What are Letters of Administration?
They are just a form of Grant of Probate issued by the Probate Registry, authorising an Administrator (read executor in practical terms) to manage the affairs of a deceased individual’s estate in accordance with the law. So Administrator gains the legal power to oversee the distribution of assets, settling debts, and other relevant responsibilities involved in handling the estate of the deceased person, just the same as an Executor.
When are Letters of Administration needed?
They won’t always be needed, it depends what the person owned when they died and who is inheriting it. This is because some assets can be dealt with without a grant, and banks and other instituations may release a certain amount of money to the next of kin or joint account holders without asking for the Grant. Just the same as whether or not a Grant of Probate is needed.A Grant of Probate can be issued if there is a valid Will and the named executor/s are acting – even if they have delegated the job to a professional. This type of Grant is issued to the persons entitled under the Rules of Intestacy if the deceased died without a Will. If none of the executors are acting, then a Grant of Letters of Administration with Will annexed is applied for, so the Will is still the key to what happens with the assets, not the Rules of Intestacy, but someone (see below) has to apply to be the Administrator, which in non jargon terms means they act as the executor but with the title of Administrator (or administrators depending on the number of people in the relevant class of beneficiary acting – see the Rules of Intestacy). As an example, the husban may have died first, and then the wife has died without a Will, and there are 6 children. All are equally entitled to apply for the Grant, and they may all apply together or just one or two – their collective choice. The eldest has no special rights and is treated exactly the same as the others.
Essentially, the next of kin can apply for the Grant in the same order as people inherit under the Rules of Intestacy:1. Legal spouse / civil partner – but not common law spouse.2. Children of the deceased including legally adopted children.3. The deceased’s parents if living.4. The deceased’s brothers and sisters of the full blood.
That usually is far enough, but the Rules of Intestacy do go further. At each step, any of the persons in that class of people can apply for the grant of letters of administration (hopefully with our help) but clearly it is important that the person or persons applying are doing so with the approval of others in that class of person to avoid incredibly expensive disputes. If disputes are likely, it is far wiser to give the job to a professional like us who can stick to the rules and not be influenced or harassed by family members who may consider that the administrator is delaying unduly or lining their own pockets. Many families break up for ever over such disputes.A grant of “letters of administration” is what has to be obtained from the Probate Court when a person dies without leaving a valid Last Will. That is called “intestacy” and the beneficiaries are then decided by the law under the Rules of Intestacy – what the deceased would have wishes is totally ignored, and he or she may well be left turning in their grave. So if you don’t have an up to date and valid Last Will, we strongly suggest you get one organised immediately. A cheap but effective online service is Will Writing Online but if your affairs are more complex you are welcome to contact our specialists.But back to the subject of grant where there is no valid Last Will and testament.
How to get a Grant in the form of Letters of Administration
In order to collect in the various assets of the estate, a Grant must be obtained from the Probate registry after the usual hard work and formalities discussed elsewhere on this site. The grant can then be shown to banks and other asset holders allowing them to release the assets to the administrator, who can then pay the debts and finally the beneficiaries. Please do ensure the beneficiaries are not assuming it will be a swift process is a grant is needed – see our updated Probate Delays page. It will also be affected by the co-operation of family members, the amount of time the administrator can devote to the chasing of asset and liability holders and how easy it is to find all the necessary records. We are here to point you in the right direction.