How to hand over executor duties

If you’ve been named executor for a deceased estate, you might be feeling overwhelmed by all the things you need to do.

If you’re concerned about the responsibility—and liability—of the role, or you just don’t have the experience or time to manage it, you can choose to hand over responsibilities to a solicitor or the Public Trustee. You might also choose to do this to reduce the chance of conflict with family members or other beneficiaries.

What you need to do to hand duties over depends on whether you have already been granted probate (the authority from the Supreme Court to administer the estate).

If you don’t have probate, you’ll need to contact your nearest Public Trustee office and provide:

• a copy of the Will
• details of any assets and liabilities.

You will also need any other executors and all the beneficiaries to agree.

If you do have probate, you will need to provide all of the above, plus explain what you have already done in the role.

The Public Trustee will decide whether to take on duties based on this information.

In certain cases, the Public Trustee will decline to take on executor duties if any of the below apply:

• The deceased estate is insolvent.
• There are no assets.
• There is significant legal conflict.
• Most assets are overseas.

I just need a little help…

There is significant paperwork involved with administering a deceased estate, which can be a minefield.

If you’d like assistance with just these parts of the administration, we can help with probate, taxation and preparing Titles Office documents for a competitive fee.

Next steps

To learn more about executor services, or request a quote, you can:

• use our online estate administration fee estimator to get an estimate of the costs for Full Estate Administration Services - i.e. taking on all responsibilities from start to finalisation.
• contact us online
• call us on 1300 360 044