What does an executor of a will do?
In Scotland, a person responsible for administering an estate is known as an executor. Our executry solicitors based in Edinburgh and Glasgow have experience of winding up estates and can assist you with as much of the process as you require, which can take a great deal of the stress and work off your shoulders.
We understand you don’t want the burden of having to deal with all the necessary legal paperwork when you’ve just lost a loved one. There are certain legal procedures which need to be followed, however, and our job is to guide you through these as quickly as we can and with the minimum of fuss.
Some of the issues we can help you with include:
- Arranging the funeral
- Winding up the estate
- Grant of confirmation
- Inheritance tax
- Valuing the estate
You may be interested in reading: What is the role of an executor in a Will? or Can an executor inherit from a will?
Executry solicitors in Edinburgh and Glasgow
When you come to us after someone has passed away, you’ll get the care, attention and professionalism you’d expect from a family-run law firm. We will go out of our way to make things as easy as possible for you and are happy to meet wherever suits you best.
Do I need an executry solicitor?
As an executor, you aren’t required to appoint a solicitor to act for you in the administration of the estate. You can deal with all of the administration work yourself.
However, depending on the amount and value of assets in the estate and the number of beneficiaries, this can be an onerous and time-consuming task. Additionally, if there are any complex issues, such as trust clauses within the will or legal rights claims due to children of the deceased person, it may be sensible to take specialist legal advice. If you do choose to appoint a solicitor to advise you in relation to the estate, you can agree with them which aspects of the estate administration they will deal with on your behalf. You may choose to deal with some matters yourself.
At Gibson Kerr, our executry solicitors are happy to discuss with you how much of the estate administration you would like us to deal with for you.
You may be interested in reading: When Someone Dies in Scotland: A Legal Checklist
What are the benefits of using Gibson Kerr as executry solicitors?
Our personal law solicitors specialise in the area of wills and executries and, between them, have many years’ experience of dealing with executries. Our solicitors have dealt with lots of different cases, including estates with assets situated abroad; estates where wills have been challenged; estates where the deceased has handwritten a will; and estates where the children of the deceased person wished to make legal rights claims on the estate. We also have experience in dealing with inheritance tax returns for estates and can calculate the correct amount of inheritance tax due on a large estate.
As a small firm, you will have direct access to one of our personal law solicitors and your solicitor will always keep you informed of progress with the executry. We will also make sure you are fully informed about the fees being incurred, so there is no surprise with fees at the end of the day.
Speak to an Executry Specialist
If you’ve been named executor of an estate, contact our Personal Law team for advice. Our team can provide clear, confidential advice tailored to your situation.
Frequently Asked Questions
When we act for you in your capacity as executor(s), we would typically assist you with the following:
- If there is a Will, checking the terms of the Will and attending to registration in the Books of Council & Session.
- If there is no Will, preparing a petition to have you appointed as executor dative and applying for a Bond of Caution (if required).
- Ascertaining the assets and liabilities of estate by contacting the institutions the deceased had an association with or/and instructing a third-party asset and debt search.
- Determining the position of the estate for Inheritance Tax purposes and preparing the necessary Inheritance Tax account (if required).
- Preparing the application for Confirmation and lodging it with the Court.
- If appropriate, preparing a legal rights calculation and advising any potential claimants of their legal rights entitlement.
- Ingathering of the assets.
- Payment of debts, legal rights and/or legacies.
- Considering the position of the estate for income tax and capital gains tax purposes and if required, taking further action such as liaising with HMRC or liaising with a qualified accountant regarding a tax return.
- Preparing an Executry Account (otherwise known as “Statement of Cash Intromissions”).
- Distributing the assets to the beneficiaries.
Distributions/payments should not be made from the estate until at least six months after the date of death. The reason being that creditors must be allowed a minimum of six months to submit a claim to the executor before the estate is distributed.
Beyond that, it is difficult to give an accurate estimate of the timescale as it will depend on the size and nature of the assets of the estate, the complexity of the case and how quickly third parties are able to respond. We find that most “straightforward” executries involving a property and couple of straightforward legacies take between 7 and 12 months. The executry can take longer than that if it is more complex. We will endeavour to carry out the work as quickly as reasonably possible.
It is difficult to give an accurate fee estimate for the cost of administration of the executry, as the scale of work required is to an extent unknown and will depend on several factors such as whether there is a Will, the terms of the Will, the family circumstances, the size of estate and nature of the assets involved, whether Inheritance Tax is due, and the location of the assets and the beneficiaries. We often find that a low value estate can be just as complex as a larger estate.
