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letters of administration

A probate court order appointing an administrator of an intestate estate . Contrast with letters testamentary , which is a probate court order approving the testamentary nomination of an executor . That is, letters of administration and letters testamentary both serve to put someone in charge of the management and distribution of a decedent’s estate, but letters of administration refer to that appointment when the decedent dies without a will, while the letters testamentary refer to that appointment when the decedent dies with a will.

[Last reviewed in December of 2020 by the Wex Definitions Team
]

Wex

• LIFE EVENTS

• financial events

• wills

• PROPERTY

• trusts

• inheritances & estates

• wex definitions