Probate Notice Timelines: When to Place a Section 27 Notice
For solicitors administering estates, the Section 27 notice is one of the most important — and most frequently misunderstood — procedural steps in the probate process. Get the timing wrong and the personal representative may remain personally liable to unknown creditors long after the estate has been distributed. Understanding when to place the notice, and what the statutory waiting period requires, is essential practice knowledge.
What Is a Section 27 Notice?
A Section 27 notice takes its name from section 27 of the Trustee Act 1925. It allows trustees and personal representatives to advertise for unknown creditors and claimants before distributing an estate. Once the notice has been placed and the statutory period has elapsed, the personal representative may distribute the estate assets without personal liability to any creditor or claimant of whom they had no notice — even if that person later comes forward.
Without this protection, a personal representative who distributes an estate too quickly could face personal liability if an unknown creditor subsequently makes a valid claim. The Section 27 procedure is therefore a fundamental risk-management tool, not merely an administrative formality.
When Should You Place the Notice?
Timing is critical. The Section 27 notice should not be placed before the grant of probate or letters of administration has been obtained. Placing an advertisement before the grant serves no legal purpose under the Trustee Act 1925, as the personal representative has no formal authority to act until the grant is issued.
The practical sequence is therefore:
- Apply for the grant of probate (or letters of administration in intestacy cases)
- Receive the sealed grant from the Probate Registry
- Place the Section 27 notice in the London Gazette and, in most cases, a local newspaper
- Allow the statutory waiting period to expire
- Distribute the estate
In practice, many solicitors place the notice promptly once the grant arrives, running the advertisement period in parallel with the asset-gathering stage of administration. This avoids unnecessary delay at the distribution stage.
The Two-Month Waiting Period
Once published, the personal representative must wait at least two months from the date of the final notice before distributing the estate. This period gives unknown creditors and claimants a reasonable opportunity to come forward.
The two-month clock runs from the date the notice appears, not from the date it is submitted or paid for. It is therefore sensible to confirm the actual publication date with the relevant publisher before advising your client on distribution timelines.
If notices are placed in both the London Gazette and a local newspaper on different dates, the two-month period runs from whichever notice appears last. Co-ordinating simultaneous publication in both outlets is good practice and avoids inadvertently extending the waiting period.
What the Notice Must Include
A compliant Section 27 notice must request that any person with a claim against, or interest in, the estate contact the personal representative or their solicitor within the stipulated period. It should identify the deceased by full name, address, and date of death, and specify the date by which claims must be submitted.
The London Gazette is the primary statutory publication for these notices. A local newspaper covering the area where the deceased lived, held property, or carried on business is also strongly recommended, and in many cases effectively required to discharge the personal representative's duty to take reasonable steps to locate claimants.
Practical Considerations for Solicitors
Estates involving real property in multiple regions may benefit from notices in more than one local newspaper. Where the deceased operated a business, consider whether trade publications provide additional relevant reach. Keep copies of the published notices and evidence of their publication dates on the estate file — these may be needed to evidence compliance if a late claim arises.
Be mindful of the overall administration timeline when advising clients. A two-month statutory period, combined with typical grant processing times, means that estates can rarely be fully distributed in less than four to six months even in straightforward cases.
Simplifying the Process with gazetted
Placing notices across multiple publications — the London Gazette, regional newspapers, and any additional titles — involves co-ordinating separate publishers, tracking deadlines, and confirming publication dates. gazetted brings this process into a single platform, allowing solicitors to place Section 27 probate notices in the London Gazette and qualifying local newspapers simultaneously, track publication dates, and download confirmation certificates for the estate file. Rather than managing each publisher separately, the entire notice placement can be handled in one workflow — reducing administrative friction and helping ensure the two-month period starts running as quickly as possible.
