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If you are a beneficiary and the executor will not produce accounts, or the accounts do not add up, the law gives you two formal routes: an application to the probate registry for the executor to produce an inventory and account on oath under section 25 of the Administration of Estates Act 1925, and a claim in the civil courts under Part 64 of the Civil Procedure Rules. Where money has been lost through the executor's handling of the estate, they can be made to repay it personally, unless the court excuses an executor who acted honestly and reasonably. Who pays the legal costs is for the court, and the estate does not automatically pick up the bill. This page describes England and Wales.
This page is for beneficiaries who are unhappy with how an executor has accounted for the estate — because no accounts have appeared, because the ones that have raise questions, or because something seems to be missing. It also explains the position from the executor's side. It describes the law of England and Wales.
For what estate accounts normally contain and what a beneficiary can expect to see without any dispute, start with our guide to executor accounting to beneficiaries. This page picks up where that one ends: when the accounts are disputed.
The duty is in statute. Section 25 of the Administration of Estates Act 1925 says a personal representative is under a duty to:
In Ali v Taj [2020] EWHC 213 (Fam), the High Court described the purpose of section 25(b) as giving a beneficiary a remedy when they want to understand what the estate consists of and how it is being administered, providing "protection for the beneficiary against a lazy, negligent, recalcitrant or malign personal representative". The judge added that executors "are under a duty to keep accounts and records relating to the administration of the estate and a beneficiary has a right to inspect these".
Disagreements over accounts most often concern:
Most of the formal routes below start from a request that was not answered. A written request for accounts, or for an explanation of specific items, sets out what is being asked for and when. In Ali v Taj the beneficiaries' solicitors wrote pointing out the executors' duties under section 25, enclosing a draft of the evidence they would file, and saying a summons would be issued in 14 days if accounts were not provided; when interim accounts promised by a date did not arrive, they went ahead.
Under rule 61(2) of the Non-Contentious Probate Rules 1987, "an application for an inventory and account shall be made by summons to a district judge or registrar" — that is, at a probate registry rather than in a civil court. The district judge or registrar can give directions and can deal with the application without a hearing (r.61(5)); in Ali v Taj the order was made on the papers, requiring the executors to exhibit on oath "a true and perfect inventory of the estate" and "render a true and just account of the administration" within 28 days.
The judgment in Ali v Taj sets out what the older cases establish about this remedy:
The civil courts can also deal with an estate's accounts, under Part 64 of the Civil Procedure Rules, in which references to trustees include executors and administrators (r.64.1(2)).
The courts distinguish two kinds of account. In Hubbard v Hubbard [2025] EWHC 855 (Ch) — a case about trustees of land, but describing the general law on taking accounts — the court explained:
The judgment also notes two older terms you may come across: "traditionally it is said that income is 'surcharged' and expenses are 'falsified'". The court called those terms "archaic" and pointed out that the practice direction on accounts uses the neutral word "objection" instead. Poor record-keeping counts against the person accounting: presumptions "may be made against them if they have not kept proper records".
An executor who loses estate money through mishandling can be required to make good the loss personally. The traditional name for this is devastavit. The Supreme Court in Roberts v Gill & Co [2010] UKSC 22 quoted the classic example: if an executor releases a debt owed to the estate while the debtor is able to pay, "it is a devastavit in him, and he is personally answerable for the sum released". Our guide to executor personal liability covers this in more detail.
Two things can protect an executor who is found to have gone wrong:
The Limitation Act 1980 has several provisions that can apply, and which one does depends on what the claim is for. "Trust" and "trustee" in that Act have the same meaning as in the Trustee Act 1925, so they cover personal representatives.
In Green v Gaul [2006] EWCA Civ 1124, the Court of Appeal held that a beneficiary's claim against an administrator for an account and payment in respect of estate property that came into her hands fell within section 21(1)(b), so no limitation period applied; that section 22(a) did not apply to a claim to remove her; and that where section 22(a) does apply, the better view is that time does not start until the personal representative is in a position to distribute. It also held that even where no limitation period applies, the court can still refuse relief because of a claimant's acquiescence or delay (s.36(2)). So the absence of a time limit is not a reason to wait.
Removal is a separate application, under section 50 of the Administration of Justice Act 1985, and the High Court decides it by asking what the proper administration of the estate requires. An account that shows mismanagement can support such an application, but disagreement over the figures does not on its own lead to removal. See our guides to removing an executor through the court and, where there are several executors, removing a co-executor.
It is often assumed that the estate pays the legal costs of a dispute. That is not safe to assume.
No official body publishes what these applications cost in legal fees.
Many account disputes end once the executor explains the contested items in writing, or once an independent accountant or solicitor reviews the figures. Mediation — where a neutral third party helps the people involved agree — is another route; see our guide to mediation in estate disputes.
For executors, the steps that most often prevent disputes are the ones the law already expects: keeping records from the start, producing clear accounts, and explaining decisions. Our guides to estate accounts and beneficiary receipts cover the paperwork.
If your dispute is really about whether the will is valid, or whether you were fairly provided for, those are different claims — see our guides to contesting a will and Inheritance Act claims.
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