In brief
If you think you are an executor, start by checking the will and any updates, who is named, and whether you intend to act or need help. Record the relevant jurisdiction before choosing a legal route. Then make a short first-work note: urgent concerns, available evidence, unresolved authority questions and one person responsible for the next check.
This is a starting path, not the whole estate-administration process. Do not treat being named as proof that every organisation will accept your instructions, or as an inheritance entitlement. Do not rush into collecting or distributing assets.
Every Little Thing's planned support connects records, questions and agreed follow-up work, so you can share the practical load without restarting each explanation. This guide does not apply for a grant, access an account or contact anyone for you. Use the first-work record below independently of ELT.
1. Check the role before choosing the next action
Locate the will and any codicil, meaning an update to the will. Note where the original is, whether you have seen it and which questions remain. If versions conflict or you do not understand the wording, seek appropriate advice rather than deciding validity yourself.
For England and Wales, GOV.UK says an executor applying for probate must be named in the will or codicil. The usual application uses the original will, but GOV.UK also gives a possible lost-original route using form PA13. That does not mean a photocopy is always accepted. Where several executors are named, they must agree who applies. These are application rules, not an instruction for every named person to apply immediately. GOV.UK: if there is a will.
Keep two questions separate: "Am I named to deal with the estate?" and "Am I entitled to inherit something?" The role does not itself answer the second question.
If you are unsure about acting, record that before taking on estate transactions. By "not acting", we mean checking which formal option applies if you do not want to take on the executor work yourself. England and Wales has official options for not applying now or giving up the right to apply, with different conditions. Read the relevant option rather than assuming an informal agreement changes your position. Scotland and Northern Ireland need their own route checks. GOV.UK: executor options.
2. Make a first-work record
Copy this note into a document or notes app you control. Use known facts, label unknowns and keep personal details there, not in this guide. It is not a universal document bundle or a probate application.
If you are unsure which nation's guidance to use, first note where the person lived, where relevant assets appear to be and what is unclear. Use the named official routes below or seek appropriate advice if more than one nation may apply. This records a question; it does not decide legal domicile, succession or grant jurisdiction. Unknown is a useful answer at this stage.
Select the blank executor first-work note and copy it into a document or notes app you control. Unknown fields may stay unknown. Keep personal details there, not in this guide.
EXECUTOR FIRST-WORK NOTE Write unknown where you do not know. This is not an application or proof of authority. FIRST FACTS AND OPEN QUESTIONS Where did the person live? Where do relevant assets appear to be? What is unclear about which nation's guidance to ask about? Where is the original will and any update? Seen / not seen / unknown: Who is named as executor? Unknown if not yet checked: Who will keep this working note up to date? Do you intend to act, need help, or need to check the formal option for not acting? Death certificate: available / requested / unknown: What documents showing your role do you have? What is still needed? URGENT CONCERN AND FIRST CLUES Concern about property, people, records or insurance: Who may ask the organisation about it? What proof might it need? Where will you ask? Official contact route checked / unknown: Known asset clues and where their evidence is kept: Separate debt clues and where their evidence is kept: Question about the relevant probate, administration or confirmation route: ONE NEXT ACTION What is the question or agreed task? Who will check it? What information or permission is needed first? Unknown is fine: Not sent / sent date and reference: Reply and the particular fact it confirms, or no reply: What is still unanswered? Next check date and person: Status: question / checking / awaiting reply: Use awaiting reply only after an enquiry has actually been sent. Being named or keeping this note does not establish inheritance or permission for every transaction.
Fictional example: one next action
Every detail below is fictional. The example is deliberately incomplete and does not show an enquiry that has been sent.
FICTIONAL, PARTIALLY FILLED ONE NEXT ACTION Question: ask the insurer's official bereavement route what death notice and documents showing the enquirer's role it accepts. Person responsible: Alex (fictional). Information needed first: who may ask and which documents are needed - unknown. Sent: not sent. Reply: none. Next check date: not chosen yet. Status: checking. No policy decision, payment or request has been made.
Role and route: a document location is not confirmation that you have the current original or that an organisation accepts your authority.
Urgent concern: record what needs attention, who may deal with it and the next contact. A concern about a home, its occupants or insurance needs a specific check, not an automatic instruction to change locks, take possession or pay a bill yourself.
