Wills, Estates & Probate

Letters of Administration

In plain English

A court grant appointing someone to manage the estate when there is no will (or no available executor).

What it means

Letters of administration are the intestacy equivalent of probate. When a person dies without a valid will, or the named executor cannot act, an eligible relative applies to the Supreme Court to be appointed administrator of the estate. The grant gives the administrator authority to collect the assets, pay debts, and distribute what remains according to the statutory intestacy rules.

How it's used

As the eldest child, Priya applied for letters of administration so she could close her late mother's accounts and distribute the estate.

Dealing with letters of administration in real life?

Wills, probate and estate administration, reviewed by Australian lawyers. Our AI assistant, Rachel Z, takes your details in minutes and a qualified Australian lawyer handles the rest — at a fixed fee, with no hourly billing.