Letters of administration

A will can name an executor. That is the person who carries out the will. But the named executor may not exist. They may be unable to act. Or they may die halfway through. The estate still has to be dealt with.

Letters of administration are the court's answer. The workbook calls them the other alternative to probate. Probate gives power to the executor named in a will. Letters of administration give power to a person the court picks. That person is called an administrator. The administrator then deals with the estate.

Administrators carry an extra burden that executors do not. The workbook notes this for intestacy, which means dying without a will. Here, administrators have to provide an administration bond and securities. These back up the proper handling of the estate.

When the court issues them — the three situations the workbook lists:

1. No executor has been appointed in the will.
2. The appointed executor is legally incapable, refuses to act, or has died before proving the will.
3. The executor died after proving the will but before administering the entire estate.

Also: where a minor is appointed executor, probate cannot be granted until majority, and the legal guardian of the minor can obtain letters of administration by applying to court.

To whom. The workbook states that letters of administration are issued to any person who would be entitled to the whole or any part of the estate of the deceased; where more than one person claims, the court decides whether to issue them to one person or more.

Probate compared:

Not a succession certificate. A succession certificate is issued when there is no will, to establish the legal heirs' authority to collect debts and securities; probate and letters of administration relate to estates with a will.

Illustrative scenarios.

Mrs Iyer leaves a valid will dividing her estate — a flat in Chennai and Rs 40 lakh of investments — between her two daughters, Anjali and Deepa.

In every case the estate still passes as the will says — letters of administration change who carries out the will, not who inherits under it.

Contrast Mrs Iyer's neighbour, who died without a will. His heirs need a succession certificate from a civil court to collect his debts and securities; neither probate nor letters of administration under a will applies to him.

Chapter 15 (Tools for Estate Planning): section 15.2.8 on the role of the executor, including when administrators are appointed and the minor-executor case; section 15.3 on probate and its alternative. Expect a question listing a situation and asking whether probate or letters of administration will issue.

• Probate goes only to an appointed executor; letters of administration go to a court-appointed administrator.
• Three triggers: no executor; executor incapable, refusing or dead before proving the will; executor dead after proving but before completing administration.
• A minor executor's guardian obtains letters of administration until the minor comes of age.
• Distribution still follows the will.
• Not a succession certificate, which is for estates without a will.
• The workbook is inconsistent on who receives the grant. Section 15.2.8 says that where no executor is appointed the court grants letters of administration "to the agent or attorney of the principal i.e. the testator"; section 15.3 says they issue "to the legatee", and that they are given to "any person who would be entitled to the whole or any part of the estate". The last formulation is the one to rely on.