Articles — Wills & Estates

You have been named executor. What now?

By Hamish Senior, Harmony Law Limited, Tauranga · September 2026

Someone has died, and you have found out that their will names you as executor. It usually arrives at the worst possible moment — in the middle of grief, and often as a surprise. The job is real, and it comes with legal duties. But it is not mysterious, and most estates are worked through in an orderly sequence. This article sets out what an executor actually has to do in New Zealand, in the order you will need to do it, and where the traps are.

First, what an executor is

An executor is the person named in a will to carry out its instructions: gather in what the deceased owned, pay what they owed, and give the rest to the people the will says should have it.

What surprises most people is how seriously the law takes that role. Under s 4B of the Administration Act 1969, the duties that come with the office are treated as express trusts, and the Trusts Act 2019 applies to them. In plain terms: you are a trustee. You hold the estate for the beneficiaries, not for yourself. You must act honestly, keep the estate's property separate from your own, keep proper records, and account to the beneficiaries for what you have done.

That is also why executors can be held personally liable when things go wrong, and why the High Court has power to remove an executor who is not doing the job.

You do not have to accept the role. An executor who does not want it can renounce — but that has to be done properly, and before you start dealing with the estate. If you are unsure, take advice before you touch anything.

The sequence

1. Find the will — the current one. Check with the deceased's lawyer, their bank, and among their papers. Later wills revoke earlier ones, so it matters that you have the last one. Do not sign or alter anything.

2. The funeral. Funeral directors will usually act on the executor's instructions, and reasonable funeral costs are paid out of the estate before anything else.

3. Find out what there is. Build a list of everything the deceased owned and everything they owed, at the date of death: house, bank accounts, KiwiSaver, investments, vehicles, insurance, and on the other side, mortgage, loans, credit cards, rates, unpaid bills. This is not an optional tidy-up — the Administration Act allows the court to require an executor to produce an inventory of the estate, and the whole estate is assets in your hands for the payment of debts.

4. Secure the assets. Make sure the house is locked and insured, valuables are safe, and nothing is being quietly distributed to family members "because Mum would have wanted it". Until the estate is properly administered, none of it is anybody's to take.

5. Work out whether you need probate. Probate is the High Court order confirming the will is valid and that you have authority to act. It is not always required. Some asset holders — banks, KiwiSaver providers, insurers — will release funds up to $40,000 without a grant, under the Administration Act's payment-without-administration provisions as amended in 2025. Above that, or where there is land in the deceased's name, you will almost certainly need probate. The filing fee for probate or letters of administration is $275.

If there is no will, probate is not the right application — see letters of administration — step by step.

6. Pay the debts. Debts, funeral costs and the expenses of administration come out of the estate before the beneficiaries get anything. If the estate cannot pay everything, there is a statutory order of priority and you should get advice rather than guess — paying the wrong creditor first is the executor's problem, not the estate's.

7. Tax. A final return to the date of death is usually required, and if the estate keeps earning income after the death — rent, interest, dividends — the estate may have to return that too. Check with Inland Revenue or the deceased's accountant early; this is the step that most often holds up an otherwise finished estate.

8. Wait before you distribute. This is the part executors get wrong, and it has its own section below.

9. Distribute, and account. Pay the specific gifts, then divide what is left as the will directs. Give every beneficiary a written statement of what came in, what went out, and how their share was calculated. Keep the records; you may be asked for them years later.

The six-month rule, and the twelve-month one

This is the single most important thing for an executor to understand, and it is why a well-meaning executor who distributes quickly can end up personally out of pocket.

Certain people can bring claims against an estate after the death — most commonly under the Family Protection Act 1955 (a family member who says the will failed to provide properly for them) and the Law Reform (Testamentary Promises) Act 1949 (someone who says the deceased promised to provide for them in return for work or care).

The time limits run from the grant, not from the death:

• Family Protection Act claims: 12 months from the date of the grant of administration in New Zealand — two years where an administrator applies on behalf of someone under 18 or lacking capacity. The court can extend the time, but not after the estate has been finally distributed.
• Testamentary promises claims: 12 months after the personal representative took out representation, again with a power to extend.

Against that, s 47(4) of the Administration Act protects an executor who distributes after six months from the date of the grant, provided the distribution was properly made, no application had been served, and the executor had no written notice of one. There is a related rule: if someone gives you written notice that they intend to claim, that notice lapses if you are not served with the application — or told in writing that it has been made — within three months.

So the practical position is this. Six months from the grant is the executor's safe harbour. Twelve months is the claimant's window. Distributing before the six months is up is legal, but you carry the risk personally. Most executors should simply wait, and where there is any hint of a claim, take advice before paying anybody anything.

If there was a spouse or partner, the six months is not optional

Where the deceased leaves a husband, wife, civil union partner or de facto partner, that person does not simply take what the will gives them. Under Part 8 of the Property (Relationships) Act 1976 they have a choice:

• Option A — apply for a division of relationship property under the Act; or
• Option B — take what the will leaves them, or what they receive on intestacy.

The time limit is six months from the date administration is granted in New Zealand (s 62). For a small estate — one that can lawfully be distributed without a grant at all — it is the later of six months from the death, or six months from the grant if one is made within that period. The court can extend the time, but not once the estate has been finally distributed. A survivor who does nothing is treated as having chosen option B.

The choice has to be made in the prescribed form, accompanied by a certificate from a lawyer who has explained its effect, and lodged with you as administrator — or with the High Court registry if no grant has yet been made.

And here is the part that catches executors out. Section 71 does not merely make early distribution risky. It prohibits it. Where there is a surviving spouse or partner, the administrator must not distribute any part of the estate before the earlier of six months after the grant, or the survivor making their choice. There are three exceptions: where s 47(2) of the Administration Act applies, where the survivor consents in writing, or where the court approves the distribution.

So if the deceased had a spouse or partner, the six months is not a safe harbour you may choose to rely on. It is a rule, and you are the one bound by it.

When to get a lawyer involved

You can administer a simple estate yourself, and plenty of people do. Get advice when any of these is true:

• there is land, a business, a trust, or an overseas asset
• the estate may not be able to pay its debts
• anybody has hinted at a claim, or the family is not on speaking terms
• the deceased had a spouse or partner and the will does not obviously deal with them fairly
• there are beneficiaries who are children, or who cannot manage their own affairs
• you simply do not want to carry the personal risk

Being an executor is a job done once, under pressure, with liability attached. There is no prize for doing it alone.

This article is general information, not legal advice. Every estate is different — please get advice on your own circumstances. Current at September 2026.