Executors and beneficiaries
Who deals with your estate, and who receives it. These guides cover executors, beneficiaries, gifts, the residue of your estate and the substitution rules that keep your wishes intact.
Reviewed by the Estate Advisory Group editorial teamLegally reviewed: 13 August 2026Last updated: 13 August 2026
- What Is an Executor?Explains the executor's role, duties and legal position under English and Welsh law.
- How to Choose an ExecutorCovers what to look for in an executor, family versus professional options, and backup choices.
- Can an Executor Be a Beneficiary?Clarifies that executors can be beneficiaries, unlike witnesses, and covers conflicts of interest.
- How Many Executors Can I Have?Explains the limit on executors who can take a grant of probate and how to structure appointments.
- What Is a Beneficiary?Explains what a beneficiary is, the main types of gift, and what beneficiaries are entitled to expect.
- How to Leave Money in a WillCovers how to structure cash gifts in a will, including legacies and their place in the estate.
- Leaving Your House in a WillExplains how property passes under a will, joint ownership rules, and mortgaged property gifts.
- Leaving Personal Possessions in a WillCovers gifts of chattels, itemised lists, and the role of a letter of wishes for smaller items.
- Leaving Money to Charity in Your WillCovers charitable gifts, wording and registered numbers, and the inheritance tax advantages available.
- Leaving Someone Out of a WillExplains the legal position on disinheriting someone and the risk of a 1975 Act claim.
- What Is the Residue of an Estate?Explains the residuary estate, why it is the most important gift in a will, and how to structure it safely.
- What Happens if a Beneficiary Dies Before Me?Covers lapse, section 33 substitution, per stirpes gifts, and survivorship clauses.
- What Happens if My Executor Dies?Explains the effect of an executor's death before or after the will maker, and why substitutes matter.
- What Happens if an Executor Refuses to Act?Explains renunciation, power reserved, and what happens if no executor is willing to act.
- Can My Spouse Be My Executor?Confirms spouses can act as executor and beneficiary, and covers substitutes and joint appointments.
- Can My Child Be My Executor?Covers the age requirement for executors and the practicalities of appointing an adult child.
- Can I Appoint More Than One Executor?Explains the four-executor limit and the practical trade-offs of appointing multiple executors.
- Do Executors Have to Agree?Explains the general rule that joint executors act together and what happens if they disagree.
- Does My Executor Need a Copy of My Will?It helps enormously, but the original signed will is what matters legally.
- Should I Tell My Executor Where My Will Is?Yes, always tell your executor where your will is; an unfindable will causes real problems.
- Executor Duties: A Practical ChecklistA practical order of tasks for anyone acting as an executor.
- Can an Executor Be Paid?Lay executors are generally unpaid, but can reclaim reasonable expenses.
- Professional Executor vs Family ExecutorFamily executors are unpaid and personal, professional executors bring experience for a fee.
- Removing an ExecutorRemoving an executor usually needs court involvement or the executor's own agreement.
- What Happens If There Is No Executor?Someone else can usually apply to administer the estate instead.
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Other guidance
- Make a willEverything you need to make a will in England and Wales: what a will does, what it costs, whether you can write your own and what makes it legally valid.
- Signing and witnessingHow to sign and witness a will correctly in England and Wales, who can act as a witness and the mistakes that stop a will taking effect.
- Wills and familyWills for parents, married and unmarried couples, mirror wills, guardians, and how marriage, divorce and separation affect an existing will.
- Will guidesWhat happens if you die without a will, the intestacy rules, when to update a will, how to change one and whether you need a solicitor.
- Inheritance and giftsWho you can leave your estate to, leaving everything to one person, unequal shares between children, grandchildren, friends and the age children inherit.
- Property and willsWhat happens to a home when you die: joint tenants and tenants in common, leaving your share, mortgages, and whether an unmarried partner inherits.
- What happens when you dieWhat happens to bank accounts, joint accounts, pensions, ISAs and savings when someone dies, and how a will changes who ultimately benefits.
- Tax and estatesInheritance tax and wills explained: the nil rate band, residence nil rate band, spouse and charity exemptions, gifts and who pays the tax.
- Digital assetsWhat happens to your phone, email, social media, photos, online accounts and cryptocurrency when you die, and how to cover them in your will.
- Pets and willsWhat happens to your pet when you die, how to include a pet in your will, leaving money for their care and gifts to animal charities.
- Business ownersMaking a will if you own a business: company shares, sole trader businesses, partnership interests and what happens when an owner dies.
- Life eventsWhen to make or update a will: buying a home, moving in together, marriage, a new baby, travelling abroad, retirement and later life.
- Online willsMaking a will online in England and Wales: what it costs, fixed fee will writing, online versus DIY wills, and how quickly you can get one done.
- Gifts and wishesLeaving jewellery, cars, heirlooms and cash gifts in a will, giving different gifts to different people, and recording funeral and cremation wishes.
- Blended familiesWills for second marriages and blended families: stepchildren, children from a previous relationship, grandchildren and protecting a partner and children together.
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