Is there some guidance on whether a law firm which takes over the business (majority of clients and files) of another law firm which closes down due to insolvency, can step into the shoes of the insolvent law firm who was named as co-executor in a Will. Is renunciation by the law firm which took over the business of the insolvent firm necessary?

An appointment of an executor is a personal one. Only the executor named in the Will is entitled to take a grant. The mere fact that the business of an executor’s former firm has been taken over by a new firm is not sufficient to amount to an appointment. And the mere fact that the named professional executor renounces probate would not permit a solicitor of the new firm to assume that position instead. See Re Rogers (deceased) on the extent to which the court is prepared to be pragmatic about giving effect to the testator’s intentions—it is doubtful that this would extend to appointing partners of an entirely different firm from that