Acting as an Executor – Part 4: Distributing the Estate
Once you have obtained the Grant for the estate, realised the assets and paid all of the outstanding debts then the next step will be distributing the funds to the beneficiaries who are entitled to inherit.
With a Will, it should of course be simple to identify the people who are to receive a gift. However if the Will was drawn up many years ago the beneficiaries may have moved or even died. Or if you have been appointed as an executor by a friend and are not familiar with their family or other friends, then it may not be quite as straightforward. You may find that you have no option but to instruct a professional to locate the beneficiaries.
If you are dealing with an estate where there was no Will then there is a strict set of rules about who can inherit. If the deceased was married or had children then the distribution can be relatively straightforward.
If there is a spouse and children, especially if the children are under 18, or are children from a previous relationship then it can be much more complex. One issue that may arise is where the family home was in the sole name of the deceased, but it needs to be divided between the spouse and the children. This can be especially difficult to deal with if the spouse is living in the property and is not able or willing to move out to allow the property to be sold.
Where the deceased never married and did not have any children then you must research the family tree to ensure that the estate is correctly distributed between the different family members. Whilst the family may be able to provide you with some information, you may find that you need to instruct a genealogy company where a family has lost touch over the years.
It ought to be remembered that it is only the family members of the deceased that are entitled to inherit under an intestacy. There may be family members of their late spouse that remained in contact with the deceased, but they will not be entitled to any part of the estate.
All beneficiaries should be traced before the estate is distributed - as the cost of finding them should be borne by the estate as a whole and not be taken from their share of the inheritance.
Once you have identified and located all of the beneficiaries you must ensure that they are not subject to a bankruptcy order or any insolvency proceedings before passing any funds to them. As an executor you may be personally liable if you pass funds to an insolvent beneficiary rather than to their Trustee in Bankruptcy.
You should ask the beneficiary to provide you with a receipt for any payment that you have made to them or for any asset that you have transferred to them so that this can be produced in the event that there is a dispute over the distribution of the estate.
If you have been appointed as an Executor and you’d like to speak about your roles and responsibilities, please contact Cath Collins on 01945 898090 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
