Part IX
The beneficiary portal
Exactly what a beneficiary can and cannot see, the three conditions that reveal their distribution, the Ask the Executor channel, and managing access.
What a beneficiary sees
The portal is a read-only view scoped to one person. A beneficiary cannot edit anything, cannot see the full ledger, and cannot see what other beneficiaries are receiving. It answers the questions beneficiaries actually ask — where are we, is there a problem, and what am I getting — without exposing the estate's internals.
| Section | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Estate header | Which estate this is, so someone who is a beneficiary of two isn't confused. |
| Phase tracker | Which of the three phases the estate is in, and how far it has progressed. No task-level detail — they see the phase, not your checklist. |
| Solvency banner | A plain-language status. When the estate isn't yet solvent it reads as the estate working through debts before distribution, rather than showing figures. |
| Their distribution | What this beneficiary is receiving — but only once three conditions are met. See the next section. |
| Their information | The contact details on file for them, so they can tell you if something is wrong. |
| Ask the Executor | A form to send you a question, when enabled. |
The design principle throughout is that a beneficiary is entitled to know the estate's status and their own position, and is not entitled to the estate's complete financial detail or to other people's shares.
New portal users must acknowledge a disclaimer before they can use the dashboard. It tells them the information comes from you, the executor, that it may not reflect the complete state of probate, and that distributions are subject to change and are not a legal commitment.
Once an estate is closed, the portal shows a terminal page saying so rather than breaking or silently emptying. Beneficiaries who return later get a clear answer instead of an error.
When a beneficiary can see their distribution
This is the portal's most important rule. A beneficiary's distribution is hidden until all three of these are true at once:
- The estate has reached Phase 3 — actually reached it, not merely been headed there.
- The distribution plan is locked.
- The estate is solvent.
Miss any one and no figures appear. The beneficiary still sees the section, marked as locked, with a line explaining that details will follow — so they know something is coming without being shown a number that might change.
That explanatory line is more specific than you might expect: once the estate reaches Phase 3 it changes to say the executor is finalizing the plan. A beneficiary can therefore infer roughly where you are, so expect the "any news?" message shortly after you enter Phase 3.
Withholding the figures protects you as much as them. A beneficiary who sees a draft number treats it as a promise. Anchoring someone on a figure that later changes — because a debt turned up, or an asset sold for less — creates a conversation you do not want to have.
It also means locking the plan is the moment figures become visible. Worth knowing before you lock: the numbers stop being private the moment you do.
What the distribution shows
Each row is one asset slated for that beneficiary, marked as cash or in-kind so they know whether to expect money or the item itself. A percentage share of the estate's general cash appears separately, with the amount computed from the same calculation that produced your Final Distribution Schedule — so the portal and your PDF cannot disagree.
Ask the Executor
Beneficiaries can send you a written question from the portal. Every submitted question appears on your side of the estate, so nothing arrives only as a voicemail you half remember.
The channel is gated — it can be enabled or not for a given beneficiary. When it's off, the form isn't shown.
The advantage over the phone is the record. You answer what was actually asked, in your own time rather than on the spot, and in a contentious estate having asked and answered in writing is worth a great deal.
Point beneficiaries at the portal when they call. "The phase and the status are on your dashboard, and if you've got a specific question put it through the form" is a reasonable and repeatable answer that reduces the calls over time.
Be careful answering questions that are really legal questions. "Am I entitled to more?" is not yours to answer, and an off-hand reply can be held against you later. Refer those to the estate's attorney.
Inviting, and revoking
Recording a beneficiary and giving them portal access are separate acts. Record everyone early — the distribution plan needs them in order to allocate. Invite them when you're ready for them to be looking.
An invitation goes out by email as a link that walks them through creating an account and lands them in the portal for your estate. What they can see is governed by the estate's phase and solvency rather than by the invitation, so inviting early doesn't leak anything that isn't ready.
When to invite
There's a genuine trade-off. Inviting early gives beneficiaries a self-service answer to "what's happening" and tends to reduce how often they contact you. It also means more people watching a process that is slow by nature, and someone may read the absence of a distribution figure as a problem.
If you invite early, say plainly what the portal will and won't show — that the phase updates as you go and that distribution figures appear only at the end. That one sentence prevents most of the confused follow-ups.
Revoking access
Access can be closed, and takes effect immediately. The person stays visible in your roster afterward — deliberately, so the record of who had access and when survives. Nothing is silently erased, which matters if anyone later questions how the estate was administered.
Revoking access is not only a login change. A revoked beneficiary is treated as no longer entitled to a distribution: they drop out of your distribution plan editor, out of the per-beneficiary schedule, and out of the split of the estate's cash. Do not revoke access as a way of managing someone's behaviour if they are still due a share.
There's a related trap. Allocations you already made to that person can still count toward the requirement that each asset's shares total 100% — so the plan can appear fully allocated while part of it is assigned to someone who has been removed from the distribution surfaces. If you revoke a beneficiary mid-administration, go back through the distribution plan and reallocate their share explicitly.