Section 27 Notices — Protecting Executors From Unknown Creditors

When you accept the role of executor, you take on personal responsibility for administering the estate correctly. That responsibility does not disappear once you have distributed the money. If a creditor emerges after everything has been paid out, the law can hold you personally liable for the shortfall, even when you had no idea the debt existed.

Section 27 of the Trustee Act 1925 gives executors a formal shield against this risk. By placing statutory notices in The Gazette and a local newspaper, and by waiting the prescribed two months, executors can distribute the estate knowing they cannot be pursued personally for debts they had no reasonable means of discovering.

This guide explains how the Section 27 procedure works in England and Wales, what it costs, what it protects against, and where its limits lie. If you are administering an estate, running these notices is one of the simplest and most effective pieces of self-protection available to you.

What a Section 27 notice actually does

Section 27 of the Trustee Act 1925 allows personal representatives — executors named in a will, or administrators appointed under the intestacy rules — to advertise for anyone with a claim against the estate. The wording invites creditors, beneficiaries under a lost will, and anyone else with an interest to come forward within a set period.

Once the notice period expires, executors may distribute the estate on the basis of the claims they know about. If an unknown creditor surfaces later, they can still pursue the beneficiaries who received the money, but they cannot pursue the executor personally. That distinction matters. Without the notice, executors carry the risk on their own shoulders.

The protection is statutory and predictable. Courts recognise it, insurers rely on it, and probate practitioners treat it as a standard step in almost every administration involving significant assets.

Why executors face personal liability without it

The default position is uncomfortable. Executors are personally accountable for the proper administration of the estate, which includes settling every valid debt before making distributions to beneficiaries. If they hand out the assets and a creditor turns up later, the estate is empty and the creditor has a right to be paid.

In practice, that means the executor writes the cheque from their own bank account. It does not matter that the debt was hidden, that the deceased never mentioned it, or that the executor searched diligently. Personal liability attaches unless the executor took the statutory steps.

Common surprises we see include historic guarantees, long-forgotten HMRC arrears, private loans between friends, care home top-up fees, and tradesmen owed for work completed shortly before death. Any of these can appear months or years after the estate has closed.

Where the notices must be placed

Section 27 requires two advertisements. The first goes in The Gazette, which is the official public record for statutory notices in England and Wales. The Gazette is published on behalf of the Crown and its notices are treated as constructive notice to the public.

The second advertisement goes in a newspaper circulating in the district where the deceased owned land or property. If the deceased lived and owned property in Monmouthshire, a Monmouthshire paper is appropriate. If they held property in more than one area, a notice in each local paper is prudent. The aim is to reach anyone in the community who might have dealt with the deceased.

Executors sometimes ask whether a national newspaper will do. It will not, on its own, satisfy the local element. The statute contemplates local circulation because that is where local tradesmen, neighbours, and small businesses are most likely to see the notice.

The two-month waiting period

Every Section 27 notice must give creditors a minimum of two months from the date of publication to submit their claims. Executors cannot shorten this period. In practice, most practitioners set the deadline slightly beyond the two months to allow for postal delays and cautious timing.

During the two-month window, executors should continue to gather information, pay known debts, and prepare for distribution. It is not wasted time. There are usually valuations to finalise, tax computations to agree with HMRC, and the grant of probate itself to obtain if it has not already been issued.

Once the deadline passes, executors can distribute in confidence, provided they have dealt properly with every claim received. If a late claim arrives after distribution, the executor’s personal position is protected. The creditor’s remedy is against the beneficiaries who now hold the assets.

The step-by-step procedure

The mechanics are straightforward. First, we draft the notice using the prescribed wording, which identifies the deceased, gives their last address and date of death, and provides an address for creditors to submit claims. Second, we place the notice with The Gazette through its online portal. Third, we place a mirror notice with the chosen local newspaper.

Both notices should be published as close together as possible. The two-month clock runs from the later of the two publication dates, so simultaneous placement avoids awkward gaps.

Executors then keep copies of the tear sheets or PDF proofs. These form part of the estate file and should be retained for at least twelve years, ideally longer, in case a beneficiary or creditor questions the administration in the future.

Cost of running Section 27 notices

The Gazette charges a fixed fee for a deceased estates notice, currently in the region of eighty to one hundred pounds inclusive of VAT. Local newspapers vary widely, from around one hundred pounds in a weekly paper up to three or four hundred pounds in a large regional daily.

For most estates, the combined cost sits between two hundred and five hundred pounds. Set against the personal liability risk it removes, this is inexpensive protection. The fees are a legitimate estate expense and come out of the estate before distribution, not out of the executor’s own pocket.

The new probate application fee of £526 from 13 July 2026 has focused executors’ minds on cost control across the whole administration. Section 27 notices should not be the place to economise. Skipping them to save a few hundred pounds exposes the executor to potentially unlimited liability.

Limitations — what the notice does not cover

Section 27 protection is powerful but not absolute. It shields executors from debts they could not reasonably have discovered. It does not shield them from debts they knew about, or should have known about, and ignored.

If a creditor has already written to the executor, or if the deceased’s bank statements show an obvious ongoing liability, the executor cannot rely on the notice to escape that specific claim. The statute assumes diligent enquiry has been made alongside the advertising.

The notice also does not affect claims by beneficiaries under the Inheritance (Provision for Family and Dependants) Act 1975, which has its own six-month time limit running from the grant of probate. Nor does it protect against tax liabilities that HMRC identifies later, though it does help demonstrate that the executor acted properly.

Finally, the notice does nothing about claims from beneficiaries themselves. If the estate has been distributed incorrectly under the will or the intestacy rules, aggrieved beneficiaries can still bring an action against the executor for maladministration.

How we help executors get this right

At Curtis Legal we treat Section 27 notices as a standard part of every probate administration where the estate is being distributed to multiple beneficiaries or where the deceased ran a business, held property, or had a complex financial history. We draft the notice, place it in The Gazette and the appropriate local paper, diarise the deadline, and keep the proofs on file.

The notice sits alongside the wider work of executor duties — collecting in assets, paying inheritance tax, dealing with HMRC, and distributing the estate under the will. It is a small step within a larger process, but it is the step that lets executors sleep at night once the money has gone out. For a full picture of how we manage the process, see our probate service overview.

If you are acting as an executor and want the reassurance of proper statutory protection, call us on 0800 214 216. We offer a same-day callback and can place Section 27 notices for you as part of a full probate administration or on a standalone basis. Straightforward advice from a solicitor is often all it takes to protect you from a liability you did not know you were carrying.