What duties does an executor of a Will have?

Being an executor of a Will has many responsibilities. It is the executor’s role to administer the estate of the deceased person. The duties of an executor involve sorting out everything the deceased person owned, including any property, money, and other possessions, settling any debts and finalising income tax affairs.

One responsibility may be that the executor needs to sort out the property of the deceased. It is the executor’s role to make sure that the property is secure and home insurance may be required to be put in place along with arranging clearance, and even arranging the sale of the property if that was what the deceased person wished. A grant of probate is required to sell a property in the deceased’s name.

The executor will also need to collect in all of the deceased assets and settle any debts if the deceased person had any. To get the deceased person’s financial information, the executor will need to send copies of the death certificate to the financial institutions such as banks and insurance companies. The executor will need to collect all the deceased person’s financial documentation and work out all the money owed to and from the estate.

Once all date of death balances for the assets and debts are collected, the executor may have to apply for probate depending on what is in the estate and its value. If probate is required, the executor must then prepare the relevant documents required by the Probate Registry and HMRC. Once the grant of probate is received the executor will need to send copies to all the relevant financial institutions in order to get the assets released. Once the executor have all the assets collected and debts settled, the executor will then need to distribute the estate according to the deceased person’s wishes in their Will.

A specialist probate solicitor would be able to assist you further if you are the executor of a deceased person’s Will to act on your behalf in dealing with the administration of the estate. If you would like assistance from our expert Wills and probate team please call us on 0161 696 6238.