A client was in my office last week and the matter he brought before me was that his father who happened to be a very wealthy man recently died but the core issue is that the man died without leaving a will behind ie the father died intestate. He was seeking legal advice on how to go about reclaiming some of his father’s wealth since there was no will deposing the wealth on him.
In instances like this, the way to go about it is for the next of kin or the ward of a deceased person who died intestate to claim some of the riches of the deceased is for the person to approach the court or the probate registry for a letter of administration.
A letter of administration is the formal and written authorization given by the Probate registry of a Court to a person known as the administrator (male) or administratrix (female) to oversee the assets of a person who died intestate. This person referred to as the administrator or administratrix of the deceased could be the wife, child, husband, parents, or even the creditor of the deceased. The applicant of the letter of administration only needs to prove through relevant documents and attestation that there is an existing relationship be It cordial, blood or business relationship between the deceased and the applicant.
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A person who dies without a will is said to have died intestate. The state’s intestacy laws determine who will inherit the decedent’s assets. The state takes responsibility for dividing up the assets among the descendants via a probate court.
A will is a set of instructions about how you want your property to be distributed after you’re gone. If you don’t have a will, your state has intestacy laws that will determine who will get your property.Typically, the takers are relatives of the decedent. For example, in Pennsylvania, the surviving spouse is generally entitled to receive at least one-third of the decedent’s estate if there are descendants of both spouses that survive him or her. Otherwise, they can receive up to one-half.
An intestate estate can also be one in which the will presented to the court was deemed to be invalid
Before the letters of administration are awarded, the properties of the deceased are presumed to be vested in the Chief Judge of the State, especially the state where the deceased was a resident before dying. The authority is then relinquished from the judge to the applicant after the application is granted.
The essence of obtaining Letters of Administration is to gain official or judicial authority to be able to manage the assets and funds on behalf of the Estate of the deceased. With this document, the holder can access the deceased finances and the other properties and most importantly make management decisions accordingly. The Letters of Administration will also grant the holder the right to legally delegate assets and funds to relatives of the deceased.
The following persons are legally eligible to apply for a letter of administration over the assets of a deceased person.
- The spouse of the deceased
- The child or children or grandchildren of the deceased
- The Parents or parents of the deceased
- The siblings of the deceased and/ or their children
- Grandparents of the deceased
- Uncles and aunts of the deceased
- Creditors of the deceased
- Office of Administrator-General of the state can also apply
The application for a letter of administration by any of the above persons is made directly to the office of the probate registrar and other relevant documents like the death certificate of the deceased are to be attached to the application.