Letters of Administration

Letters of Administration are official court documents, issued by the Probate Registry, to appoint a person to manage and deal with the estate of someone who has passed away and not left a will or who has executors that are not willing to act. Essentially the letters of administration are proof that you have the authority to settle the deceased’s estate in accordance with the law.

Letters of Administration (sometimes referred to as Grant of Representation) will give you permission to access the deceased’s finances (bank accounts, mortgages, loans, credit cards, investments, insurance policies) as well as their assets in order to make decisions on who to distribute them to. The person given this permission is known as the administrator.

The rules are strict on who can be an administrator, usually it will be the next of kin and as such there is a family member order of priority. The spouse or civil partner of the deceased, the child or children, the parents, siblings including half-siblings, grandparents followed by aunts and uncles of the deceased.

Whilst there is no legal requirement to instruct a solicitor to help with the application of Letters of Administration, we recommend that you do. Making an application can be a complicated and stressful process, even the smallest of errors can lead to an application being rejected. Probate solicitors can help you to get the process moving and answer any questions you may have on this matter.