CG30520 - Death and Personal Representatives: Personal representatives and their liabilities: Personal representatives: changes: single continuing body for CGT

Once personal representatives have been appointed it is unusual for them to cease to be personal representatives except on death or when their duties are complete. However sometimes appointments are made `pendente lite’ or pending the outcome of litigation. Then new personal representatives may be appointed when the litigation is finalised. In certain other unusual circumstances the Courts may also order a change in personal representatives.

If there are several persons making up the body of personal representatives, on the death of any one of them the survivors alone become the personal representatives. However sometimes there is only one personal representative. This may be because

• only a sole personal representative was appointed

or

• because of previous deaths of other personal representatives, a single person has become the sole surviving personal representative.

If that person dies his or her executors become executors of the estate of which that person was the executor in addition to being executors of that person personally. In other cases new personal representatives will have to be appointed. See IHTM05114 for further details.

Where more than one body of personal representatives have been appointed, see CG30500, one body may complete its duties and cease to be personal representatives before the other body has completed its duties. In those circumstances the personal representatives would be reduced to those constituting the continuing body only.

Whatever changes take place in the persons acting as personal representatives and for whatever reasons, for Capital Gains Tax purposes the personal representatives are deemed to be a single and continuing body by reason of TCGA92/S62 (3). As regards the form of assessment on this continuing body see CG30620+.