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Being named as an executor is a significant responsibility. Some people wish to decline the role before starting; others find they need to step back during the administration. Understanding the options — renunciation, power reserved, and court removal — helps executors and beneficiaries navigate these situations.
An executor named in a will is not obliged to accept the role. They can formally decline by signing a renunciation — GOV.UK form PA15, “give up probate executor rights” — which is filed with the Probate Registry when the remaining executor(s) apply for the grant.
Critical rule: renunciation is only available if the executor has not yet "intermeddled" in the estate. Intermeddling means taking any step to deal with the estate as executor — for example, collecting assets, paying debts, or even just corresponding with banks as executor. Once an executor has intermeddled, they cannot renounce — they are bound to continue.
Actions that do not constitute intermeddling include:
Once renunciation is filed, the renouncing executor has no further role in the estate. It is not quite irreversible: rule 37(3) of the Non-Contentious Probate Rules 1987 allows a renunciation to be retracted at any time with the leave of a registrar, though once a grant has been made to someone entitled in a lower degree, leave is given “only in exceptional circumstances”. Note also rule 37(1): renouncing probate as executor does not by itself renounce any right you may have to a grant of administration in some other capacity, unless you expressly say so. If all named executors renounce, a beneficiary or creditor can apply for letters of administration.
Where there are two or more executors, one can "reserve power" when the grant is taken out by the others. This means they are not acting as executor at present but retain the right to come in later if needed — for example, if the acting executor dies or becomes incapacitated.
Power reserved is noted on the grant of probate ("power reserved to [Name]"). If the reserved executor later wishes to act, they apply to the Probate Registry for a grant of double probate.
Once an executor has taken the grant, they cannot simply resign. There is no automatic mechanism for an executor to step down part-way through administration. Options include:
Section 50 does not set out a list of grounds. It gives the court a discretion, and the question the court asks is whether the administration of the estate is being properly carried out for the benefit of the beneficiaries. Situations that have led to applications include:
Hostility on its own is not enough — the court will not remove an executor simply because beneficiaries find them difficult to deal with, and it is the welfare of the estate and its beneficiaries that decides the application rather than any misconduct label.
The application is made to the High Court: section 50 is expressly a power of the High Court, and the county court has no jurisdiction under it. See our beneficiary disputes and executor accounts guide for information about disputes during administration.
If a sole or last surviving executor dies during administration, the executor of their estate becomes the executor of the original testator too — the "chain of representation" in section 7 of the Administration of Estates Act 1925. The section carries an important limit: it “shall not apply to an executor who does not prove the will of his testator”. So if the executor died before taking out the grant, there is no chain at all. Section 7(3) also breaks the chain on an intestacy, on a failure to appoint an executor, or on a failure to obtain probate.
If the chain is broken, or if the deceased executor was the only executor and left no will, the residuary beneficiaries or their representatives can apply for letters of administration (with will annexed) to continue the administration.
Once the executor has:
...their active role as executor is over. Their exposure does not end with it. Under section 22 of the Limitation Act 1980, a claim to the personal estate of a deceased person, or to a share in it, whether under a will or on intestacy, must be brought within twelve years of the date the right to receive the share accrued; arrears of interest on a legacy run for six years. And section 21 removes the time limit altogether for a claim in respect of a fraudulent breach of trust, or to recover trust property still in the trustee's hands. Estate records should be kept accordingly.
For closing the administration, see our closing accounts after distribution guide. For disputes between co-executors, see our multiple executors disagreement guide. For beneficiary disputes over accounts, see our beneficiary disputes and executor accounts guide. For the executor's first steps, see our executor first steps guide. For applying for probate, see our applying for probate guide. For the full post-grant process, see our what to do after grant of probate guide and estate administration checklist. For the complete probate context, see our complete UK probate guide 2026. For the executor's accounting obligations, see our executor accounting to beneficiaries guide.
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