Settling an estate: what the executor actually has to do.

Nothing can be moved or closed until you can prove who you are acting as.

• The will, and where the original is held.
• Who is named executor or administrator, and whether they are willing to act.
• Certified copies of the death certificate — more than you think you need.
• Whether a grant of probate, letters of administration, or the local equivalent is required.
• Any trust, prepaid plan, or letter of wishes held elsewhere.
• Recent tax returns, and the name of any accountant or solicitor already involved.

Write down what there is and what it was worth on the date of death. Everything later depends on this list.

• Bank and building society accounts, with balances.
• Pensions, life insurance and any death-in-service benefit.
• Property, with an idea of value, and whether it is owned outright or jointly.
• Vehicles, valuables and anything specifically left to someone in the will.
• Shares, savings bonds and anything held digitally.
• Debts: mortgage, loans, credit cards, unpaid bills and care fees.

Each notification usually needs a death certificate copy and the reference number.

• Banks, pension providers and insurers.
• The tax authority, and the state benefits or social security office.
• Employer, for final pay and any benefit owed.
• Mortgage lender, landlord, and the utilities at any property.
• Credit reference agencies, to prevent fraud in the person's name.
• Subscriptions, memberships, phone and online accounts.

This is the order that protects you. Distributing early and paying later is the mistake that costs executors their own money.

• Funeral costs and any estate expenses, from estate funds.
• Tax due, and any return required for the period up to death.
• Valid debts, in the order the law where you are requires.
• Any notice to creditors the law expects you to publish.
• Then what the will says, in writing, with each person's receipt.
• Keep a full record of every payment in and out, for years, not months.