Section 27 Trustee Act 1925 Notice: A Guide for Probate Solicitors

When a person dies, their personal representatives — executors or administrators — have a duty to identify and pay the deceased's debts before distributing the estate to beneficiaries. But what happens if there are creditors the personal representatives do not know about?

Section 27 of the Trustee Act 1925 provides the answer. It gives personal representatives a mechanism to protect themselves from personal liability to unknown creditors and beneficiaries — but only if they follow the correct advertising procedure. This article explains what section 27 requires, how to comply with it, and why getting it right matters.

What does section 27 of the Trustee Act 1925 say?

Section 27 allows personal representatives (and trustees) to advertise for claims against the estate. Once the required notices have been published and a minimum period of two months has elapsed, the personal representatives may distribute the estate assets. If a creditor or beneficiary then comes forward whom the personal representatives did not know about, the personal representatives are protected from personal liability — provided they distributed in good faith and after complying with the notice requirements.

Without section 27 protection, personal representatives who distribute an estate and later discover an unknown creditor could be personally liable to that creditor for the amount of the claim, up to the value of the assets they distributed.

Where must the notice be published?

Section 27 requires that the notice be published in:

1. The London Gazette — this is mandatory for all section 27 notices. The Gazette is the UK's official public record and has been used for statutory notices since 1665.

2. A newspaper circulating in the district in which any land owned by the deceased is situated. If the deceased owned property in multiple districts, a notice should be placed in a newspaper covering each district.

If the deceased did not own any land, the Gazette notice alone is technically sufficient under the strict wording of the statute. However, many solicitors also place a notice in a newspaper circulating in the area where the deceased lived, as a matter of good practice and to strengthen the protection.

Important: the newspaper notice and the Gazette notice are separate requirements. Publishing in the Gazette alone is not enough if the deceased owned land.

What must the notice say?

The notice should:

• Identify the deceased by full name (and any former names or aliases).
• State the date of death.
• State that any persons having a claim against or an interest in the estate should send particulars of their claim to the personal representatives (or their solicitors) at a given address.
• Specify a deadline by which claims must be received — this must be at least two months from the date of the notice.
• State that after the deadline, the personal representatives intend to distribute the estate, having regard only to the claims of which they have then had notice.

There is no prescribed statutory form, but the conventional wording has been settled through long practice and most solicitors use a standard template. The key elements are the identification of the deceased, the deadline, and the clear statement that distribution will follow.

When should you place the notice?

The notice should be placed as soon as practicable after the grant of probate (or letters of administration) is obtained. However, there is no legal barrier to placing the notice before the grant — many solicitors do so to start the two-month clock running earlier.

The two-month minimum period runs from the date of the last notice to be published. If the Gazette notice appears on 1 March and the newspaper notice appears on 5 March, the two-month period expires on 5 May.

Practical tip: place both notices at the same time (or as close together as possible) to avoid extending the waiting period unnecessarily.

Why is choosing the right newspaper important?

The statute requires publication in a newspaper "circulating in the district" where the deceased held land. If you choose a newspaper that does not genuinely circulate in the relevant area, the notice may not satisfy section 27 — and the personal representatives may lose their protection.

This is not a theoretical risk. In estates of significant value, disappointed creditors and beneficiaries may scrutinise the advertisement history carefully. If they can show that the newspaper notice was placed in a publication that does not circulate in the area where the deceased's property was located, the personal representatives' section 27 defence may fail.

Dual publication: Gazette and newspaper

For most estates where the deceased owned property, you need to place two notices:

1. London Gazette notice — submitted through the Gazette's own portal or through a service like gazetted.
2. Local newspaper notice — placed in a newspaper circulating in the area of the deceased's property.

If the deceased owned property in several areas (say, a house in Leeds and a flat in London), you may need newspaper notices in each area.

Common mistakes solicitors make

1. Only publishing in the Gazette. If the deceased owned land, a Gazette notice alone is not sufficient. You must also advertise in a local newspaper.
2. Choosing a newspaper that does not cover the right area. The newspaper must circulate in the district where the land is located — not the solicitor's office address or the deceased's last residential address (unless the property was there).
3. Setting the response deadline too short. The minimum is two months. Setting a shorter deadline invalidates the protection.
4. Distributing before the deadline expires. Even if no claims come in, you must wait for the full two-month period to run.
5. Not placing notices for all land-holding areas. If the deceased held property in three districts, you need a newspaper notice covering each.

How gazetted streamlines section 27 notices

Gazetted handles both the London Gazette submission and the local newspaper placement through a single order. Enter the postcode of the deceased's property, and our platform identifies the correct newspaper for that area. If the deceased held property in multiple locations, we handle each newspaper placement individually.

Our section 27 notice template follows the conventional wording accepted by the profession, and we provide publication certificates for both the Gazette and the newspaper. For private client teams handling a high volume of estates, the time saving is significant — no more separate Gazette submissions, newspaper phone calls, and manual tracking of publication dates.

Protecting your client's personal representatives from liability starts with getting the notice right. With gazetted, you can be confident it is.