When someone dies, their estate doesn't administer itself. A personal representative steps in to collect the assets, settle the debts and tax, and pass what's left to the people entitled. As a solicitor you will advise these representatives — or act as one — so you need to know exactly where their authority comes from, what they are allowed to do, and how they avoid being held personally liable when things go wrong.
This lesson builds that picture step by step:
- The Personal Representative and Their Authority — what the role is, its fiduciary nature, and the crucial difference between executors and administrators.
- Capacity, Number and Appointment — who can take a grant, how many, and what divorce or minority does to an appointment.
- Renunciation, Power Reserved and the Chain of Representation — the ways an executor can step back, stay in reserve, or pass the office on.
- Priority for a Grant and Status of Beneficiaries — who has the right to apply, and what beneficiaries actually own during administration.
- Powers of Personal Representatives — selling, investing, appropriating, advancing and delegating.
- Acting Together, Fiduciary Duties and Remuneration — how co-representatives act, the rules that bind them, and when they can be paid.
- Distribution, Assents and Protection from Liability — finishing the job safely.
- Removal of a Personal Representative — the grounds and test for stepping in.