We do not charge a fixed fee or percentage of the gross value of the estate as we find that these structures do not accurately represent the amount of work involved and can easily inflate the costs.
We charge for our work in accordance with our terms of engagement and hourly rates. We normally issue interim invoices periodically throughout the administration of the estate (usually monthly), to spread out the fees and give you an indication of what is being incurred and provide a detailed account showing the work carried out for the relevant period. Our fees are settled from the estate funds when they are ingathered, unless agreed otherwise.
When we are nearing the stage of finalising the executry, we send our file to an independent law accountant who assesses our fee for the work we have carried out, and the procedures for this are set out in our terms of engagement.
We appreciate that costs are always a concern for executors and the above arrangement does not provide the certainty which some executors may look for. In order to provide some guidance as to the likely fees that will be incurred for an executry of average complexity, we have prepared the below table based on previous estates that we have dealt with.
Please note that the below table is not used to calculate our fees. It should serve as a guideline only and we cannot guarantee that the costs incurred will be within such parameters. The costs could be higher or lower, depending on the circumstances of the executry.
| Gross value of estate | Estimated legal fees as a % of the gross value of the estate (excluding VAT) |
| £0 – £50,000 | 12% – 20% (minimum fee of £2,500 + VAT) |
| £50,001 – £200,000 | 4% – 10% |
| £200,001 – £500,000 | 3% – 6% |
| £500,001 – £750,000 | 2% – 5% |
| £750,001 – £1,000,000 | 2% – 4% |
| £1,000,001 – £1,500,000 | 1% – 3% |
| Over £1,500,001 | Depending on circumstances (minimum fee of £2,500 + VAT) |
The above estimated legal fees are exclusive of VAT.
During the executry, you should also expect to incur certain outlays such as:
- Court fees for Confirmation:
- there is no fee for an estate with value of estate up to £50,000;
- a fee of £341 is charged for an estate with a value between £50,001 and £250,000;
- a fee of £684 is charged for an estate with a value exceeding £250,000;
- the court also charge £9 for each Certificate of Confirmation required.
- Legal Report (if there is a property included in the estate) – £56.00.
- Extract Registered Will: £20 per deed.
If there is no Will there are likely to be additional outlays such as:
- Court fee for petition to appoint an Executor Dative: £22.00.
- Court fee for a Caveat: £58.
- Bond of Caution (this is an insurance bond required in many executries where there is no Will).
Other outlays may also be incurred depending on the nature of the executry.
Please note that all of the above outlays are payable to third-party institutions and are subject to change. We endeavour to keep the above information as up to date as possible.
As an alternative to a more comprehensive executry service, we offer a “Confirmation Only Service”. This service is appropriate if we are only instructed to prepare the court application for Confirmation based on the information provided by the executor(s) in an estate where the deceased left a valid Will. Confirmation is required in many executries before estate assets can be sold or ingathered or transferred.
This service is therefore only applicable in circumstances where the executors wish to do the investigations themselves, where there is no need for an Inheritance Tax return to be submitted and where our role is limited to preparing the application for Confirmation only.
If this service can be offered, we charge a fixed fee of £2,500 + VAT.
The scope of work included in our Confirmation Only Service is as follows:
- Providing the executor(s) with a checklist confirming the information required to prepare the application for Confirmation.
- A meeting with the executor(s), lasting up to one hour, to obtain and discuss the information required to prepare the Confirmation application.
- Preparing the C1 Form, inventory of assets and inventory of liabilities, based on the information provided to us by the executor(s).
- Sending the draft application for Confirmation to the executor(s) for approval.
- Sending the final application for Confirmation to one of the executors for signing and providing signing instructions.
- Lodging the signed application for Confirmation with the court.
- Checking the Grant of Confirmation once issued by the court and sending this to the executor(s) to enable them to deal with the rest of the executry themselves.
If additional work is instructed outside the scope of work outlined above, our charges will be in accordance with our terms of engagement and hourly rates.
If at our meeting with the executor(s) it becomes apparent that the Confirmation Only Service is not suitable, our charges will be in accordance with our terms of engagement and hourly rates for the work done to that point and to follow thereon and we will discuss this with you in those circumstances.
If additional work is instructed outside the scope of work outlined above, our charges will be in accordance with our terms of engagement and hourly rates.
If you would like to receive assistance from our dedicated team or to discuss your circumstances further, please do not hesitate to get in touch. You can submit your enquiry below and a member of our team will be in touch as soon as possible.
