Letters of administration

The term Letters of administration refers to the document which is issued to the administrators by the Probate Registry. The documents authorise them to deal with the dead person's estate if there is no will or if a will has been made but no executor has been named or the executors are not willing or not able to apply for probate.

There are rules in place setting out who can apply and in what order they are entitled to apply. If no one applies then a creditor of the estate can make an application. They will then receive a letter of administration and this will give them the authority to administer the estate.

The authorisation will simply be referred to as Grant of letters of administration if there is no will or if the will is invalid, or Grant of letters of administration with will annexed if there is a will but no executor has been named or is not able to apply for the grant of probate.

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