Co-Executor Refusing to Act After Probate? What You Can Do
If the blockage concerns a house sale, read our guide to co-executors refusing to sell estate property for valuation, sale terms and refusal to sign.
For an executor who has proved, power reserved, ordinary renunciation (Form PA15) and a citation to accept or refuse a Grant do not end the existing appointment. First check the Grant.
If no Grant has been extracted, different pre-Grant procedures apply, including power reserved, renunciation, and citations.
READ: CO-EXECUTOR REFUSING TO ACT BEFORE PROBATE →
Justin offers fixed-fee advice, focused correspondence, negotiation and mediation preparation, with defined Probate Registry work separately agreed where appropriate.
1. Can One Executor Act Without the Other After Probate?
Sometimes. Check the Grant, will, title, document and third-party requirements. Protective or administrative work may continue while a sale, release of assets or distribution needs concurrence or a formal solution. Neither executor has a general right to override the other.
Identify the requirement for each outstanding step:
- Property sales: ask the conveyancer whose concurrence is required for the specific documents; do not assume either that all signatures or only one will suffice.
- Bank accounts and asset release: check the mandate and evidence requirements. Information gathering and asset protection may remain possible.
- Estate accounts: identify material objections, liabilities and payment risks; disagreement is not automatically a veto over every distribution.
Identify the requirement for each blocked step
| Blocked step | Whose participation? | Evidence to identify | Protective work to consider |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property contract or transfer | Ask the conveyancer to confirm required concurrence by reference to the Grant, title and applicable law. | Grant, title, contract, proposed transfer, valuation and written objection. | Insurance, security, maintenance and gathering sale evidence, where authorised. |
| Bank instruction or asset release | Check the institution’s mandate and requirements for that particular instruction. | Mandate, requested authority, account information and refusal. | Request information and preserve records; do not assume authority to move funds. |
| Estate accounts or proposed payment | Identify the disputed entry and any actual approval or authority requirement. | Accounts, supporting records, liabilities and beneficiary entitlements. | Continue preparation and explanation of records; assess distribution separately. |
| Information held by a co-executor | Identify who holds the records and the basis for requesting them. | Specific document list, dated requests and replies. | Gather other available records and identify remaining gaps. |
This table identifies questions to check. It does not authorise one executor to override another, disregard a mandate or distribute despite a material risk.
2. Common Post-Grant Deadlocks
Refusal to Sign Transfer Documents
A refusal to sign a sale contract or transfer deed may block a particular property transaction. The conveyancer should identify whose concurrence is required. For valuation evidence, sale terms, carrying costs and possible routes through a sale deadlock, read the guide to a co-executor refusing to sell estate property.
Withholding Approval of Accounts
An executor refuses to approve draft estate accounts without identifying a specific error. This may delay a proposed distribution, but the issue is the substance of any objection and the information needed to resolve it. Section 25 concerns the personal representative’s duty to provide an inventory and account to the court when the court requires one; it does not itself make co-executor sign-off a statutory condition of distribution.
If beneficiaries are requesting accounts or explanations while the executors address disputed figures, read our guide to responding to a beneficiary’s request for estate accounts, including how the beneficiary’s entitlement affects the information needed.
3. What can you do if the co-executor still will not cooperate?
When deadlock occurs after the Grant, personal representatives should establish an objective file record and consider proportionate out-of-court options. Urgent protective action may be needed before those options can be explored fully:
| Procedural route | When to use | Operational outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Structured Decision Requests | Initial co-executor inaction or uncommunicative silence following the Grant. | A formal notice setting out the required decision, evidence, impact of delay, holding costs, and a reasonable response date. Establishes a defensible file record. |
| Estate Accounts & Information Review | Where a co-executor questions particular transactions, balances or proposed distributions. | Prepare accurate accounts, request specific objections and supply proportionate supporting information. A court-ordered inventory and account under section 25 is a separate step where justified. |
| Targeted Mediation / ADR | Substantive disagreements over property sales, occupation, or distribution compromise. | May lead to an agreed settlement. Any binding agreement or consent order requires appropriate terms, authority and, where necessary, court approval. |
| Section 50 AJA 1985 Application | Where a proving executor’s continuing appointment materially impedes proper administration and proportionate alternatives have been assessed. | Seeks a discretionary High Court order under section 50 of the Administration of Justice Act 1985 to remove or substitute a personal representative. |
How to Write to a Co-Executor Who Is Not Responding
Before sending another general request to “get on with probate”, identify the precise decision or document needed. Separate any urgent estate-protection task from the disputed transaction. The aim is to obtain a usable answer and understand the objection, rather than add another round of accusations.
