Often, as part of writing a will, a person will appoint an executor. This is the person who will carry out the administration of the will-writer’s estate after they have died and ensure that the will is carried out as it was intended.
Sometimes, however, when a person dies there will be no appointed executor. This could be because a will was not written, a will was written but no executors were named, the original executor had died themselves before fulfilling their duties or the original executor is unable or unwilling to fulfil their duties. In this case, letters of administration would be granted to the appointed administrator in accordance with probate law.
If a will is written and is otherwise complete (apart from the missing executors), the administrator would complete the requests of the deceased as true to the letter of the will as possible. However, if there is no will, or one with no instructions, the administrators must then distribute the estate according to the Rules of Intestacy.
The Letter of Administration would be granted to - in order of preference - a surviving spouse or civil-partner, next of kin, the crown or a creditor, who would then become the administrator of the estate.
Sometimes, two or more people will apply to the court to obtain the letter of administration. In this case, they would each put forward an argument for their suitability for the role, on which the court would decide who to award administration to.
The writing of a comprehensive will, appointment of executors and regular communication with friends and families has been suggested by many experts to be a hugely important task. Whilst it can sometimes be an awkward subject to broach, doing so in a pragmatic way will ensure that the process is easier and less drawn out for your family when the time comes. In failing to write a will or appoint legal executors, it will only make for a difficult time being made all the more stressful.
