Types of Letters of Administration

Letters of administration ad colligendum bona – granted for protection of an estate’s asset pending delay in making a general grant

Letters of Administration ad colligendum bona allows a person to collect, preserve and protect assets of a precarious or perishable nature where there is an unavoidable delay in the Court in making a general grant of representation. The purpose of this limited grant is to give authority to a person to take steps to protect the risks of assets of the estate. 

An example of this is where the deceased had signed a contract of sale and died before the settlement. To avoid a breach of the contract of sale, an application for administration ad colligendum bona can be made to allow that person to affect the settlement. 

Hartwell Legal assists with the detailed application for a Letters of Administration ad colligendum bona to be granted and to minimise the chance of any loss being incurred by the estate due to no grant of representation being made in time. 

Letters of administration pendente lite – granted to permit administration of an estate to continue while litigation of a claim is on foot and pending a full grant

An application for letters of administration pendente lite may be made where there are legal proceedings on foot in relation to the validity of the Will or where revocation of a grant of legal representation is pending. Litigation usually prevents the estate from being administered, but when granted letters of administration pendente lite administrators are permitted to call in and liquidate estate assets and preserve these until the proceedings have been resolved. This grant is only in effect for the specific period of the litigation and will cease to have effect when the litigation has ended. 

Letters of Administration ad litem – granted to provide authority to a person to represent an estate in litigation

Where an estate requires a representative to defend, commence or prosecute legal proceedings, a person can apply for a grant of administration ad litem. Once granted, the grant lasts for the duration of the legal proceedings. A need for such a limited grant may arise where a proceeding is already on foot and there is not enough time to obtain a full grant.

Other, less common limited grants that Hartwell Legal assists with include:

• Letters of Administration de bonis non: granted where an executor or administrator dies or goes missing prior to administering an estate and a replacement is required

• Letters of Administration durante minore aetate: granted where an executor is under 18 and a person is needed to step in until the nominated executor turns 18

• Letters of administration durante absentia: granted where an executor or administrator resides outside the jurisdiction of the estate (in certain circumstances)

• Letters of administration durante dementia: granted where an executor or administrator does not have the capacity to carry out the administration of the estate