Farra is a death administration assistant for UK families. Get step-by-step guidance for registering a death, applying for probate, notifying banks, and managing bereavement admin. From essential documents to practical checklists, Farra simplifies estate paperwork and funeral-related tasks so you can focus on what matters.
Being named executor is a significant legal responsibility. Most executors come to probate without legal training, often managing complex affairs at the worst possible time. The result is that certain mistakes come up again and again — some of them carrying real personal financial risk. This guide walks through the ten most common probate errors, explains why they happen, and tells you exactly how to avoid them. It describes England and Wales: Scotland uses confirmation rather than probate and Northern Ireland has its own rules. For a full overview of the process, start with our complete UK probate guide.
What it is: Handing out cash or assets to beneficiaries before all debts, taxes, and expenses have been settled.
Why executors make it: Beneficiaries are often grieving, impatient, and may be in financial difficulty. The executor, wanting to help, makes early payments before the estate is fully administered.
How to avoid it: Establish first whether the estate is solvent, because the rules are different and they are routinely run together into a single ladder that does not exist. If the estate is solvent, there is no ranking of creditors at all — everyone is paid in full. What section 34(3) of the Administration of Estates Act 1925 and Part II of its First Schedule set out is an order in which the assets are applied towards the debts, which decides which beneficiaries bear the cost, not which creditors get paid first. If the estate is insolvent, the Administration of Insolvent Estates of Deceased Persons Order 1986 applies bankruptcy rules; article 4 gives reasonable funeral, testamentary and administration expenses priority over the preferential debts. In both cases a secured creditor sits outside the ranking, looking to its security and ranking with the unsecured creditors only for a shortfall. Whichever applies, if you pay beneficiaries and debts remain, you are personally liable for those debts up to the amount you distributed. See our guide to paying estate debts in the correct order of priority.
What it is: Distributing the estate without first placing a statutory notice in The Gazette (and a local newspaper) inviting creditors to come forward.
Why executors make it: Many executors simply don't know this notice exists, or assume it only matters for large or complicated estates.
How to avoid it: Under section 27 of the Trustee Act 1925, placing these notices and waiting at least two months before distributing gives you statutory protection against unknown creditors who surface after distribution. Without this protection, a creditor can pursue you personally for their debt even years after the estate has been wound up. The Gazette publishes its own price list: a deceased estates notice placed by webform, XML or Gazette template is £96.55 plus VAT at the time of writing. See our detailed guide to advertising for creditors in The Gazette.
What it is: Failing to identify and include all assets in the estate — or valuing them too low.
Why executors make it: Assets such as digital accounts (PayPal balances, online savings, cryptocurrency wallets), foreign bank accounts, timeshares, pension death benefits, and household contents are easy to overlook, especially if the deceased kept poor records.
How to avoid it: Conduct a thorough asset search before submitting any IHT return. Check the deceased's email, bank statements (ideally 12 months), and correspondence files. Contact the Death Notification Service to alert major UK banks simultaneously. For digital assets, look for password managers and check app stores for financial apps. Property abroad is governed by the succession law and procedure of the country it sits in, not by the UK grant. Household contents should be valued by a professional valuer, not guessed. Undervaluing assets can result in HMRC penalties of up to 100% of the unpaid tax. See our guides to valuing shares for probate and the estate administration checklist.
What it is: Using an inaccurate or unsupported value for the deceased's property when completing IHT forms.
Why executors make it: Executors sometimes rely on online tools (such as Zoopla or Rightmove estimates) rather than obtaining a formal RICS-qualified surveyor's report or at least written valuations from two or three estate agents.
How to avoid it: HMRC specifically scrutinises property valuations. In practice that means written valuations you can produce if asked — commonly two or more estate agent valuations, or a formal RICS Red Book valuation for a larger or unusual property. The valuation date must be the date of death, not the date of sale. If you subsequently sell the property for more than the probate value, you will need to report a revised figure to HMRC. See our full guide to valuing property for probate.
What it is: Calculating IHT incorrectly — either overpaying (costing the estate money) or underpaying (leading to HMRC penalties and interest).
Why executors make it: IHT rules are genuinely complex. Common errors include: failing to claim the Residence Nil-Rate Band (RNRB) of up to £175,000; not claiming a transferable nil-rate band from a late spouse's estate (worth up to £325,000); failing to declare gifts made in the seven years before death; and miscounting taper relief on those gifts.
How to avoid it: Work through the calculation methodically. The standard nil-rate band is £325,000. If the deceased was widowed, a transferable nil-rate band may double this. The RNRB applies where a home passes to direct descendants and can add a further £175,000 per person. All gifts made in the seven years before death must be declared; those made in years 3–7 may attract taper relief. Business Property Relief and Agricultural Property Relief may eliminate IHT on qualifying assets. Our IHT400 form guide walks through each section in detail.
What it is: Sending incomplete or inaccurate probate applications — leading to rejections, delays, and in HMRC's case, potential penalties.
Why executors make it: The PA1P (for estates with a will) and IHT400 are lengthy and technical. Common problems include leaving sections blank, attaching the wrong version of the will, making arithmetic errors in the IHT schedules, or failing to include the correct supplementary forms (IHT402, IHT405, IHT435 etc.).
How to avoid it: Use the Probate Registry's own notes alongside each form and check them against HMRC's online guidance. For the IHT400, all calculations must reconcile with the supporting schedules. Triple-check the date of death, the full estate value, and that you have signed where required. Returned applications can delay probate by many weeks. See our guide to the PA1P and PA1A probate applications.
