If you have any questions about Letters of Administration that are not answered below, please don't hesitate to get in touch, we're here to make Letters of Administration as simple as possible.
Whether or not you are required to get Letters of Administration depends on your circumstances. If the deceased held real estate or had left assets with organisations such as banks and superannuation funds, these organisations might require Letters of Administration before they are prepared to pay you the bank funds or superannuation death benefits for example.
If the funds held are minimal, these organisations might not require you to provide Letters of Administration and might just ask that you sign an indemnity waiver.
The Grant of Letters of Administration achieves the same purpose as the Grant of Probate - it determines who has the power to call in the assets of the estate, to pay the estate liabilities and to distribute the assets of the deceased.
The difference between the Grant of Probate and Letters of Administration is that a valid Will allows the will-maker to determine themselves who will administer their estate (to be their executor) and who will receive their assets (the beneficiaries). When someone dies without a Will, NSW’s Succession Act determines which next-of-kin will be the administrator and how the estate will be distributed amongst the deceased’s relatives.
The first step in the process, lodging the online notice of intended application for Letters of Administration, necessitates that 2 weeks pass before the administrator submits their application for Letters of Administration to give enough notice to any potential creditors or claimants on the estate.
After the application is submitted it can take anywhere from 2-6 weeks, depending on how busy the Supreme Court of NSW is, before the Grant is issued.
No. No one is forced to act as an estate administrator, or executor.
If you do not wish to act as an administrator we can easily assist you to renounce administration and to assist the next-of-kin to obtain the Grant of Administration. Unless you want to renounce the benefits you are entitled to, you will still be entitled to your appropriate share of the estate.
Depending on the circumstances you might be required to submit the following documents:
We will fully advise you of all certificates that we require in order to obtain the Grant of Letters of Administration for you.
To apply for Letters of Administration click here..
The first step we will take is establish whether or not Letters of Administration is the appropriate grant for your circumstances. The next step involves determining who is entitled to make the application, and who the most appropriate applicant for Letters of Administration is. We will then advise you which official birth, death and marriage certificates will be required for your application, and who needs to participate in the application.
We will then publish a notice of your intention to apply for Letters of Administration and commence drafting the appropriate Court documents which will need to be sworn and executed once the necessary notice period has lapsed.
Finally, we will either mail the application to you, or have you visit our office to execute the application. The application will then be mailed to the Supreme Court of NSW for assessment and, based on current turnaround times, should be granted in approximately 3-4 weeks.
Letters of Administration applications should be made within 6 months of the death of the deceased. If you need to apply for Letters of Administration after the deadline, we can assist you in explaining the delay to the Court. We have a 100% success rate in addressing delays to achieve Letters of Administration grants.
Letters of Administration is frequently requested by super funds, banks and share registries for the release of funds and assets they hold. To determine whether Letters of Administration is required for the release of your loved-one’s super,please contact us..
Letters of Administration can only be provided by one of the Supreme Courts in Australia.
Letters of Administration is known as a ‘testamentary expense’, meaning that the estate itself bears the cost of the application. Another way of thinking about this is that all of the beneficiaries of an intestate estate will be bearing the cost equally. Often, initially one responsible family member, often the applicant, pays for the legal expenses associated with the application before reimbursing themselves from the estate prior to it’s distribution.
Yes, however you will need to do so by appointing an ‘attorney’ to apply on your behalf. In this case ‘attorney’ does not necessarily refer to a lawyer, but to anyone who you have appointed as an attorney through a Power of Attorney document.
If your de facto died intestate (without a will) then you are entitled to apply for Letters of Administration of their estate if you were in a relationship with them at the time of their passing. De facto applicants have additional requirements when applying for Letters of Administration, including contacting all of the family members who would have been entitled to the estate had the relationship not existed. We are very experienced in representing de factos in Letters of Administration matters - please contact us HERE today to apply.
In NSW, there are three main costs for Letters of Administration. You can read more about NSW Letters of Administration costs HERE.
If you have a valid will but there are no executors who are willing or able to apply for the Grant of Probate, then the appropriate application to make is the Letters of Administration application. This is a complex application, and the appropriate applicant for Letters of Administration with the will annexed will vary on a case-by-case basis. We have much experience in obtaining Grant of Letters of Administration with the will annexed. Contact one of our expert solicitors here to discuss your matter.
We offer affordable, fixed-fee quotes for obtaining Letters of Administration.
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