One next action: make it small enough to assign. For example, ask which evidence a particular organisation requires before discussing the asset. "Sort the estate" is too broad to show what has actually happened.
3. Choose the appropriate official route
There is no single UK grant application to follow for every estate. Do not choose a route just because a search result uses the word probate.
England and Wales
Before applying, check whether probate is needed and whether you can apply. GOV.UK then sets out the estate-value and tax-reporting checks relevant to an application. This is a reason to identify the questions first, not a command to file immediately or an assumption that tax is due. GOV.UK: before applying for probate.
If there is no will, the appropriate person may apply to become an administrator rather than act as a named executor. Check the official eligibility route; being a relative does not by itself settle your position. GOV.UK: if there is no will.
If a will exists but no named executor can or will act, use the official guidance or seek advice about the appropriate route rather than treating that as the same situation as an executor choosing to apply.
Scotland
The court document is confirmation, with an application to the sheriff court and an inventory. The procedure depends on the estate and whether there is a will. For a large estate where there is no will, the Scottish Courts guide describes a dative petition: the Scottish court procedure for appointing an executor. This is a different route from an England and Wales administrator application. Check the relevant Scottish procedure before choosing forms. Scottish Courts: confirmation and estate guide.
The Scottish Government's guidance calls this court-appointed representative an executor dative. Record appointment as an open question if it has not been established; this first-work note does not appoint anyone. Scottish Government: executors.
Northern Ireland
Use the Northern Ireland Probate Office route. Nidirect distinguishes probate where there is a will from letters of administration where there is none, and explains the position where named executors cannot or will not apply. Do not use an England and Wales application as the default. nidirect: probate.
Check the current Northern Ireland application guidance only once the relevant route and questions are clear. nidirect: apply for probate.
If the person lived or held assets across jurisdictions, record that and seek appropriate advice about which documents and routes apply. This guide does not decide domicile, succession rights or cross-border authority.
4. Record what needs checking before doing more
List known asset and debt clues with their sources. Keep possible debts separate from things the person may have owned. Do not turn an old balance, a household item or a possible pension into a confirmed estate value.
Ask each relevant organisation what it needs for the particular enquiry or action. An acknowledgement of a death notice, an authority check and permission to release money are not the same response.
For England and Wales, GOV.UK explains personal representatives' responsibilities and that probate may be required before dealing with some assets. Use that context before progressing an asset transaction; gathering the first facts is not a direction to collect or distribute money now. GOV.UK: dealing with an estate.
Keep records and information you may lawfully use together. Do not log into the deceased person's accounts, share passwords or assume a family relationship authorises access. Record an evidence request instead of trying to bypass it.
What if I need help or do not want to act?
You do not need to choose between doing every task alone and pretending a question is settled. Identify the work you need help with, the decision you have not made and whose advice or confirmation is needed.
Check the non-acting or appointment route for the relevant jurisdiction before taking steps that assume you are acting. For England and Wales, use GOV.UK's executor-options guidance; in Northern Ireland use nidirect's reserve/renounce section. For Scotland, ask about your position under the Scottish estate procedure. The conditions should not be mixed. GOV.UK executor options, nidirect probate, Scottish Courts estate guidance.
This page stops at the first-work decisions. A fuller comparison of executor help and stepping-aside options, finding a missing will, asset identification and debt checks are separate tasks; they do not all need to become today's action.
How Every Little Thing is designed to help
Every Little Thing's planned service is comprehensive practical support before or after a death. For someone beginning executor work, the useful connection is between the available document, the unresolved question, the person able to approve the next step and the reply that moves it forward.
The FAM Record is the information foundation: Finances, Arrangements and Memories. Documents, their locations and uncertain details can stay connected rather than being retold separately each time someone helps.
Everlynne is ELT's AI assistant. The intended service maintains an action ledger, prepares agreed forms and correspondence, obtains your approval, sends through accepted routes and follows up, with human help for exceptions. You retain decisions and required confirmations; courts, organisations and professionals retain their own authority.
The aim is a clearer next step and a more manageable handover, leaving more attention for the people around you. ELT is not appointed executor by this guide and does not provide legal, tax or probate advice or guarantee a grant or completed estate.
The linked page introduces ELT's planned support. On that page, choose "See how ELT work" to view a fictional example, with nothing sent. It is not available to purchase yet. Opening it does not submit documents, create your case or appoint someone to act.