In our weekly legal column, the Leader, with the expert advice of the team at GHP Legal, sets out to answer some of your problems. Today's question is answered by partner Ulia Choudhry...

Executors of cousin's Will are slow in administering his estate - can we speed things up?

Q: My cousin died seven months ago, yet his executors have not yet completed the administration of his Will. He wrote and told me before his death that he had left money to my daughter and me. As my daughter is getting married it would be very useful to receive what we are due now. Is there any way we can bring pressure on the executors to hurry things up?

A: Beneficiaries do sometimes feel frustrated by the time it takes executors to administer a Will, but maybe don't understand what is involved. For example, it can take many weeks or even months to obtain a Grant of Probate and until then the executors can distribute nothing.

If Inheritance Tax is payable, it must be paid early on. Executors must identify and pay debts such as overdue bills on behalf of the deceased. Until they have completed these tasks, they will be unable to ascertain the correct amount to pay out to the beneficiaries and could risk being left with insufficient funds to cover the deceased's liabilities. They may also need to publish notices inviting debtors to come forward or instruct a third party to carry out an assets search. In addition, the executors may have jobs and other commitments around which they have to fit their executor tasks.

Executors have 12 months from the date of death before they have to start distributing the deceased's estate. This is known as the executor's year. If there is a property to be sold, this could delay matters beyond a year, but Executors should keep beneficiaries informed of what is happening.

You could explain your situation to your cousin's executors and ask for an update. But as a Will does not become public until Probate has been granted, the Executors may not wish to disclose information about the estate before then. If solicitors are instructed, to keep the eventual costs to the estate proportionate Executors will often only update beneficiaries when necessary.

• This question has been answered by Ulia Choudhry, a partner with GHP Legal. If you would like to speak to someone about this or any other legal matter, please visit our website www.ghplegal.com and use the contact us form, or call us on: Wrexham 01978 291456, Llangollen 01978 860313, Oswestry 01691 659194.