Do Executors Have to Tell Estranged Children That Their Parent Has Died?
- Paul Biddle
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
Updated: 22 hours ago
Family relationships can be complicated. Sometimes parents and children simply drift apart. In other cases, there may have been a serious falling out, with no contact for many years.
However, estrangement does not necessarily end the legal relationship between a parent and child. In particular, a child who has been left out of a parent's Will may still, in some circumstances, be able to make a claim against the estate under the Family Protection Act 1955.
This can create a difficult question for an executor:
If a child has been estranged from their parent, does the executor have to find them and tell them that their parent has died?
A recent High Court decision, Estate of Hands [2026] NZHC 1785, provides useful guidance on this issue.
What happened in the Hands case?
Kathleen Hands had two adopted children. She had been estranged from both of them for around 30 years and did not know where they were living.
Her Will left her estate to her de facto partner or, if he died before her, to her three nephews. Her children were not included in the Will.
Ms Hands also left a written statement explaining why she had not provided for her children. She acknowledged that they might potentially make a claim against her estate under the Family Protection Act.
Ms Hands had made her wishes clear. She did not want her children to benefit from her estate and did not want notice of her death published until after her funeral.
After Ms Hands died, Public Trust was faced with a difficult question. As executor, did it have to try to locate the estranged children and tell them that their mother had died?
The Public Trust asked the High Court for directions.
What did the High Court decide?
The Court confirmed that there is no general duty on an executor to notify every person who might potentially have a claim against an estate.
There is also no general obligation to advertise a person's death simply so that potential claimants become aware of it.
Importantly, simply knowing that an estranged child could make a Family Protection Act claim is not enough to create a duty to contact them.
The position can change, however, if the executor knows — or objectively ought to know — that the person actually intends to make a claim.
In that situation, the executor's duty to act fairly between those interested in the estate may require the executor to tell the potential claimant that the deceased has died, so that they have an opportunity to bring their claim.
For example, if a child had previously said that they intended to challenge the Will if they were left out of it, an executor who knew about that statement could be in a very different position from an executor who simply knew that an estranged child existed.
Did the Public Trust have to find the children?
No, in this case.
There was nothing to indicate that Ms Hands' children intended to make a claim. They had not contacted Public Trust or other family members, and there had been no contact with the family for decades.
The Court also noted that neither Public Trust nor the family knew where the children lived. Locating them could potentially have required the engagement of a private investigator.
The Court held that Public Trust was not required to take that step when there was nothing to indicate that either child intended to make a claim against the estate.
The Court therefore directed that Public Trust did not have to take steps to notify the children of their mother's death. If they did not contact Public Trust within three months of publication of the judgment, Public Trust could distribute the estate.
What does this mean for executors?
The practical message is relatively straightforward:
An executor does not generally have to track down every estranged child or other potential claimant simply to tell them that someone has died.
However, executors should be cautious where there is evidence that someone may actually intend to make a claim against the estate.
An executor should not conceal the death or deliberately withhold information about the estate in an attempt to prevent a potential claim from being made. Where there are facts indicating that a person intends to make a claim, the executor's obligations may require them to take steps to ensure that the person is aware of the death and has a fair opportunity to pursue their rights.
An executor's role is to administer the estate properly and fairly. It is not to assist one beneficiary in defeating a potential claim by another person.
Estranged family members and estates can be complicated
Every family situation is different. Long periods of estrangement, unusual provisions in a Will, previous statements about challenging a Will, or uncertainty about whether an executor should contact a family member can all create difficulties during estate administration.
If you are an executor and are unsure about your obligations, it is generally sensible to obtain legal advice before distributing the estate. Once estate assets have been distributed, resolving a problem can become considerably more difficult.
Similarly, if you have been left out of a parent's Will — even if you were estranged from your parent — that does not necessarily mean you have no legal rights. Whether a Family Protection Act claim is available will depend on the particular circumstances.
At Nolen Walters, our estate and litigation team can assist executors, beneficiaries and family members with estate administration, disputed Wills and Family Protection Act claims.
Paul Biddle
Senior Associate