What it is: Committing the estate to a transaction that cannot in fact be completed until the grant is issued — exchanging on a property sale, or promising an institution a transfer it will not make without sight of the grant.
Why executors make it: There is often pressure to move quickly — from beneficiaries, from property chains, or from a desire to get things sorted. The mistake is a practical one about timing, not a legal one about authority.
How to avoid it: Be clear about what the grant actually does, because it is widely described the wrong way round. An executor's appointment comes from the will, and their authority exists from the moment of death; the grant is the official evidence, or registration, of an authority they already hold. It is an administrator — someone taking letters of administration where there is no will or no proving executor — whose authority derives from the grant itself, and who genuinely has none before it issues. The practical consequence for an executor is not that they lack power but that they cannot prove it: banks, the Land Registry and investment platforms will not act without sight of the grant, and a conveyance of land needs it. So collect information, arrange the funeral, secure and insure assets, and get the valuations done — but do not commit to a completion date or a transfer that depends on a grant you do not yet have. See our guide to executor first steps for a clear breakdown of what you can and cannot do at each stage.
What it is: Not informing HMRC of the death and not filing any outstanding self-assessment tax returns for the tax year in which the deceased died (and any prior years where returns were outstanding).
Why executors make it: If the deceased received only PAYE income, executors often assume there is nothing to do with HMRC. In fact, the final PAYE position nearly always needs to be reconciled, and self-assessment filers have outstanding obligations.
How to avoid it: Notify HMRC of the death as soon as practicable. For self-assessment taxpayers, you will need to file a final return for the period from the start of the tax year to the date of death. HMRC will then confirm the tax owed or any refund due. During estate administration, income earned by the estate itself (e.g. rent, interest) must be reported on an SA900 estate tax return. Failure to do so attracts automatic penalties. See our guide to filing a tax return for the deceased.
What it is: Depositing estate income or assets into your personal bank account, or using estate funds to pay personal expenses.
Why executors make it: It seems simpler. Many executors do not realise they need a dedicated executor's account, especially for smaller estates. The thinking is: "I'll sort it out at the end."
How to avoid it: Open a dedicated executor's account as soon as probate is granted. All estate income and asset proceeds should go into this account, and all estate expenses should be paid from it. This makes the final estate accounts straightforward to prepare and gives beneficiaries clear confidence that funds have been handled properly. Mixing funds creates the impression of misappropriation — even if none occurred — and can lead to beneficiary disputes. Our estate administration checklist covers account setup as an early step.
What it is: Distributing the estate based on an out-of-date will, a draft will, or incorrect assumptions about who the beneficiaries are — including where a beneficiary has predeceased the testator.
Why executors make it: The first will found is not always the last will. A deceased person may have made a later will, or a codicil amending an earlier one. Executors sometimes act on the first document they find without searching for a more recent version. They may also fail to check whether a named beneficiary has already died, which triggers the "lapse" or "substitution" rules.
How to avoid it: Always search thoroughly for the most recent will before applying for probate. Check with the deceased's solicitor, the National Will Register, and HM Courts & Tribunals Service's standing search facility. Once you have the will, check for any codicils attached to it. Read the will carefully to identify substitution clauses — many wills provide for alternative beneficiaries if a primary beneficiary has died. If there is no substitution clause and a beneficiary has predeceased, that gift may lapse and fall into the residue. See our guide to finding the will and our guide on what happens when a beneficiary predeceases the testator.
The theme running through all ten mistakes is the same: acting too quickly, without full information, and without following the correct legal sequence. The executor's role has a natural order — register the death, find and prove the will, value the estate, report and pay inheritance tax, apply for probate, collect assets, pay debts, distribute to beneficiaries. Note where inheritance tax sits in that list: the tax has to be reported, and any tax due on the non-instalment assets paid, before the grant will issue, which is the sequencing point most people get the wrong way round. Following the order and keeping a record of every decision is what stands behind you if a decision is later questioned.
For a step-by-step roadmap with timescales, see our executor timeline for 6, 12, and 18-month estates. For a discussion of when the personal liability risk becomes most acute, see our guide to executor personal liability.
Yes. If an executor acts improperly — for example, distributing before paying debts, or failing to administer the estate within a reasonable time — a beneficiary can apply to the court to have them removed and replaced. This is relatively rare but does happen. The court has broad discretion under section 50 of the Administration of Justice Act 1985.
HMRC can and does query IHT400 submissions. If an error is found, you will be asked to correct it and may owe additional tax plus interest. Deliberate or careless undervaluation can attract penalties of up to 100% of the unpaid tax. If you discover an error yourself, you should notify HMRC promptly — voluntary disclosure is treated more favourably.
There is no hard legal deadline for completing probate, but the "executor's year" — the first 12 months after death — is the traditional period within which the estate should be ready to distribute. Beneficiaries cannot generally demand payment before the year is up. However, inexcusable delay after that point can expose the executor to a claim for interest on unpaid legacies.
No. There is no requirement to instruct a solicitor to obtain a grant or administer an estate, and many executors do neither. The trade-off is that the executor keeps the personal liability either way: instructing a solicitor gives you a claim against them if they are negligent, it does not transfer your responsibility for the administration. See our comparison of DIY probate versus using a solicitor.
Act promptly and document everything. If you have distributed before paying all debts, contact the beneficiaries and ask for the funds back — a beneficiary who has been overpaid can be required to repay, and most cooperate once the position is explained. If you have underpaid inheritance tax, tell HMRC: unprompted disclosure is treated more favourably than an error HMRC finds. The one thing that does not improve with time is an unreported problem.