Make One Focused Decision Request
- Name the step: identify the offer, valuation, account entry or document requiring a response.
- Provide the relevant information: attach or identify the supporting record and state what remains missing. Avoid repeatedly sending an entire historic file.
- Explain your proposal: give the practical reason for it and any evidenced cost or third-party deadline.
- Invite an alternative: ask for the specific objection, supporting information and a workable counterproposal.
- Suggest a reasonable response date: take account of urgency, the information supplied and the time genuinely needed to consider it. Distinguish your requested reply date from any formal deadline.
When to Change the Communication Method
If the obstacle is a misunderstanding, a short call or meeting with an agreed agenda may help. If it concerns value, obtain the relevant evidence before trading competing figures. If substantive disagreement remains, consider a focused professional review, negotiation or mediation rather than repeating the same demand. We consider previous correspondence, proposals and the concerns expressed by each party to identify obstacles to agreement and shape the timing, wording and sequence of a proposal. These are assessments of the available record, not predictions about personality or future behaviour.
Keep a factual written note of any discussion and invite corrections. Distinguish decisions actually agreed from proposals still under consideration. Where signatures, third-party approval or formal documentation are required, identify those outstanding steps.
What if There Is Still No Reply?
Check delivery, any known incapacity or practical impediment and whether enough information was supplied. Keep the request, response history and evidence of the effect of delay. Persistent silence may justify advice on the next proportionate step, but it is not agreement to your proposal or an automatic basis for removal. Do not wait through repeated correspondence where an immediate asset risk or formal deadline requires prompt advice.
For pressure from a beneficiary rather than a co-executor, read how to respond to repeated demands and difficult correspondence.
Could a focused court direction address the blockage?
A particular administration question may call for directions rather than a change of executor. CPR Part 64 provides a procedural route, using a Part 8 claim, for questions arising in estate administration. The legal basis and precise order required depend on the issue; Part 64 is not a general authority for one executor to override another.
4. Removal Under Section 50 Administration of Justice Act 1985
Where an executor has proved and refuses to step aside or cooperate, the court has statutory jurisdiction under Section 50 of the Administration of Justice Act 1985 to remove or replace them.
Key Legal Principles for Removal:
- Guiding Test: The court’s overriding concern is the proper administration of the estate and the welfare of the beneficiaries, not punishing past disagreements.
- Friction Alone Is Insufficient: Disagreement by itself does not require removal. The court considers whether continued appointment is impairing proper administration or the welfare of beneficiaries; complete paralysis is not a universal threshold.
- Replacement Options: The court may remove the inactive executor leaving the active executor alone, or replace one or both with an independent professional administrator.
A section 50 application involves the court’s discretion and potential costs. Before applying, assess whether a focused request for a decision, exchange of information or mediation could restore progress; urgent estate protection may require advice sooner. If contested court proceedings are needed, they require a separate litigation instruction; Justin can help organise a specialist handover.
5. What the Active Executor Should Record
To document decisions, assess the effect of delay and address any later costs question, keep a contemporaneous record of:
- all communications and attempts to obtain decisions from the co-executor;
- documents or decisions outstanding, including any transfer and specific account objections;
- identifiable property, insurance, tax or other costs continuing during the delay;
- third-party deadlines at risk (e.g. expiring mortgage offers or buyer withdrawal notices); and
- written reasons for all procedural escalations.
Sources: HM Land Registry Practice Guide 6; Administration of Estates Act 1925, section 25; Administration of Justice Act 1985, section 50.