Choosing an executor for your Will

• Registers the death and finds the Will.
• Lists what you owned and what you owed.
• Applies for probate where it is needed.
• Pays any debts, bills and tax due from the estate.
• Passes on the gifts you left and keeps a clear account of it all.

For a straightforward estate this often takes six to twelve months. It is paperwork and patience more than anything clever.

Anyone aged 18 or over who has mental capacity. A person who inherits under your Will can still be an executor, and very often is: leaving everything to your husband or wife and naming them as executor is perfectly normal. You can also name a professional, though they will charge the estate for their time.

Two is the usual answer. One can be lonely and leaves nothing in reserve if that person has died or is unwell. Up to four can act, but more than two tends to slow everything down because they all have to sign. Naming a reserve executor, who steps in only if your first choices cannot act, is a simple bit of insurance.

• Organised, and comfortable with forms and banks.
• Likely to outlive you, or young enough that it is likely.
• On reasonable terms with everyone who inherits.
• Living in the UK, which makes the practical side far easier.
• Willing. Always ask them first.

• Naming two people who do not get on. Every decision becomes a negotiation.
• Choosing someone the same age as you, with no reserve named behind them.
• Picking a professional out of habit when a capable family member would do it for nothing.
• Never telling anyone. Your executor needs to know they have been named and where the Will is kept.

An executor deals with money and property. A guardian looks after your children. They can be the same people, but they do not have to be, and the skills are quite different. You can read more about naming guardians.