts, and there isn't enough money left to cover them, the shortfall can fall on you personally. The two main protections are paying creditors before beneficiaries (in the correct order) and placing a Section 27 deceased-estates notice before you distribute, which shields you from claims by creditors you didn't know about.
How much does it cost to be an executor in the UK?
The unavoidable cost is the £300 probate application fee for estates over £5,000 (no fee if £5,000 or less), plus £16 for each extra copy of the grant and around £12.50 per death certificate. A property valuation typically adds £300–£600, and a Section 27 notice usually costs roughly £70–£300 for the Gazette and local newspaper combined. These are paid from the estate, not by you personally.
When does Inheritance Tax have to be paid?
By the end of the sixth month after the month of death. For example, if someone died in January, IHT is due by 31 July. Interest is charged on anything paid late, running from the end of that sixth month. Tax on property and certain businesses can be spread over 10 yearly instalments. You usually need to pay at least some IHT before the grant of probate is issued.
What is a Section 27 notice and do I need one?
It's a formal "deceased estates notice" placed in The Gazette and in a newspaper local to where the deceased held property, under Section 27 of the Trustee Act 1925. It invites unknown creditors to come forward within at least two months. Wait out the period and you can distribute without being personally liable to any creditor you didn't know about. It's strongly recommended on any estate that isn't certainly debt-free.
Can an executor charge for their time?
A lay (non-professional) executor generally cannot charge for their time — only reclaim genuine out-of-pocket expenses. You can charge for your time if the will contains a professional charging clause (common where a solicitor or accountant is named) or if all adult beneficiaries with capacity agree in writing. Professional trustees may also rely on the Trustee Act 2000.
How long do I have before I should distribute the estate?
There's no fixed deadline, but acting too fast is risky. Best practice is to wait until debts and tax are settled, the Section 27 notice period (at least two months) has expired, and at least six months have passed since the grant — the window for family-provision claims under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975. Most estates take 9–12 months to administer fully.
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This guide covers England & Wales unless stated; Scotland and Northern Ireland differ. It is general information, not personal legal or tax advice. Figures verified against gov.uk and legislation.gov.uk on 2026-06-03. The HMRC late-payment interest rate changes regularly — always confirm the current figure on the official page before relying on it.