Your executor is the person who carries out your will. It is the most practical decision in the whole document — and the one people spend the least time on. A good choice makes a hard time easier for your family. A poor one can mean delay, expense and fallings-out that last for years.
What an executor actually does
Being an executor is an administrative job with legal responsibility attached. After you die, your executor will typically need to:
- Register the death and locate the original will
- Value everything you own and owe, and report to HMRC
- Pay any inheritance tax due and apply for a grant of probate
- Collect in the estate — closing accounts, selling or transferring property
- Pay debts, bills and final expenses
- Distribute what remains to the beneficiaries named in the will, and keep clear accounts throughout
A straightforward estate usually takes somewhere between six months and a year to administer. Executors are personally liable if the estate is distributed incorrectly, which is why care and organisation matter more than legal knowledge — professional help can always be brought in for the technical parts, paid for by the estate.
Who can be an executor
Almost anyone aged 18 or over can act. Executors can be beneficiaries — in fact they usually are: a spouse or adult child who inherits is the most common choice in the UK. You can name up to four executors to act at the same time, though two is the practical sweet spot: enough for a second pair of hands and a shared signature, not so many that decisions stall.
What to look for
Forget seniority and symbolism — this is a working role. The qualities that matter are:
- Organised — comfortable with forms, deadlines and record-keeping
- Trustworthy — they will control money that belongs to others
- Diplomatic — able to deal fairly with all your beneficiaries, especially if tensions exist
- Willing — being named is an honour some people quietly dread; ask first
- Likely to outlive you — appointing only your contemporaries risks the role going unfilled
Always name a substitute
People die, lose capacity, move abroad or simply step down — an executor is allowed to "renounce" the role before starting it. Naming a substitute executor means your will still works if your first choice cannot act. A common structure is: spouse as first executor, with one or two adult children or a trusted friend as substitutes.
Should you appoint a professional?
Banks and some will-writing firms offer to act as executor, usually for a percentage of the estate — often 1 to 4 per cent, which on a £400,000 estate is real money. For most families a lay executor who instructs a solicitor only where needed is cheaper and more personal. A professional executor earns its keep mainly where the estate is complex or where family conflict makes a neutral party genuinely valuable.
Then make their job possible
The best-chosen executor still cannot act if they cannot find the will or work out what you owned. Tell your executors where your will is kept, and keep a record of your accounts, policies and property alongside it. Every Willful will is reviewed by an SRA-regulated solicitor, registered with the National Will Register so it can always be found, and stored alongside your key documents in an encrypted vault you can share with the people who will need it.