Administration of the estate

Administration of the estate act: In British law, Administration of the estate on death arises if the departed is lawfully intestate. In American law, the name Estate Administration is used.

Where a person dies leaving a will appointing an executor, and that executor validly disposes of the property of the deceased within England and Wales, then the estate will go to probate. However, if no will is left, or the will is invalid or incomplete in a number of way, next administrators should be appointed. They present a comparable role to the executor of a will but, where there are no directives in a will, the administrators should distribute the administration of the estate of the dead according to the rules laid down by decree and the common trust.

More about administration of the estate

Particular property falls outside the estate for administration purposes, the most familiar illustration probably being properties jointly owned that pass by survivorship on the first death of a couple into the sole name of the survivor. Other examples include optional death settlement from pension funds, accounts with certain financial institutions subject to a recommendation and the proceeds of life insurance policies which have been written into trust. Trust property will in addition repeatedly fall outside of the estate but this will depend on the stipulations of the trust.

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Since the Land Transfer Act 1897, the administrator (sometimes renowned as the administratrix, if female) acts as the personal ambassador of the departed in relation to land and other property. Consequently, whilst the estate under administration consists wholly or mostly of land, the court will grant administration of the estate to the heir to the exclusion of the next of kin. In the absence of any heir or next of kin, the Crown has the right to property (other than land) as bona vacantia, and to the land by virtue of the historic land rights of the Crown (and the Duchy of Cornwall and Duchy of Lancashire in their respective areas). If a creditor claims and obtains a grant of administration, the court compels him or her to enter into a bond with two sureties that he or she will not prefer his or her own debt to those of other creditors.