As an executor, you’re responsible for carrying out the wishes left by your loved one in their Will. This includes collecting their assets (things that are worth money), paying outstanding debts and making sure the beneficiaries of the Will receive their gifts.
To carry out these duties, you may need to obtain legal authorisation. This is known as a Grant of Probate (or Confirmation in Scotland).
Acting as an executor can be a complicated process. If you have questions or need to pay in a gift left to Cancer Research UK, please contact us so we can support you.
For any type of gift, the easiest way to notify us is to complete our online notification form. We'll get in touch to support you with paying in the gift.
020 3469 8797
If we can't answer your call, please leave a short message and we'll get back to you as soon as possible.
Cancer Research UK
2 Redman Place
London
E20 1JQ
Please remember to include your name, contact details and the details of your loved one, including their full name.
Most people keep a copy of their Will at home, so look there first. If the Will was written by a solicitor or a Will writer, they may be able to help you locate the original.
It’s important to check you have the most recent version. If you have any concerns, a solicitor will be able to tell you if the Will is valid.
Contact the financial organisations your loved one had dealings with to get an accurate reflection of what they have, how it can be released and what debts need to be settled.
This information is usually referred to as a schedule of assets and liabilities and it’s needed to determine if Inheritance Tax will need to be paid before the estate can be distributed.
Inheritance Tax is payable on estates worth over a certain amount, so it’s important to check whether the deceased’s estate qualifies. For larger estates, you may need to complete form IHT400 to give a full breakdown of the estate assets and liabilities to allow HMRC to calculate how much inheritance tax needs to be paid.
As we’re a charity, most gifts left to Cancer Research UK are exempt from Inheritance Tax, but not always. Also, if more than 10% of the value of the estate has been left to charity, Inheritance Tax may be payable at a reduced rate. If this is the case, submit form IHT430 with your other inheritance tax paperwork when applying for the Grant of Probate.
If no tax is payable, you can complete form IHT205 to confirm the estate is an “excepted estate”
If you do need to pay tax, HMRC will give you an Inheritance Tax reference number and provide guidance on the amount to repay and how. For further details of inheritance tax exemptions and conditions, check the inheritance tax guidance on Gov.uk.
In most cases, the next step is to prepare and submit your application for a Grant of Probate (or Confirmation in Scotland). If the estate is small, some banks or asset holders may be willing to release funds without completing this step.
The application form will be different depending on whether your loved one lived in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, or in Scotland. Guidance on which form to complete can be found on Gov.uk You can apply for probate online or by post. While online applications are generally quicker, the process is the same:
Complete the relevant application form.
Complete the relevant Inheritance Tax form to confirm the tax has been paid or there is nothing to pay.
Send your supporting documents to the Probate Registry.
Generally, you’ll need to send the application form, the original Will, an official copy of the death certificate and proof of your identity. You can find more guidance about what you need to include in your application on Gov.uk.
Once you’ve obtained the grant, or if the financial organisations have confirmed you don’t need one, you can now submit the relevant closure forms to banks and asset holders to collect in your loved one’s assets.
You can now also sell any physical property to convert this into estate funds, but check the Will carefully to make sure you don’t sell anything or close any accounts that are listed as specific gifts for beneficiaries.
Now is also the time to settle any final debts that are owed.
It may be worth opening an executor bank account to help keep your loved one’s assets separate from your own. Beneficiaries can request a copy of estate accounts, so it’s important to keep an accurate record of all the transactions relating to the estate.
Once everything has been collected in or sold, and all the debts are paid, follow the instructions in the Will to distribute the estate to the beneficiaries, including paying in gifts to charity.
After the gifts of money (pecuniary gifts) are paid, and the specific items, such as jewellery or physical assets have been transferred, the rest of the estate (the residuary estate) should be divided up between the beneficiaries as the Will describes.
If possible, get receipts from beneficiaries and keep a detailed record of what was distributed and when. Beneficiaries can request a copy of the estate accounts to make sure the estate has been divided up correctly.
Identifying the correct beneficiary is an important part of acting as an executor. It is important to check the Will carefully to ensure that the right gift gets to the correct beneficiary. Check the charity name and number.
Cancer Research UK has been around for over 120 years, but we’ve not always been known as Cancer Research UK. In 2002, the Cancer Research Campaign and Imperial Cancer Research Fund merged to become Cancer Research UK. Gifts left to either of these charities are now managed by Cancer Research UK.
Also, if the Will includes any of the following names or Registered Charity Numbers (RCN), then it’s very likely the gift is for Cancer Research UK:
Charity name | Registered Charity Number (RCN) (current and previous) |
Cancer Research UK | 1089464 SC041666 1103 247 |
Imperial Cancer Research Fund | 209631 |
The Cancer Research Campaign | 225838 |
British Empire Cancer Campaign for Research | 225838 |
The North of England Cancer Research Campaign | 225838 |
War on Cancer (Whyte Watson Turner Cancer Research Trust and Bradford's War on Cancer) | 511226 (linked to 1089464) |
Over the years, we have been located at the following addresses. If the Will mentions any of these addresses, it’s likely that the gift is meant for Cancer Research UK:
• 2 Redman Place, London, E20 1JQ
• Angel Building, 407 St John Street, London, EC1V 4AD
• 61 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London, WC2A 3PX
• 11 Grosvenor Crescent, London, SW1X 7EE
• 10 Cambridge Terrace, London, NW1 4JL
• 2 Carlton House Terrace, London, SW1Y 5AR
• 44 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, London, WC2A 3PX
• PO Box 123, London, WC2A 3PX
• Dufferin Avenue, Bangor, Co. Down, Northern Ireland BT20 3AL
• Princes Exchange, 1 Earl Grey Street, Edinburgh, Midlothian, EH3 9EE
You can search for charity names, numbers and where the charity operates for free on Gov.uk.
Sometimes gifts are left to “Cancer Research” in the Will rather than Cancer Research UK specifically. In this case, if there is no charity number or charity address to help clarify and you want our support please contact us.
Sometimes people leave us gifts where the value of the item is not yet set. These can be items such as vehicles, antiques, items of jewellery or clothing, collections such as coins or stamps, or even furniture.
To make sure that your loved one’s wishes are honoured as closely as possible, once we’ve been notified, we may be able to help with valuing, selling or transferring these gifts over to ourselves.
If the gift includes property or land, it would be helpful for beneficiaries to receive copies of any valuations or surveyors reports which have been obtained. Or, in Scotland, a copy of the Home Report and marketing appraisal; if you’ve received these we’d be grateful if you could send them to us. As a charity we don't pay capital gains tax, which may arise if the property has increased in value since the person died. With the details supplied, we can avoid any tax liability and really make the most of your loved one's gift left to us.
Like with gifts of property, shares and investments may be subject to Capital Gains Tax if they increase in value following death. Cancer Research UK is exempt from this tax so please notify us before selling shares from which we benefit to avoid paying any unnecessary tax. We may also be able to obtain preferential rates for the sale of stocks & shares which could benefit not only ourselves, but the other beneficiaries of the Will.
If the gift is subject to someone else having an interest first – for example, a right to live at a property for life (a life interest). As well as being notified of the gift itself, we may need further information to make sure the asset is properly held until our gift becomes payable. We may ask to see proof of insurance and maintenance of the asset or ask for periodical valuations to keep our records up to date. If you’re not sure about what you need to do to hold these assts until they become payable, please get in touch.
