The Six Pillars Checklist: Six Things to Check Before the Next Letter
A one-page diagnostic for a stalled or disputed estate file, from Justin Patten’s handbook The Out-of-Court Executor.
When correspondence keeps returning to the same complaints, step back before drafting the next reply. Work through the six pillars to find what is actually blocking the estate, then give the next letter a defined purpose. Some files turn on one or two pillars; a difficult one engages all six.
Free to use on your own files. No email needed.
Pillar 1 · Evidence
What is actually proved?
- Which facts are supported by documents or records, and which are only asserted?
- What is missing, and who holds it?
- Is any record at risk of being lost, overwritten or overlooked?
Pillar 2 · Procedure
Who can act, and where does the procedure stand?
- Has a Grant issued? Who is entitled to act, and who has standing to object?
- Is a caveat, warning, claim or application already in place?
- What deadline or risk cannot wait? For example, an Inheritance Act claim normally has to be made within six months of the first grant.
Pillar 3 · Rights
What right or duty is really engaged?
- Is the issue the executor’s duty to account, a beneficiary’s entitlement, or a possible claim by the estate?
- Is the complaint about a legal right, or about how information has been given?
- Does anyone acting have a conflict, for example as the recipient of a disputed gift?
Pillar 4 · Economics
What is the delay costing?
- What are the monthly carrying costs: insurance, council tax, maintenance, interest and fees?
- Who bears them, and has everyone seen the figure?
- Presented neutrally, a monthly figure is a decision aid, not a threat. Use the property carrying-cost calculator.
Pillar 5 · Behaviour
What is keeping it stuck?
- Is it silence, mistrust, an information gap, or someone who will not decide?
- Who actually needs to make the decision, and what would they need in order to make it?
Pillar 6 · Resolution
What route could actually move it?
- An information request, a Probate Registry step, a negotiated proposal, specialist advice or, where necessary, court?
- What must the next letter achieve, and how will you know whether it has?
When to escalate promptly
Diagnosis is not delay. Seek prompt specialist assessment where there is a need for urgent protection of assets, a limitation deadline, credible evidence of fraud, a persistent refusal to account, or proceedings already issued. Prompt assessment is not the same as a recommendation to litigate.
Guides for common blockages
- A beneficiary has requested estate accountsWhat to provide, and how to answer a repeated demand.
- Disputed lifetime transactionsGifts and transfers questioned after death: what an executor should establish.
- An executor is threatened with removalAssessing the grounds and responding proportionately.
- An Inheritance Act claim is threatenedThe executor’s role, distribution risk and time limits.
- A caveat is blocking probateWhere the Registry procedure stands and the next step.
When a file needs an independent view
A Professional File Review applies the Six Pillars to one principal blockage on your file: up to 60 selected core pages, a 30-minute consultation and a reasoned written assessment of the blockage and the next step, at £1,020 including VAT. Your practice retains the administration retainer.
See a sample Professional File Review · How we work with practices · About the book
By Justin Patten, Solicitor. Published 13 November 2026. General information for practitioners in England and Wales, not advice on any particular estate.