I sat with a client last year. We'll call him David. His father had passed away 18 months prior, leaving an estate of around £1.2 million. David and his brother were the sole beneficiaries. His brother was the sole executor. David hadn't received a penny. He hadn't even seen the will. Every phone call to his brother ended in an argument. The relationship was gone. The inheritance, which was meant to secure his family's future, was now the cause of its breakdown.
The Executor's Power
An executor's job is to administer the estate. They gather the assets, pay the bills and taxes, and then distribute what is left. It is a position of immense trust. Yet the will is a private document until probate is granted. In this case, the executor used that privacy to stonewall his own brother for over a year. David knew he was a beneficiary, but had no formal sight of his entitlement. He had rights, but asserting them meant engaging solicitors and starting a formal process against his own family.
The Price of Delay
A straightforward probate process should take between 9 and 12 months. This one took 24. The delay cost David a house purchase and thousands in rent. The legal fees to simply get information and force the administration forward came to nearly £15,000. The total value of the estate had also fallen with the markets. But the real cost was the family. It was dismantled by suspicion. This all stemmed from a single structural failure: one person was given total control, with no mechanism for oversight.
Pre-empting the Conflict
When you make a will, the choice of executor is critical. Naming only one of your children, if you have several, creates an imbalance of power. A practical step is to appoint joint executors – for instance, two children, or a child and a professional third party like a solicitor. This builds in accountability. It means no single person can delay or act alone. It forces communication. I have seen this simple clause protect not just the assets, but the family relationships you leave behind.
These situations are painful. They are also preventable. If you are reviewing your own arrangements, we should talk.
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Written by Sean Kiani, Estate Planner at Inheritance Made Simple. Sean writes and reviews the firm's guidance on estate planning, wills, trusts and inheritance tax, and works with families across Bournemouth, Poole, Dorset and Central London. Verify Sean's Society of Will Writers membership listing.