Letters of Administration is a court order appointing a person as administrator of an estate. When the deceased did not make a Will, Letters of Administration may be necessary to be able to transfer or sell the deceased’s real estate and to withdraw the deceased’s assets from financial institutions.
An administrator has similar powers and responsibilities to those of an executor. The main difference is that the deceased chooses the executor while an administrator may be anyone who steps forward to take on the role.
To obtain Letters of Administration, the person seeking to be appointed as administrator needs to file an application with the Court of Queen’s Bench. This application includes information detailing all of the deceased’s assets at the time of death. Often an administrator must provide a personal bond and/or a commercial bond to the Court before the Court will grant Letters of Administration.