Background

Three executors were appointed to administer the estate of a late parent. They believed they had identified all assets and liabilities and proceeded to apply for probate. The Grant of Probate was issued. Two months later, during the sale of a second property, a previously unknown £400,000 investment account was discovered in the deceased's name.

This triggered:

• Immediate HMRC reporting issues

• Inheritance Tax recalculations (additional tax due + interest + potential penalties)

• The original Grant being rescinded

• A new Grant needing to be issued

• Months of additional delay

• Breakdown in family communication

• Accusations between siblings about "hiding" assets or "not doing things properly"

The executors said the same thing many executors say:

"We simply didn't know this asset existed. We had no central system or checklist that made us check everything."

This real-life scenario took an additional 8–12 months to fix and cost the estate thousands in professional fees and lost time.

Where It Went Wrong

Without a structured process, the executors:

• Missed a major asset (worth £400,000)

• Submitted an inaccurate IHT form

• Applied for probate prematurely

• Had no audit trail showing they had conducted a full search

• Had no central place to store documents, statements, records, or digital asset logs

• Relied on incomplete paperwork found around the house and outdated bank statements

How Executor Hub Would Have Prevented This Entire Situation

Executor Hub provides a centralised, guided, and automated process ensuring no asset is missed.

1. Structured Asset Discovery – prevents missed accounts

Executor Hub includes built-in:

• Asset Discovery Checklist

• Guided prompts for bank accounts, investments, pensions, online accounts, premium bonds, safe deposit boxes, shareholdings, digital assets, etc.

• Automatic reminders to search for less obvious assets

Typical time saved: 10–15 hours of manual searching and cross-checking.

Most importantly: This is the step that would have identified the £400k account before probate.

2. Estate Searches & Section 27 notices – ensuring nothing is overlooked

Executor Hub integrates:

• Estate search recommendations

• Guidance on when to complete a Section 27 notice

• Upload area for search results and letters

Had an estate search been prompted early, the £400k account would likely have been flagged.

Time Saved: 3–5 hours of organising and tracking searches. Plus avoiding months of rework.

3. Central Document Vault – stops assets being missed

Executors can upload:

• Old statements

• Policy documents

• Investment summaries

• Correspondence

• Deeds

• Insurance documents

Executor Hub scans and categorises documents so nothing gets forgotten.

In this case, a historic statement found later would have been captured at the start.

Time saved: 5+ hours and avoids £000s of corrective work.

4. Executor Checklist & Step-By-Step Guidance

The Hub gives executors a structured workflow:

• "Have you checked for dormant accounts?"

• "Have you checked financial institutions the deceased used historically?"

• "Have you searched for accounts under previous addresses or aliases?"

• "Upload confirmation here."

This stops premature probate applications and ensures the estate information submitted to HMRC is complete.

5. Avoiding HMRC Penalties & Rescinded Grants

With Executor Hub's guided IHT preparation support:

• Executors complete all asset sections

• Receive prompts if anything appears incomplete

• Upload valuation evidence

• Log contact with institutions

• Track outstanding enquiries

This prevents inaccurate IHT returns—the main reason HMRC demand a Grant be rescinded.

Executor Hub would have prevented:

• Additional tax

• Interest

• Penalties

• Rescinded grant

• 8–12 months of further delays

6. Reducing Family Arguments with a Transparent Audit Trail

One of the greatest benefits:

• Every action is timestamped

• Every document is logged

• Every message is stored

• Every executor sees the same information

• Nothing is hidden

• No one can be blamed for "missing" something

In this real case, the discovery of the £400k asset led to accusations such as:

"You must have known about this!" "How did you miss it?" "You've caused us thousands in tax!"

Executor Hub removes blame and provides clarity.

Outcome With Executor Hub

If Executor Hub had been used:

Problem	What Happened	With Executor Hub
Hidden £400k asset	Found after probate → major crisis	Identified at start via guided asset discovery
Incorrect IHT return	Additional tax + penalties	Correct and complete first time
Grant rescinded	Delays 8–12 months	No rescinding required
Family arguments	Executors blamed each other	Transparent audit trail prevents conflict
Stress & professional fees	£000s extra	Minimised

Conclusion

This case shows a major risk in estate administration:

Executors don't know what they don't know.

Missing a single asset—even unintentionally—can:

• Extend the estate by a year or more

• Trigger tax penalties

• Cause family disputes

• Damage the executor's reputation

• Result in legal liability

Executor Hub prevents this by giving executors the tools, guidance, and structure to complete the estate properly and safely from day one.