How much power does the administrator of an estate have?

• Power to carry on a business (provided there is authority in the Will) (power to postpone sale);
• Power to gather the necessary information about the estate, deliver that information to HMRC (using the full account if required) and paying the IHT due;
• Power to deal with the deceased body (this responsibility falls first on the Personal Representatives of the estate);
• Once the Grant of Probate/Letters of Administration is issued, the Personal Representatives have the power to collect in all the real and personal estate and to administer it according to law.

This list is not exhaustive. The Personal Representatives have a multitude of additional powers created by legislation or by the Will. This could include the power to charge fees (if acting as a professional executor), the power to invest, or the power to take into account gifts made to a beneficiary during the deceased’s lifetime when calculating how much that beneficiary should receive under the Will.