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What do you do if you don’t want to be the executor of an estate?

Administering an estate after someone’s death can be a difficult task. The job is time-consuming, sometimes complicated, and, by its nature, comes at what is likely to be a difficult time.

If you do not want to deal with an estate administration, you need to take care to handle matters correctly. If you do some work, however minor, you may not be allowed to simply step aside, so you need to decide at the outset whether you wish to take on the administration or not.

What does estate administration entail?

The executors of an estate are required to wind up all of the deceased’s affairs, and to do so within as short a time period as possible.  The Executors’ year is described as a reasonable time to administer an estate although, with the current backlog at HMRC and the Probate Registry it can in reality take a lot longer.  The tasks include:

• Valuing the estate
• Identifying all estate liabilities
• Ensuring all assets are secure and properly insured
• Calculating how much Inheritance Tax is due (if any)
• Completing HMRC forms and paying the Inheritance Tax (if any)
• Applying for a Grant of Probate
• Placing statutory advertisements, where necessary, asking for creditors and beneficiaries to make themselves known
• Collecting in the estate assets, to include selling property where necessary
• Clearing all debts
• Finalising the deceased’s Income Tax affairs and reporting the administration income
• Reporting any changes to HMRC and obtaining Inheritance Tax clearance (if appropriate)
• Preparing detailed estate accounts
• Distributing the estate to the beneficiaries

Executors can be personally liable for any loss caused to the estate as a result of mistakes, even those made inadvertently, so it is important to ensure that you are confident to take on the role before starting work.

Can I avoid being an executor?

If you don’t want to be an executor, then it is possible to renounce probate, however it is essential that this is done before you take any action to deal with the estate. Work on the estate at this stage when someone does not intend to be an executor is known as intermeddling, and if you have intermeddled, you will not be able to renounce probate without the permission of the court.

Renunciation of probate is done by signing a formal deed of renunciation and a Probate Registry renunciation form.   This form is then passed to the person who will be dealing with the estate administration. This could be another executor named in the Will or, if you were the only one named, another individual, generally a beneficiary.

The remaining executor will send the deed of renunciation to the Probate Registry when applying for a Grant of Probate. If there is no other executor, then the person taking on the role will apply for a Grant of Letters of Administration with Will Annexed.

What other options are there if I don’t want to be an executor?

An alternative to renunciation is to have power reserved. This means that you would still be an executor, but you would take no active role in the estate administration. However, you would have the right to be involved at a later date, where necessary.

Later involvement requires asking the Court of Probate to issue a Grant of Double Probate, allowing the executor to take part in the administration process.

Another option is to take on the role of executor but to instruct a probate solicitor to carry out the estate administration. This is a popular choice, as it allows an executor to take up the position as requested by the deceased, but does not require the time commitment of dealing with the winding up.

If you would like further information please contact one of our Wills and Probate experts.

This article is for general information only and does not constitute legal or professional advice. Please note that the law may have changed since this article was published.