Executor's Guide

Executor's Guide: How to obtain grant of probate and administer an estate

Have you been asked to be an executor in someone’s Will? Do you know what probate is and what being an executor involves?

Dealing with bereavement is never easy. As well as coping with the emotional distress of losing a loved one, there is a complex process to go through, involving registration of the death, funeral arrangements, burial procedures, obtaining grant of probate, paying taxes, and dealing with financial affairs and probate administration.

For some people, being an executor can be a daunting task. But it doesn't have to be. Help is at hand with Lawpack’s Executor Guide.

If you are having to learn about being an executor, you will find the answers you need in this comprehensive Executor Guide. From what to do following a death, through to administering an estate to beneficiaries, this book takes you through the process. 

If you’re about to write a Will, your executors will welcome the advice in this executor guide, so they are prepared and will know what’s expected of them.

Executors’ duties and responsibilities are discussed, and probate procedures and probate forms explained. Our executor guide provides an overview of the probate process, so executors know what to do at every step.

Our straightforward and simple executor guide explains an executor's duties and the procedures executors must follow, giving you the confidence to do everything you need to do, including:

• Preparing for your role as an executor
• Registering the death, sending out the death certificate and following the Will's instructions
• Applying for a grant of probate or confirmation 
• Help with completing the probate forms
• Paying inheritance tax and raising money to pay inheritance tax and the probate fee or confirmation dues
• Identifying beneficiaries
• Valuing debts, including utility bills, loans, overdrafts and outstanding taxes
• Dealing with assets, including the deceased's property, stocks and shares, salary, pension and businesses
• Distributing gifts and legacies
• Transferring assets
• Intestacy rules in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland
• An overview of the probate/confirmation process

Valid throughout the UK, this executor guide also covers confirmation in Scotland and probate in Northern Ireland.

This Executor's Guide is published in association with Irwin Mitchell Solicitors.

Other information:

• What is an executor and trustee?
• What are an executor's duties?
• Top seven tips for executors

External information

• Wikipedia - Definition of executor
• Directgov - Dealing with a deceased person's money and property

Executor's Guide Contents

1. What is an executor?

• Grant of probate or confirmation 
• More than one executor
• Other personal representatives
• Should a solicitor be instructed? 

2. When death occurs

• Registering the death 
• The death certificate 
• The Will 

3. Duties of an executor 

• Is a grant of probate or confirmation necessary? 
• Financial records 
• Paying Inheritance Tax 
• Identifying beneficiaries 

4. Taking stock 

• Valuing debts 
• Asset checklist - property, bank account, stocks and shares, car, pension, life insurance and more...

5. Applying for a grant of probate

• Excepted/exempt estates 
• Probate forms – England and Wales 
• Probate forms – Scotland
• Application for confirmation – Scotland 
• Probate forms – England,Wales & Scotland 
• At the Probate Registry – England & Wales 
• At the Sheriff Court – Scotland
• Inheritance tax 

6. Administering an estate 

• Distribution of gifts and legacies 
• Transfer of assets 
• Final accounts 
• Taxation of the estate 
• Succession on intestacy 
• The rules of intestacy in England & Wales
• Prior rights, legal rights and the rules of intestacy in Scotland 

7. An overview of probate/confirmation