The Executor’s Year

The estate of someone who has died is administered by a personal representative who is called an executor if there is a Will and an administrator if there is not.  The role of the personal representative is to gather in the deceased’s estate, meet his / her liabilities and make distributions to beneficiaries in accordance with any Will and / or the law. As proof of authority to act, the personal representative may require to obtain a grant of representation. A grant of probate is obtained by an executor and a grant of letters of administration by an administrator.

The personal representative has a year from the date of death during which he / she is not obliged to make a payment to anyone other than HMRC and the funeral director. This gives the personal representative time to establish the deceased’s assets and liabilities, obtain a grant of representation, deal with any problems and prepare estate accounts before distributing the deceased’s estate to his / her beneficiaries.

No grant of probate can be obtained for 7 days after the deceased’s death.  No grant of letters of administration can be obtained for 14 days after the deceased’s death. It is not unusual for it to take several months to obtain a grant of representation in a simple estate and longer where the estate is more complex.

To avoid personal liability for the deceased’s debts, a personal representative may place a notice to creditors in the London Gazette and a newspaper circulating in the area in which the deceased lived. Such a notice gives creditors 2 months from the date of publication to notify the executors of their claim against the estate. Liabilities such as utility bills and debts will generally be paid before the end of the executor’s year.

Should the deceased have had an obligation to make financial provision for someone other than a beneficiary, that person has 6 months from the date of the grant of representation to make a claim in court for reasonable financial provision. Once that claim has been filed at court, the claimant has 4 months to serve it on any personal representative and beneficiary.

A solicitor acting as a personal representative is unlikely to distribute an estate before the end of the executor’s year. A lay person is unlikely to be advised by a solicitor to distribute an estate before the end of the executor’s year. Whilst a modest and simple estate might be wound up within a year, a large and complex estate might take several years to finalise, particularly where there are problems with the Will and / or claims in the estate.

An executor should provide a copy of the deceased’s Will to a beneficiary and a personal representative should keep a beneficiary informed as to progress with the estate’s administration.

If you have an issue arising out of the administration of an estate, please contact our Inheritance, Trusts and Property team.