Applying for Letters of Administration

What are Letters of Administration?

When a person dies without leaving a Will or a valid Will they are said to have died ‘Intestate.' In order to deal with the deceased’s affairs, Letters of Administration must be applied for by the deceased’s relatives or other entitled persons.

This is in contrast to the position where the deceased does leave a valid Will. In the Will they will most likely have appointed Executors to deal with the distribution of their Estate according to their wishes. Where there is no Will the Estate must be distributed and dealt with under the strict Intestacy rules.

Letters of Administration (the equivalent of a ‘Grant of Probate’ where there is a Will) is the document that gives the ‘Administrators’ the right to deal with the deceased’s estate. Nothing can be done in terms of the Estate until this document is granted by the Probate Registry. The Administrators are  those appointed to deal with the Estate. 

Who can apply for Letters of Administration?

The application for Letters of Administration must be made by specific relatives  (if they had any) of the deceased in the correct order, ie, the closest relatives -  the spouse and then children -  have a greater right to apply than those lower down the ‘pecking order.’ The order is as follows:

• The husband, wife or registered civil partner of the person who has died (but not their unmarried or unregistered partners)
• Their children (aged over 18) or their children's descendants (eg, grandchildren, if they are over 18)
• The deceased's parents
• The deceased’s brothers or sisters with the same mother and father, or descendants of the brothers or sisters
• Their half-brothers or half-sisters (who had either the same mother or the same father) or their descendants
• Their grandparents
• Their uncles and aunts ‘of the whole blood’ or their descendants
• Their uncles and aunts 'of the half blood' or their descendants
• The Crown

What if there is conflict between family members? 

If several people have an equal right to deal with the estate (eg, siblings), then Letters of Administration will normally be given to the first of these people who applies for it.

Renouncing the right to be an Administrator 

If for some reason, a relative is unable or is unwilling to act as an Administrator (eg due to ill health) then they must formally renounce their right to be an Administrator and the next person down the list can then apply. 

When applying it is very important to go through the ‘clearing off’ process which means that the Oath which must accompany the application (if being made through a solicitor) for Letters of Administration, must clearly state which relatives survived the deceased. If the application is being made without legal representation the Probate Registry Office will take this information from the applicant/s.

Making the application

The application must be made by using form PA1 if a personal application is being made. If not, the solicitor dealing with the matter can prepare the application on behalf of the Administrators and draft the necessary Oaths or Deeds that need to accompany it.

Fees

The fee for Letters of Administration may vary depending on the Probate Registry Office you are applying to. The particular office to apply to will depend on where the deceased lived. The fee for the London Probate Registry office is currently £40 with additional official copies of the grant being £1 per copy. 

Once Letters of Administration have been granted, the Estate can be dealt with and assets can be released and distributed.

Further matters to consider

 Note the following important points:

• Any inheritance tax (IHT) payable on the Estate must be paid within 6 months of the date of death or late penalties and tax will also have to be paid
• Letters of Administration (or Grant of Probate) will not be issued until any IHT due on the Estate has been paid
• If the Estate is below £5,000 and does not include any land, property or shares then Probate may not be required, so, in the first instance you should check to see if you do actually need to apply
• If the named Executor in the Will dies the Court will appoint an Administrator to deal with the Estate, similarly, if there are no Executors named in the Will the Court can appoint one