What Is The Letter of Administration?

May 29, 2023    Deceased Estate Lawyers Perth
What Is The Letter of Administration?

The first thing a person needs to do when somebody close to them suddenly passes away with no will is thought of applying for letters of administration at the Supreme Court.

There is a certain way through which one can apply for a letter of administration. Besides that, people should also learn about the various conditions that they have to meet so that they can receive this lawful document.

To make sure all the deadlines and paperwork are taken care of, one should speak with a lawyer. It will surely reduce energy and time effectively.

The Letter of Administration: Things to Know

The deceased estate lawyers in Perth have defined the “Letter of Administration” as a legal document. Here, a court order passed down by the Supreme Court directs the estate administrator to divide the assets of the deceased individual who passed away without a will.

When a person passes away without creating a valid will, the family members have to obtain approval from the Supreme Court to divide and access the assets of the deceased individual.

This is known as LOA [Letter of Administration], which is granted by the court to provide legal to administer and manage the assets. Once the document gets approved, one becomes the “administrator”.

He/she is given the responsibility to manage the final wishes and assets of the deceased person without experiencing any issues. These documents are also needed when a person dies without naming the executor.

The letter of administrator is provided to only those individuals who are named as the beneficiary by the deceased person.

How to Get a Letter of Administration?

A reliable and trusted estate lawyer in Perth has stated that it’s not that difficult to receive a Letter of Administration from the court. But there are several steps that one needs to follow:

Step 1: Detect the Person to Lodge an Application

Here, it needs to be an individual who has the right to get a share from the estate of the deceased person. This can be a child, spouse, partner or any other relative.

One must lodge an application with the Supreme Court. The majority of the Australian states have a deadline, and so does Western Australia. This means a person should complete the application process on time, especially in 6 months.

If a person lodges the application after the time ends, it will get accepted, but one has to take care of plenty of paperwork.

Step 2: Make an Inventory of the Assets of the Deceased

Many of the estate lawyers in Perth have said that a beneficiary needs to create a formal document to finish the inventory of the assets of the deceased person.

The inventory prepared here will represent the written text on all the liabilities and assets partially or entirely owned by the deceased individual. This includes the funds held in the banks, family heirlooms, property, businesses, etc.

Step 3: Get the Death Certificate

When the funeral has taken place, the funeral director might have submitted the documents to register the person’s death. Otherwise, one can file an application to the registry of marriages, births and deaths.

Step 4: Publish the Notice of Intention

To obtain the letter of administration, one has to notify all the beneficiaries about their intentions for administering the assets of their deceased loved one.

Individuals must lodge the notice of intention at the registry in Perth. One should get this done before applying for the LOA.

Doing so will provide the friends and family members contact the administrator before the distribution of the special gifts and assets.

Step 5: Finish the Application Form

To obtain the letter of administration without a will, one must lodge an application within 14 days from the time the notice of intention got published.

Every territory and state in Australia have a set of forms that need to be signed and filled out. The written documents should be submitted in court either through post or in person.

Documents Needed When Applying for LOA

When a person has decided to apply for the Letter of Administration, he/she has to provide several documents. These documents should be related to the beneficiaries and the deceased person.

The Supreme Court will not return back these documents, for which it will be a good idea to keep copies of all the actual documents before submitting them. Here are the documents which one needs to submit to obtain the LOA:

  • The consent to administration original death certificate of the deceased person
  • Addresses, ages, and names of the potential beneficiaries
  • Submitting the form for the grant of administration
  • The form for the summons for administration
  • A signed affidavit from the applicant
  • A signed affidavit to show that the deceased person didn’t have any De Facto relationship. [if it’s needed]

The Cost of the Letter of Administration

When applying for the Letter of Administration, individuals will not find any fixed price for filling it. The extra charges, fees and the cost will depend heavily on the territory or state the person resides in.

Besides that, the cost will also depend on the estate’s growth value. For some administrative work, such as lodging the notice of intention and acquiring the death certificate, one has to provide a small fee between $50 to $100.

But when it comes to filing the official application, the cost might differ greatly according to how much worth the estate is. In several states, one will get a free service if the estate is below $100,000.

The fees for this type of service will increase for all the estates that are known to have a value over $100,000. For the formal application, one might have to pay between $300 to $5000.

Conclusion

Applying for a Letter of Administration is something one must do when a person meets his/her untimely demise without having any will. The process might appear a bit too complex when applying for the LOA.

But he/she can speak with a deceased estate lawyer to gain more knowledge about it. The lawyers will also help in filling out the application and provide some crucial insights on LOA and what type of documents he/she needs to submit.

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