Being named in a will is not an obligation to accept anything. There are formal ways to decline the role, and separate ways to decline or redirect what you were left.
Renouncing executorship: form PA15
An executor who does not want to act can say so formally. GOV.UK describes form PA15 as the way to give up your responsibility to manage the estate so that another person can apply for probate instead (GOV.UK, Give up probate executor or administrator rights: form PA15, checked 1 November 2026). The right then passes to the next person entitled to apply.
Renouncing as executor does not give up everything. The probate rules say a renunciation of probate does not operate as a renunciation of any right to a grant of administration in another capacity, unless that is expressly renounced too (Non-Contentious Probate Rules 1987, rule 37, checked 1 November 2026). An executor who is also a beneficiary keeps their inheritance.
Renounce before you start
Timing decides whether you can renounce. The PA15 declaration has the executor declare that they have not intermeddled in the estate of the deceased and will not do so (PA15 (PDF), checked 1 November 2026). An executor who has already been dealing with the estate cannot truthfully sign it.
In practice that means holding back from the tasks that look helpful: collecting money owed to the estate, paying bills from the deceased’s account, or selling belongings. If you are unsure whether you will act, say so early, and let somebody else do those jobs until the question is settled.
Changing your mind later
A renunciation is meant to be final, but the rules leave a narrow door open. A renunciation of probate or administration may be retracted at any time with the leave of a registrar (Non-Contentious Probate Rules 1987, rule 37, checked 1 November 2026). Leave is a decision for the registry, not a formality.
Once a grant has been made to someone else, retraction is only permitted in exceptional circumstances, so do not renounce on the assumption that it can be undone.
Power reserved: stepping back without giving up
The other executors apply for the grant, and power is reserved to the one who is not applying. The rules require notice of the application to be given to the executors to whom power is to be reserved (Non-Contentious Probate Rules 1987, rule 27, checked 1 November 2026).
It is a middle route for somebody who cannot help now but may be needed later. That executor keeps the right to take their own grant, for instance if a co-executor dies or becomes unable to act. It is a better choice than renouncing for a sibling abroad or a relative who is unwell, where the family may want them in reserve.
Declining a gift in the will
A beneficiary can refuse what they were left, or redirect it. Where, within two years of a death, the dispositions of the estate are varied or a benefit is disclaimed, the Act applies as if the change had been made by the person who died (Inheritance Tax Act 1984, section 142, checked 1 November 2026).
A disclaimer refuses the gift outright, and it then passes under the will or the intestacy rules as though you had not been left it. You do not choose where it goes. Before disclaiming, get advice on whether anything you have already received from the gift affects your ability to do so.
A deed of variation lets you choose where it goes
A variation redirects a gift to someone you name, which a disclaimer cannot. For the variation to be treated as the deceased’s own gift, the instrument must contain a statement that the people making it intend the rule to apply (Inheritance Tax Act 1984, section 142, checked 1 November 2026).
HMRC’s manual sets out the other requirements: the instrument must be in writing, made within two years after the death, and clearly identify the dispositions being varied and where they now go (HMRC IHTM35021, checked 1 November 2026). A variation that passes a gift to the next generation can mean it is not added to your own estate later.
Where benefits or care fees are involved
Declining an inheritance does not escape means-tested rules. For care charges, the statutory guidance describes deprivation as intentionally decreasing your overall assets in order to reduce what you are charged towards care (Care and support statutory guidance, Annex E, checked 26 October 2026).
The benefit regulations work the same way. Universal Credit treats a person as possessing capital of which they have deprived themselves for the purpose of securing or increasing entitlement (Universal Credit Regulations 2013, regulation 50, checked 1 November 2026). A disclaimer or variation made to keep a benefit risks being assessed as though the money had arrived. Our page on an inheritance when you are on benefits covers the limits.
Renouncing, reserving power and varying a will each have consequences for other people in the family, so talk to them before signing. For the executor’s role itself, see how probate works.