Section 50 of the Administration of Justice Act 1985 governs the court’s powers to remove executors from their position as administrators of a deceased person’s will. Applications to the court used to be few and far between, but have been somewhat in vogue over the past couple of years, with a raft of reported decisions being handed down by the High Court.
The decisions have allowed us to understand further where the court now seems to be drawing the line between those that succeed and fail, and those in which the executor can still retain their indemnity for costs from the estate, irrespective the outcome.
Deputy Master Oldham gave a helpful reminder in Smith v Campbell [2025] EWHC 3011 (Ch), applying Letterstedt v Broers [1884] 9 App Cas 371, that “the applicable test is whether the removal or replacement of one or more of the trustees would be in the interests of the beneficiaries of the trust as a whole, with a view to securing the proper administration of the trust in their favour”.
A summary of the decisions we have seen during the past couple of years:
| Case | Grounds (Primary) | Outcome | Costs Order |
| Hanson v Coleman [2025] EWHC 116 (Ch) | 1) Conflict of interest | Removed | Executors ordered to pay claimant’s costs, and deprived of their costs indemnity |
| Fernandez v Fernandez [2025] EWHC 2373 (Ch) | 1) Conduct (2) Conflict of interest (3) Breakdown of trust & confidence | Removed | Executors ordered to pay claimant’s costs, and deprived of their costs indemnity |
| Smith v Campbell [2025] EWHC 3011 (Ch) | (1) Conflict of interest (2) Hostility and breakdown of relations | Removed | Despite removal, executor entitled to costs indemnity |
| Seymour (Earl of Yarmouth) v Ragley Trust Co Ltd [2025] EWHC 1099 (Ch) | (1) Hostility and breakdown of relations | Claim dismissed | Unsuccessful claimant ordered to pay costs |
| Shufflebotham v Shuff-Wentzel [2025] EWHC 3321 (Ch) | (1) Conduct (2) Breakdown of relations | Claim dismissed, but a second professional trustee appointed | Primary claim failed, so claimant ordered to pay defendant’s costs, but claimant retained costs indemnity |
| House v Helme [2026] EWHC 75 (Ch) | (1) Delay (2) Conflict of interest (3) Conduct | Removed | Executors ordered to pay claimant’s costs, and deprived of their costs indemnity |
| Brinner v Brinner [2026] EWHC 1462 (Ch) | (1) Conflict of interest | Removed | TBC |